[Dave K]

DAY 141: The scandi high is keeping it rather cold in the far north and the leader Nikkaluokta is the coldest for the second day running. Further east 4th placed Petrun' has its first score for a long time. Just a couple of changes of position in the location ranking, Verkhov'e Lotta back in at the expense of Naimakka.

---

Jõgeva (German: Laisholm) is a small town in Estonia with a population of around 6000 people. It is the administrative centre of Jõgeva County.
It is known as the coldest place in Estonia with the lowest temperature of −43.5 °C (−46 °F). It is the birthplace of Estonian poet Betti Alver.



Jõgeva was first mentioned in 1599 as Jagiwa manor, being established only recently on the lands of the same named village by the orders of the Polish king. During the Polish reign in Estonia (1582–1622) it was part of Laiuse starostwo, which became Laiuse fief during Swedish rule (1622–1721).

In 1756, Jõgeva manor became the property of Gotthard Johann von Manteuffel (1690–1763) and remained in the family of von Manteuffel until 1919 when it was nationalized by the government. In 1876, a railway station, named Laisholm after the manor, was established near the village of Jõgeva. The owner of Jõgeva manor, Ernst Gotthard von Manteuffel (1844–1922), started renting out land around the railway station in 1903. After that, the village started to grow quickly. On October 13, 1919, Jõgeva became a borough and on May 1, 1938 a town.

During the Second World War nearly 60% of the town was destroyed. During the Soviet occupation of Estonia Jõgeva became an important administrative center with several big industries. Many new administrative, commercial and residential buildings were erected at that time.

In July Jõgevatreff, an annual bikers reunion takes place. The culmination of the event is the parade of the bikers through the town. In August, the annual Garlic Festival is held. Jõgeva is also regarded as the headquarters of the Estonian Santa Claus.

A monument called Külmasammas marks the Estonian cold record of −43.5 °C (−46 °F) recorded in Jõgeva in 1940




Well unfortunately it looks like any old or historic building were destroyed in WW2 and most buildings are not very attractive Soviet era constructions. Bikers aren't that photogenic either





There is however a live webcam where you can see how wintry it looks now: https://jogeva.kovtp.ee/et/kaamera

[Dave K]

DAY 142: A rather cold March day for Petrun' and Khoseda-Khard which lie approximately 58 miles from each other. Spring still looks a long way away for the places on the list today, Estonia also having some very low minima. A third scoring day in a row for the runaway leader Nikkaluokta and surely the fat lady is warming up her vocal chords now...

---

Would like to offer some information about Petrun' ( Петрунь ) but there is barely anything in either Russian or English. All I can say is that it is in the Komi Republic and in marshy surroundings of the Usa river which is a tributary of the Pechora. Usa curiously translates from Russian as 'moustache' although the name of the river is Finno-Ugaric in origin and not Russian.

Here is a picture of the area around the Meteorological station...not exactly inspiring! It was established in 1903 but has moved around the village three times in its history

[Ian Williams]

Bet its got a throbbing nightlife though! Talk about drab! lol

[Dave K]

Day 143: Still very cold in the Komi Republic of Russia, and also a very cold night in the Baltic states. Norway was a touch less cold again and misses out from any points. Kuusamo goes back to 10th place ahead of Muonio.

---

I was going to do a feature on Kuusamo but Ian already did it last year! http://www.ukweather...

So here instead...

Jyväskylä (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈjyvæsˌkylæ]) is the capital of Central Finland and the largest city on the Finnish Lakeland. Jyväskylä is located on northern coast of lake Päijänne, 147 kilometres (91 mi) north-east of Tampere and 270 kilometres (170 mi) north of Helsinki. The hilly and forested terrain in Jyväskylä is surrounded by hundreds of lakes. The summers in Jyväskylä are warm and winters cold and snowy.



Elias Lönnrot, the compiler of the Finnish national epic Kalevala, gave the city a nick name "Athens of Finland". This nickname is used to describe the major role of Jyväskylä as an education centre and the first place in the world to provide education in Finnish.

The works of the most famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto can be seen throughout the city. The city hosts Neste Oil Rally Finland, which is part of the World Rally Championship. It is also home of the annual Jyväskylä Arts Festival.

As of 31 January 2012, Jyväskylä had a population of 131,997. The city has been one of the most rapidly growing cities in Finland since World War II.

