2024 was warmest year ever recorded in Moscow – data
The average annual temperature in Moscow for 2024 reached a record high of 8.2 degrees Celsius, making it the warmest year in the city’s 245-year meteorological history, according to the press service of Moscow State University (MSU).
The Meteorological Observatory at MSU reported on Tuesday that the previous record was 8°C, set in 2020. While January and May were particularly cold, the remaining ten months of the year were significantly warmer than usual. The highest temperature recorded in 2024 was 33.1°C on July 4, while the lowest was -24.9°C on January 4.
September stood out as exceptionally hot, with an average temperature of 17.9°C, which is 5.7°C above the climate norm for that month. It has been confirmed as the hottest September ever documented, surpassing a nearly 180-year-old record of 17°C set in 1847 during the reign of Tsar Nicholas I.
Experts attribute this unusual warmth to prolonged periods influenced by stationary anticyclones and fronts over central Russia. As a result, September not only broke heat records but also saw an impressive 263 hours of sunshine throughout the month.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the UN’s climate and weather agency, indicated that it anticipated 2024 to be the warmest year ever documented. In his annual New Year message, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that the past decade has seen the ten hottest years on record, including the current one.
