Climate
Saint Petersburg experiences a humid continental climate of the cool summer subtype (Köppen: Dfb), due to the distinct moderating influence of the Baltic Sea cyclones. Summers are typically cool, humid and quite short, while winters are long, cold, but with frequent warm spells. The average winter minimum is about -9°C (16°F), the record low temperature is -35.9°C (-33°F), recorded in 1883. Solid frozen ground is a normal part of winter there. The River Neva within the city limits usually freezes up in November-December (recent years in January), break-up occurs in April. On average there are 123 days with snow cover (stable from December to March), which reaches the average of 24 cm (9.5") by February. The frost-free period in the city lasts on average for about 135 days. There is some temperature variation within the city limits and the city itself experiences a climate slightly warmer than its suburbs. Weather conditions are, however, quite variable all over the year.
The highest temperatures of July and August were reached in 2010.
Average annual precipitation varies across the city, being about 600–750 mm per year on average and reaching maximum in late summer and in the north. Though this number is not high by itself, soil moisture is almost always excessive because of low evapotranspiration due to the cool climate. Relative humidity of air is also high (78% on average), overcast is common all over the year (165 days a year on average).
| Climate data for Saint Petersburg | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 8.6 (47.5) |
10.2 (50.4) |
14.9 (58.8) |
25.3 (77.5) |
30.9 (87.6) |
34.6 (94.3) |
35.3 (95.5) |
37.1 (98.8) |
30.4 (86.7) |
21.0 (69.8) |
12.3 (54.1) |
10.9 (51.6) |
37.1 (98.8) |
| Average high °C (°F) | −3.6 (25.5) |
−3.3 (26.1) |
1.8 (35.2) |
8.5 (47.3) |
15.6 (60.1) |
20.2 (68.4) |
22.2 (72.0) |
20.2 (68.4) |
14.4 (57.9) |
8.1 (46.6) |
1.8 (35.2) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
8.8 (47.8) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −8.8 (16.2) |
−8.8 (16.2) |
−4.2 (24.4) |
1.0 (33.8) |
6.6 (43.9) |
11.8 (53.2) |
14.4 (57.9) |
13.0 (55.4) |
8.1 (46.6) |
3.4 (38.1) |
−2.1 (28.2) |
−6.4 (20.5) |
2.4 (36.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −35.9 (−32.6) |
−35.2 (−31.4) |
−29.9 (−21.8) |
−21.8 (−7.2) |
−6.6 (20.1) |
0.1 (32.2) |
4.9 (40.8) |
1.3 (34.3) |
−3.1 (26.4) |
−12.9 (8.8) |
−22.2 (−8.0) |
−34.4 (−29.9) |
−35.9 (−32.6) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 40 (1.57) |
31 (1.22) |
35 (1.38) |
33 (1.3) |
38 (1.5) |
64 (2.52) |
78 (3.07) |
77 (3.03) |
67 (2.64) |
65 (2.56) |
56 (2.2) |
49 (1.93) |
633 (24.92) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 21.7 | 53.2 | 124.0 | 180.0 | 260.4 | 276.0 | 266.6 | 213.9 | 129.0 | 71.3 | 24.0 | 12.4 | 1,632.5 |
| Source #1: Pogoda.ru.net | |||||||||||||
| Source #2: HKO (sunshine hours) | |||||||||||||
Read more about this topic: Geography Of Saint Petersburg
Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“Is not their climate foggy, raw, and dull,
On whom, as in despite, the sun looks pale,
Killing their fruit with frowns?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The question of place and climate is most closely related to the question of nutrition. Nobody is free to live everywhere; and whoever has to solve great problems that challenge all his strength actually has a very restricted choice in this matter. The influence of climate on our metabolism, its retardation, its acceleration, goes so far that a mistaken choice of place and climate can not only estrange a man from his task but can actually keep it from him: he never gets to see it.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“A tree is beautiful, but what’s more, it has a right to life; like water, the sun and the stars, it is essential. Life on earth is inconceivable without trees. Forests create climate, climate influences peoples’ character, and so on and so forth. There can be neither civilization nor happiness if forests crash down under the axe, if the climate is harsh and severe, if people are also harsh and severe.... What a terrible future!”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)