Russia, Ukraine Snowpack Raising Spring Flood Potential

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By Drew Lerner

            Kansas City, January 24 (World Weather Inc.) – Unusually wet conditions in parts of Russia and Ukraine that occurred this winter and during a part of late autumn has left the ground saturated with moisture and considerable amounts of snow have piled up on top of the wet ground. The environment is setting the stage for some significant spring flooding especially if precipitation in the spring is greater than usual, as well. The rate in which the snow melts this spring will also have much to say about how much flooding or delay in spring planting might take place.

January is normally a very cold month and it is difficult to get significant amounts of precipitation to fall, but this year was quite different. Precipitation was widespread and much of it was greater than usual. Moisture totals through January 24 varied from 0.50 to more than 2.00 inches and much of the meaningful precipitation fell in the first half of the month. Both rain and snow fell early in the month, but colder weather soon came along to change much of the precipitation to snow and frequent disturbances led to some significant accumulations.

One month of the greater than usual precipitation is notable, but portions of Russia and Ukraine reported above average precipitation in December and November, as well. The abundant precipitation has left the stage set for some potentially significant flooding during the spring if additional precipitation falls while the snow melts away.

A change in weather is advertised for the next few weeks. Much less precipitation is advertised and temperatures will be seasonably cool initially and then may begin to warm as time moves along. There is so much snow on the ground in some areas that spring flooding may occur without any supplemental precipitation.

Delays in the start of spring fieldwork will be possible this year if the snow does not melt quickly with its moisture running off into rivers and streams prior April when most fieldwork usually begins. Note some of the snow depths being reported in the article copied below. The situation Russia and Ukraine is many times worse than that in the North Dakota/Manitoba area of North America because the area impacted by saturated soil and heavy snow accumulations is many times larger which presents a larger risk of spring field working delays and possible flood damage to some winter crops in low-lying areas.

Record snowfall in some areas (“Snow Over the Top of Your Head in Russia”), Jan. 17, 2017 By Robert on www.iceagenow.info

16 Jan 2017 – In the Kuzbass Mountains it is possible to dip your head in the snow. At the meteorological station “Central Mine” snow depth has reached 188 cm (6′-2″).

In the region of the Volga and Central Russia, average snow depth exceeds 40 cm (16 inches). In Nizhny Novgorod snow depth is 43 cm and in Tambov it is 44cm.

In Samara and Kirov, snow depth has reached a half meter (19 inches)! For comparison, the normal amount of snow for this time of year is 25-35 cm (10-14 inches).

Due to frequent snowstorms in the Lipetsk region, the capital set a record in floodplain areas – 85 cm (33 inches)!

Thirty-three inches. That’s waist deep!

Beyond the Urals there is even more snow. The region of Omsk recorded 75 cm (2½ ft) of snow (Tevriz), while the region of Tomsk reported 92 cm(3 ft) (Bakchar).

Traditionally, a large amount of snow is observed in Kamchatka and polar Yakutia. In the village Chokurdakh, the snow measures 166 cm (5′-5″).

The absolute snowfall leader in Russia is the alpine weather station Sochi, with more than 220 cm (just over 7 ft).

An unusually large amount of snow for January is observed across Central and Eastern Europe.

Belarus has more than 30 cm (12 inches), while the western Ukraine boasts up to 60 cm (24 inches).

All the Baltic States, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany, are covered in snow. The Balkans have not seen this much snow in several years.

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