Winter Weather in Shikotan Russia

Daily high temperatures decrease by 10°F, from 39°F to 29°F, rarely falling below 22°F or exceeding 45°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 28°F on February 13.

Daily low temperatures decrease by 10°F, from 35°F to 25°F, rarely falling below 18°F or exceeding 40°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 24°F on February 14.

For reference, on August 22, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Shikotan typically range from 58°F to 61°F, while on February 14, the coldest day of the year, they range from 24°F to 28°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average winter temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

Miquelon, St. Pierre & Miquelon (6,007 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Shikotan (view comparison).

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The winter in Shikotan experiences gradually increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 49% to 54%. The highest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 65% on January 12.

The clearest day of the winter is December 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 51% of the time.

For reference, on May 30, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 73%, while on October 23, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 62%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Shikotan, the chance of a wet day over the course of the winter is gradually decreasing, starting the season at 29% and ending it at 26%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 39% on September 3, and its lowest chance is 15% on February 9.

Over the course of the winter in Shikotan, the chance of a day with only rain decreases from 27% to 4%, the chance of a day with mixed snow and rain increases from 1% to 8%, and the chance of a day with only snow increases from 1% to 13%.

Rainfall

To show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the winter in Shikotan is rapidly decreasing, starting the season at 2.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.1 inches or falls below 1.1 inches, and ending the season at 0.7 inches, when it rarely exceeds 1.6 inches or falls below 0.1 inches.

The lowest average 31-day accumulation is 0.4 inches on February 7.

Snowfall

As with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day snowfall during the winter in Shikotan is very rapidly increasing, starting the season at 0.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 1.8 inches or falls below -0.0 inches, and ending the season at 11.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 20.3 inches or falls below 3.5 inches.

Over the course of the winter in Shikotan, the length of the day is rapidly increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 1 hour, 58 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 1 minute, 20 seconds, and weekly increase of 9 minutes, 17 seconds.

The shortest day of the winter is December 21, with 8 hours, 55 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 28, with 11 hours, 8 minutes of daylight.

The latest sunrise of the winter in Shikotan is 8:47 AM on January 3 and the earliest sunrise is 55 minutes earlier at 7:51 AM on February 28.

The earliest sunset is 5:35 PM on December 9 and the latest sunset is 1 hour, 24 minutes later at 7:00 PM on February 28.

Daylight saving time is not observed in Shikotan during 2024.

For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:30 AM and sets 15 hours, 28 minutes later, at 8:58 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 8:43 AM and sets 8 hours, 55 minutes later, at 5:38 PM.

The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the winter of 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The chance that a given day will be muggy in Shikotan is essentially constant during the winter, remaining around 0% throughout.

For reference, on August 22, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 4% of the time, while on January 1, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Shikotan is decreasing during the winter, decreasing from 19.3 miles per hour to 17.6 miles per hour over the course of the season.

For reference, on December 27, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 20.1 miles per hour, while on July 22, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 10.2 miles per hour.

The highest daily average wind speed during the winter is 20.1 miles per hour on December 31.

The wind direction in Shikotan during the winter is predominantly out of the west from December 1 to February 19 and from February 26 to February 28 and the north from February 19 to February 26.

Shikotan is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water.

The average surface water temperature in Shikotan is rapidly decreasing during the winter, falling by 11°F, from 44°F to 33°F, over the course of the season.

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

The growing season in Shikotan typically lasts for 7.4 months (226 days), from around April 18 to around November 30, rarely starting before April 1 or after May 5, and rarely ending before November 14 or after December 16.

The winter in Shikotan is more likely than not fully outside of the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season rapidly decreasing from 47% to -0% over the course of the season.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

The average accumulated growing degree days in Shikotan are rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 736°F, from 736°F to 0°F, over the course of the season.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Shikotan is increasing during the winter, rising by 1.4 kWh, from 1.4 kWh to 2.8 kWh, over the course of the season.

The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the winter is 1.1 kWh on December 27.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Shikotan are 43.799 deg latitude, 146.722 deg longitude, and 115 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Shikotan contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 712 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 248 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (1,398 feet). Within 50 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (5,771 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Shikotan is covered by trees (76%) and cropland (17%), within 10 miles by water (75%) and trees (14%), and within 50 miles by water (96%).