The key facts
- In the winter of 2026–2027, Russia is likely to see alternations of severe frosts and thaws
- In Moscow, frosts below −40 are not expected, but brief cold snaps below −20 are possible
- Krasnaya Polyana and Arkhyz may be left without a stable snow cover in a few years
Sharp temperature swings and mild winters
The upcoming winter in Russia may pass under the sign of the so-called 'weather swings' — an alternation of severe frosts and thaws with frequent temperature fluctuations. This was reported by the deputy director of the A. M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, professor Irina Repina in an interview with RG.ru (a summary is cited by Life.ru). According to her, an exact forecast for the entire season is impossible, so for now it is only possible to speak about general trends.
What awaits different regions
In Moscow, prolonged frosts of −40 degrees are not expected, but short cold snaps below −20 are possible. Winters in Central Russia as a whole are becoming milder and snowier: over the past ten years, the start of the stable winter season has shifted by about two weeks closer to December. Severe frosts will persist in the north of the country, while on the Black Sea coast the average winter temperature is rising, and the likelihood of heavy precipitation is increasing. The feeling of colder winters at seaside resorts is linked to frequent intrusions of cold air — during such brief episodes, resorts are more often covered in snow.
Risks for ski resorts
The shortening of the snow season creates risks for the ski industry: if the trend continues, Krasnaya Polyana and Arkhyz may be left without a stable snow cover in a few years. Repina noted that European resorts have already faced a similar problem, losing customers due to a lack of snow. Separately, Life.ru recalls an earlier forecast by a climatologist, according to which the winter of 2026–2027 in Siberia may turn out to be the warmest in the last hundred years: abundant snowfalls in November and December will be brought by cyclones from the northwest, while in Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tomsk and Irkutsk, brief sharp cold snaps are possible in December.
