Climate of Ukraine: determining factors

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Climate features of Ukraine determines its geographical position. The state is located on the East European Plain, washed by the Black and Azov Seas. The territory is affected by the air of the Atlantic and, to some extent, the Arctic Ocean. The climate of Ukraine is temperate continental. Weather in different regions of the country is determined by solar radiation, atmospheric circulation and topography. Let's dwell on this in more detail.

Solar radiation

Geographical position of Ukraine - middle latitudes with a moderate illumination zone. Most solar radiation hits the earth from May to September, therefore, in spring, summer and autumn, the number of warm days increases. The amount of light reaching the earth is greater in the east, in the western regions there is more cloudiness.

Air circulation

Different types of air masses affect the redistribution of heat and moisture, and hence the climate of Ukraine. Through the territory of the state, air flows both of “local origin” and those that have visited from afar pass. Air masses appear from the west, northwestAtlantic Ocean, which makes winters warmer and summers cooler. Also, the air masses of the Atlantic contribute to air humidification, to a greater extent in the west and north-west of the country.

Dry temperate continental air masses, formed over the center of Eurasia, come to Ukraine. Their influence is more felt in the south and east of the state. Here the weather is cold in winter and hot in summer.

Significant cooling in winter, late onset of spring cause the air masses of the Arctic. The sharp warming is due to the air from the tropics.

Since air masses are different, the climate of Ukraine depends on changing cold and warm atmospheric fronts, cyclones, anticyclones. Cyclones form unstable weather with a lot of precipitation and strong gusts of wind. Thanks to anticyclones, the weather is dry, mild in winter and cold in summer.

Axis Voeikov

The climate of Ukraine in winter is affected by a zone of high atmospheric pressure, the so-called axis of O. Voeikov. In winter, pressure in the area of Lugansk, Dnepropetrovsk, B alta increases due to the crests of the Azorean and Siberian anticyclones. In summer, the axis is weakened, since only the Azores anticyclone forms it.

To the north of the axis westerly winds blow, carrying heat and moisture, to the south - dry winds of east and southeast directions.

The atmospheric pressure zone was named after the climate scientist who found it.

Relief

Underlying surfaceabsorbs and converts solar radiation, affecting the climate. Soils, plants, snow and water surfaces have different values of reflected and total radiation. Climatic conditions also depend on the remoteness of the area from the ocean.

Most of Ukraine is occupied by a plain, thanks to which air flows do not encounter obstacles on the way. As we move to the east, maritime air masses transform into continental ones, which is why the climate of eastern and western Ukraine differs.

The Carpathians are an obstacle to circulating air. The cold air masses of the Arctic do not penetrate through the mountains, so the weather in Transcarpathia is somewhat warmer than in other regions of the country.

Precipitation

Most of all precipitation in Ukraine falls in the mountains. Air currents rush upward faster, so more clouds form over the peaks than on the plains.

The average annual rainfall is 600-800 millimeters. The Carpathians suffer the most from rain and snow (1400-1600 mm per year). The climate of eastern Ukraine and the coast is more arid. These regions are characterized by 150-350 millimeters of precipitation annually.

From April to September it rains throughout the country, and snow during the cold season.

The climate of Western Ukraine is also different in that here in the summer there are temperature drops, heavy rains, thunderstorms, and fogs in autumn. Light rain often drizzles in Lviv and its environs, which the locals call mzhychka.

Seasons

In Ukraine, all four seasons are clearly expressed: spring, summer, autumn, winter. The transition from winter to summer takes one and a half to two months and begins with the melting of snow. Floods occur in large river basins. Strong gusty winds blow across the country.

By the beginning of April, the trees begin to bloom, and in May the birds begin their reverse migration. The air temperature during the day rises to + 15-20 ° С, frosts sometimes occur at night.

Mostly warm weather sets in in summer. The air warms up to +30°C and above. Precipitation falls somewhat more than in spring, but not enough for such a hot summer. The warm season lasts 3-3.5 months in the north and 4-4.5 in the south.

It starts to rain in autumn. The rainiest months are October and November. At the end of September, the Indian summer comes: the air temperature rises to + 20-25 ° С for several days, after which the cold sets in again (October - + 13 ° С, November - + 6 ° С). Birds fly south. The transition from summer to winter lasts up to two months.

After autumn comes a snowy and cold winter. The average air temperature drops to -8°C, but experts also record 30-degree cold snaps. More snow falls in the mountains, less in the plains. The thicker the snow cover, the more flooding will be in the spring.

This is the climate in Ukraine. Continentality changes from northwest to southeast, and thermal conditions change from north to south. The weather in the mountains is different from that in the plains.