Climate Regions of E.E. and Russia

21. Climate Regions of E.E. and Russia • What influences Russian climates? • Lack of mountains near lowlands • Leads to significant wind gusts • Most of country is located far from open sea water • Open water tends to moderate temperatures • Northern location • 75% of region is located north of U.S. • More than ½ of land is covered with snow for 6 months a year • ½ of land is permafrost • Permanent frozen layer of soil beneath ground

23. Most common climates • Humid continental • Wide range of temperatures • Short but warm summers • 65 degrees F in July • Long and extremely cold winters • 21 degrees F in January • Common in North European Plain

24. Subarctic • Severe cold for much of year • 10 degrees F in February • 55 degrees F in July • Little variety of plant life • Taiga • Needle-leaved evergreens • Very common in Siberia

25. Tundra • Most northern areas of Russia • Extremely cold temperatures in winter • Winter temperatures average between -20 to -30 degrees F • Limited sunlight in winter • Temperatures rarely get above 50 degrees F • Summer brings constant light • Topsoil is very thin above permafrost • Little vegetation • Mosses, bushes, short grasses X%^$@!!!! It’s cold here in the tundra region of Russia!!

26. Drier regions of E.E. and Central Asia • Very southern region of Russia into “Stans” • Steppe (10 to 20 inches of rain a year) • Thick clumps of trees with vast areas of opens spaces and grasslands

27. I wish I had a bottle of water right now! • Desert (Less than 10 inches of rain a year) • South of steppe • Bare rock and sandy dunes with little vegetation

28. Temperatures of the steppe and desert • Astana, Kazakhstan • Averages 81 degrees F in July • Averages 10 degrees F in January