The ongoing tragedy in Ukraine has several meteorological aspects, some of which will be covered in this blog.
For starters, the war essentially cut off surface meteorological observations in the area. Here is the plot from a few hours ago. The density of weather observations is large in Europe …. and even some in Russia …. but there is almost no weather data from Ukraine. Western Russia is quite cold…the temperature is only in the teenage years (F).
Now that we are entering mud season over Ukraine and its vicinity, the mud has been a reservoir for intended conquerors for centuries. As shown in the climate temperatures of Kyiv shown below, March is a time of very rapid warming, resulting in rapid snowmelt.
Charts provided by WeatherSpark
And in late spring, precipitation also begins to increase (see climate precipitation below)’
With warming temperatures, melting snow, and then increasing rain, Ukraine experiences a notoriously muddy season during the spring known as Rasputitsa (with another muddy period in the fall). Heavy clay prevents drainage, adding more mud to the area.
March-April 1942
The increasingly muddy conditions were a problem for the aggressors, combating travel in many parts of Ukraine without paved roads.
The weather has been relatively warm and dry in Ukraine recently, and the latest high-resolution satellite imagery does not show heavy snow cover over the western three-quarters of the country.
The latest digital weather forecast shows that very cold air over Russian territory will continue to spread over eastern Ukraine in the next few days.
Surface air temperature (°C) at 7pm PDT on Wednesday. Light green is the coldest temperature.
But warming is ahead (see weather.com’s forecast for Kyiv), which should help ease the region’s struggling population. Unfortunately, that warmth will come with relatively sunny skies, which will favor aircraft operations.
