Russia had its coldest-ever start to May – data

The spring chill was unprecedented in the history of meteorological observations in the country

The first 10 days of May were the coldest the European part of Russia has witnessed in the history of meteorological observations there, the scientific director of Russia’s Hydrometeorological Center, Roman Vilfand, has said.

The European part of Russia was a “funnel” attracting cold air masses from the Arctic Ocean during the beginning of the month, Vilfand told TASS on Monday.

“Two centers with different signs – an anticyclone to the west of Moscow and a cyclone to the east of Moscow – created conditions for the retraction and advection of the cold air masses of the Arctic Ocean,” he explained.

According to Vilfand, the current process is a rare case. Temperatures remained about 8-10 degrees below average during this period, as cold air masses arrived from the Kara Sea, the East Siberian Sea, Novaya Zemlya, the Laptev Sea, and from Spitsbergen.

READ MORE: Moscow breaks record for May snowfall (VIDEOS)

The temperature in the Russian capital lagged 1.5 months behind the normal climate calendar, resulting in snow storms, which is unusual for this time of the year in Moscow.

The snow that fell in Moscow on May 9, when Russia celebrated Victory Day, was the first ever recorded on that day of the year in the capital, according to meteorologists. The temperature in Moscow averaged 1.7°C (35°F), making it the coldest May 9 since 1972.

Moscow’s cold snap followed the warmest April in 23 years, Gismeteo website said earlier this month. The average temperature last month stood at 10.9°C, which was 5°C above the norm. On April 2, a record temperature of 23.2°C was recorded, according to Gismeteo.