Siberian High | |
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Area of occurrence | Northeastern part of Eurasia |
Season | September–April |
Effect | Severe winter cold and attendant dry conditions with little snow and few or no glaciers |
The Siberian High (also Siberian Anticyclone; Russian: Азиатский антициклон (Aziatsky antitsiklon); Chinese: 西伯利亞高壓; Pinyin Xībólìyǎ gāoyā; Kazakh Азия антициклоны (Aziya antitsiklonı)) is a massive collection of cold dry air that accumulates in the northeastern part of Eurasia from September until April. It is usually centered on Lake Baikal.[1] It reaches its greatest size and strength in the winter when the air temperature near the center of the high-pressure area is often lower than −40 °C (−40 °F). The atmospheric pressure is often above 1,040 millibars (31 inHg). The Siberian High is the strongest semi-permanent high in the northern hemisphere and is responsible for both the lowest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere outside Greenland, of −67.8 °C (−90.0 °F) on 15 January 1885 at Verkhoyansk, and the highest pressure, 1083.8 mbar (108.38 kPa, 32.01 inHg) at Agata, Krasnoyarsk Krai, on 31 December 1968, ever recorded.[2] The Siberian High is responsible both for severe winter cold and attendant dry conditions with little snow and few or no glaciers across the Asian part of Russia, Mongolia, and China. During the summer, the Siberian High is largely replaced by the Asiatic low.