Q.Why is the annual range of temperature high in the Siberian plains?
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →The Siberian plains have a high annual temperature range because they sit deep inside a vast continent, far from any moderating ocean, so summers get intensely hot while winters become brutally cold.
The heart of the answer is the continental climate effect. Water heats and cools far more slowly than land. Oceans act as giant thermostats: in summer they absorb heat and keep coastal air cooler; in winter they release stored heat and keep coastal air warmer. This is why coastal places like Mumbai or London have small annual temperature ranges — the sea smooths out the seasons.
Siberia is the exact opposite. It lies in the interior of the world's largest landmass, Eurasia, thousands of kilometres from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans. No ocean breeze ever reaches it. So the land is left to face the seasons alone, and land responds to the sun's energy with extreme speed and intensity.
In summer, the long days and strong sunshine heat the vast, dry plains fiercely. With no sea breeze to cool things down, temperatures climb high — often well above 20°C, sometimes touching 30°C in the south. The ground absorbs heat all day and radiates it back at night, but there is no moisture or ocean to buffer the warmth. The result is a genuinely hot summer.
Winter is the other extreme. The sun is low, days are short, and for weeks at a stretch the plains lie under clear, dry skies with almost no solar heating. The land loses heat rapidly by radiation into space. With no ocean warmth to moderate the air, temperatures plunge — commonly to −30°C or even −50°C in places like Verkhoyansk. The cold is so intense that the ground freezes to great depth, forming permafrost.
The dryness of the Siberian winter sky matters too. Cloud acts like a blanket, trapping heat near the ground. But Siberia's winter air is extremely dry, so there are few clouds — and without that blanket, heat escapes freely into space, making the cold even more severe. …
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