Unusually warm weather melts the hopes of Ukraine's skiers, snow fans and winter lovers alike
In Crimea, it was spring flowers, not snowflakes, that decorated the public gardens on New Year’s Day.
In the nation’s capital, a Dec. 29 temperature of 8 C melted a 26-year record high for the month.
And in the Carpathian mountains – Ukraine’s reputed Winter Wonderland – mud and rain have been washing away the hopes of expectant skiers.
According to Tetyana Adamenko, the head of the Ukrainian Agriculture Meteorological Department, the absence of snow isn’t that unusual for Kyiv. Such occurrences are cyclical, she said.
But she admitted that such warm temperatures are a bit of an aberration.
Crimea, currently the warmest place in Ukraine, recorded an average December temperature of 15 C. The average December temperature should be about minus 1.5 C on the highest summit of the Crimean peak Ay-Petry.
The peninsula has yet to see a flake of snow this year, although generally skiers hit the Crimean mountains from December through February.
The first – and last – snowfall in almost all regions of Ukraine was Nov. 24. But it melted in a few days, before kids on sleds could shout, “Here I come!”
All regions of the country have been recording temperatures from 2 C to 5 C higher than average.
In the usually eastern oblasts of Luhansk and Kharkiv, temperatures were averaging between 5 C and 7 C higher than normal.
The last time the nation experienced such a mild winter was in 1974, when Kyiv recorded a high temperature of 7.8 C. The average December temperature in Kyiv region is minus 2.3 C, according to Raisa Sosnovskaya, the head of Ukraine’s meteorological forecast center.
Adamenko said this year’s blast of warmth is caused, in part, by global climate changes, which started around 1960. Since that year, Ukraine recorded warmer than average Decembers in the years 1974, 1982, 1989, 1990, 1993 and 1999. None of those were as steamy as 2000, however.
While skiers may be boiling mad, farmers are ecstatic about the unseasonably warm weather.
Weather conditions have had a positive effect on winter crops, Adamenko said.
After the late autumn harvest, agricultural officials reported that 90 percent of the winter crops on 7,717 hectares were strong and healthy.
“They are growing now almost in fall conditions,” Adamenko said. “There is nothing to worry about except a sudden frost without snow.”
Without a blanket of snow, frost can zap crops. But a 0.5 meter covering of snow on the fields, even if it’s minus 25 C to minus 30 C, will protect winter crops from frost.
A similar winter warm spell in 1960 caused winter crops at the end of December to grow as big as they should have been at the end of June, Adamenko said.
If you like the warm weather, there’s good news. The Ukrainian Meteorological Service predicts temperatures to remain mild, at least until Jan. 10.
But for those planning to spend their winter vacations skiing in the Carpathians, the news is grim.
The normal base of snow for the Carpathian mountains is 1.3 meters. On Jan. 3, the base was 0.25 meters.
In Slavske, a winter resort at the base of the Carpathian mountains, many skiers have already cancelled their ski vacations. Slavske’s Hotel Dynamo is usually bustling with tourists during the holiday season from Dec. 28 until Jan. 20. Now it’s nearly empty, according to a hotel employee.
Only those who couldn’t reschedule their vacations are staying there waiting for snow. But instead of views of snow capped hills, their rooms look out onto muddy ski runs.
Already the losses have been substantial. Compared to last year, the hotel has recorded 60 percent less revenue.
But meteorologists say it’s too soon to throw in the towel.
“Winter is not over yet,” Adamenko said. “We keep hoping and waiting for January and February.”
