Warm, sunny weather described as an "Indian summer" has settled over the Moscow region this week, according to Lyudmila Parshina, head of a laboratory at Russia's Hydrometeorological Centre. She told the outlet RTVI that the mild spell would last into the last week of September.
Parshina said the warm weather actually arrived in the capital over the weekend before her forecast was published. She said air temperatures in Moscow this week would run two to four degrees Celsius above the climatic norm.
Day-by-day forecast
On Wednesday, September 16, Parshina forecast daytime temperatures of around 17 to 19 degrees Celsius, with variable cloud cover and no precipitation. Overnight temperatures were expected to drop to 6 to 8 degrees, with fog in some areas.
Moscow and the surrounding region were set to warm further on Thursday, September 17, with daytime readings reaching 20 to 22 degrees, she said. Nighttime temperatures would again turn cool, falling to around 7 to 9 degrees, with fog in places.
Light rain was expected on Friday, September 18. Parshina said nighttime temperatures would rise to between 9 and 14 degrees, with daytime highs of around 16 to 21 degrees.
Saturday, September 19, would be largely dry, with daytime temperatures climbing to 16 to 21 degrees and nighttime lows of around 10 degrees. On Sunday, September 20, brief rain was expected during the day, though Parshina said it would not affect the overall weather, with daytime temperatures around 17 to 22 degrees and nighttime lows of 8 to 13 degrees.
What comes next
Parshina said precipitation would increase at the start of the following week, on Monday, September 21, but that no cooling was expected. She said air temperatures would warm to between 15 and 20 degrees in the early part of next week.
No frost is expected in Moscow before the last week of September, Parshina said. She added that on Thursday, some other meteorologists were forecasting daytime highs as warm as 29 degrees Celsius for residents of the capital.
