At least 40 die in Russian wildfires

[Elmore Furth]

Source: Washington Post

By Isabel Gorst
Tuesday, August 3, 2010

MOSCOW -- Russia declared a state of emergency in seven regions Monday as the death toll climbed from wildfires sweeping the European part of the country.

The fires have devastated homes, farmland and forests across a huge portion of European Russia, which has been left parched by a prolonged heat wave and drought.

A fifth of Russia's grain crop has been destroyed by lack of rain, prompting a surge in world wheat prices and driving many farmers to the brink of bankruptcy.

At least 40 people have died in the past few days as high winds fanned flames in forests and peat bogs.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/02/AR2010080204589.html?wprss=rss_world&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wp-dyn%2Frss%2Fworld%2Findex_xml+%28washingtonpost.com+-+World%29

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There aren't enough professional firefighters to battle all of the blazes in Russia so they are telling locals to fight them on their own. The government has sent 10,000 regular firefighters, 2,000 Defense Ministry troops and about 3,000 Interior Ministry personnel to fight the fires but they are overwhelmed. At the Russian Federal Nuclear Center in Sarov, east of Moscow, fire reportedly breached the perimeter of the territory on Monday.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=11310794

[murray hill farm]

1. Is this heat in Russia breaking records?

I know globally this is the hottest summer on record, but Russia is far enough north that it does seem out of line in the sense of thhis level of ongoing heat. I live in arkansas and the temps have been in the 110 degree range here for the past week. I keep thinking that I need to relocate to northern Canada..ha! but hey.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. Russia has a continental climate like much of the central U.S.

That means no modifying ocean currents, which is why Western Europe is usually cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter than the central U.S. It's also why Portland, Oregon has milder weather (warmer winters and mostly cooler summers) than Minneapolis, even though both are on about the same latitude.

Continental climates are prone to temperature extremes. They can be very cold in the winter, but also very hot in the summer.

Russia is famous for its cold weather, but I once met some Americans living in Japan who decided to go home on the Trans-Siberian railroad and landed in Moscow during a heat wave with temperatures over 90° and no air conditioning.

ON EDIT--Yahoo Weather tells me that it's 98° in Moscow today.