Moscow breaks 140-year temperature records amid days of unusually warm conditions, Russia

April temperatures in Moscow, Russia, have spiked to record levels not seen for at least 140 years as unusually warm conditions grip the city. On Tuesday, April 13, 2021, it registered 22.6 °C (73 °F), the highest temperature for that day since 1881. Such high temperatures usually occur during early June.

Moscow has been seeing days of summerlike temperatures from Tuesday, and residents were enjoying the warm conditions after the city previously saw record-breaking snow in February.

On Tuesday, Moscow set a temperature record with 22.6 °C (73 °F), the hottest April 13 in more than 140 years of meteorological observations, according to the Moscow Meteorological Bureau.

On Wednesday, April 14, another temperature record was set as the mercury surged to 22 °C (71.6 °F), breaking the previous record o 20.8 °C (69.4 °F) set in 1962, according to Russia's Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring.

Such temperatures usually occur in the city during the beginning of June.

"Temperatures across a large portion of western and central Russia have been running above normal since about April 11^th," said AccuWeather meteorologist Rob Richards. 

"A large area of high pressure has been in control of the weather which has led to the string of warm weather." He further explained, "This is expected to continue through the weekend before temperatures slowly begin to trend closer to normal."

Cooler temperatures are expected in the coming week, with chances of rain occurring as high pressure moves out of the area.

"Along with the cooler temperatures next week, the likelihood of rain will also increase as high-pressure shifts out of the region and a more unsettled weather pattern takes shape."

Featured image credit: FengYun-3B/@meteosatellites