In Jyväskylä region, there are archeological findings from the Stone Age and cultivation had already started 3500 years ago. According to the oldest available taxation documents (maakirja) there were seven estates in the Jyväskylä region in 1539. One of them, the estate of Mattila, alone possessed the areas stretching from the village of Keljo to the villages of Vesanka and Palokka. The oldest estate in Jyväskylä that has been held continuously by the same family is the estate of Lahti which emerged when the estate of Mattila was split for two brothers in 1600. The history of the estate of Lahti and the family of Lahti have had a significant impact on the development of Jyväskylä region. Lahdenrinne in the south-west corner of Jyväsjärvi lake belongs to the old heartland of the estate of Lahti.

The City of Jyväskylä was founded on 22 March 1837 by Czar Nicholas I of Russia and the infrastructure was essentially built from scratch. The original town was built between Lake Jyväsjärvi (which is connected to Lake Päijänne) and the Jyväskylä ridge (Harju), and consisted of most of the current grid-style city centre.

The establishment of schools in the 1850s and 1860s proved to be the most important step from the point of view of the later development of Jyväskylä. First three Finnish-speaking schools in the world were founded in Jyväskylä, the lycée in 1858, the teachers’ college in 1863, and the girls’ school in 1864. Well-trained teaching staff and pupils from different parts of the country changed the atmosphere of Jyväskylä irrevocably.

In the early 20th century, the town expanded several times. Most of today's Jyväskylä was built after the Continuation war, when refugees from Karelia and other parts of the country moved to the city and housing was badly needed. Today, Jyväskylä is growing fast – by approx. 1,000 inhabitants/year.

The second part of the city's name, kylä, means village. The first part of the city's name, jyväs, has been associated with Taxus, a genus of yews, and the Old Prussian word juwis. It has also been speculated that the word jyväs refers to the sun's reflection of the surface of the water.

Jyväskylä is located in the Finnish Lakeland. There are even 328 lakes in the city. Lakes and rivers constitute 20,1% (295 km2) of the total area of the city. Biggest lakes are Päijänne, Leppävesi, Tuomiojärvi, Palokkajärvi, Luonetjärvi and Alvajärvi-Korttajärvi. The city centre is located on the shores of a small Jyväsjärvi. The landscape in Jyväskylä is hilly, forested and full of waters. The architect Alvar Aalto compared the hilly landscape of Jyväskylä to Toscana in Italy: "The slope of Jyväskylä ridge is almost like the mountain vineyards of Fiesole".

Latitude is the principal influence on Jyväskylä's climate. Because of its northern location, winter is long, snowy, cold and dark. During midwinter the city receives daylight only five hours. Summers are mild and temperature after midday is often over +25 °C (77 °F) (77 °F). During summer Jyväskylä experiences long daylight and white nights i.e. midnight twilight.

]Climate data for Jyväskylä
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	−5.1 (22.8)	−4.7 (23.5)	0.4 (32.7)	7.0 (44.6)	14.8 (58.6)	19.0 (66.2)	21.8 (71.2)	19.0 (66.2)	13.0 (55.4)	6.4 (43.5)	0.3 (32.5)	−3.3 (26.1)	7.4 (45.3)
Average low °C (°F)	−12 (10)	−12.7 (9.1)	−8.3 (17.1)	−2.7 (27.1)	2.7 (36.9)	7.9 (46.2)	10.9 (51.6)	9.2 (48.6)	4.7 (40.5)	0.8 (33.4)	−4.5 (23.9)	−9.5 (14.9)	−1.1 (30.0)
Precipitation mm (inches)	45 (1.77)	32 (1.26)	36 (1.42)	35 (1.38)	44 (1.73)	67 (2.64)	84 (3.31)	78 (3.07)	55 (2.17)	66 (2.6)	54 (2.13)	47 (1.85)	643 (25.31)
Source: Climatological statistics for the normal period 1981–2010

[Dave K]

Day 144: The lowest minima dived back below -30 °C again, in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Russia. Norway and Sweden, with much less cold condtions miss out entirely with the Baltic states and Belarus "benefitting" with very cold nights. None of the top 12 score today but Khoseda-Khard now moves up to 13th. Instead of the location ranking table I include the national rnking, with Finland catching up on Norway once more and Estonia challenging 7th place.

---

Ian has already done a little feature on Nar'yan Mar here today: http://www.ukweather...7th-march-2012/

Despite the intense cold though it is nowhere near record cold for March there as this table from the official Russian Weather Service shows

Nar'yan Mar Temperature Records
Month	Absolute minimum	Average minimum	Average	Average maximum	Absolute maximum
January	-47.4 (1999)	-21.7	-17	-13.2	2.7 (1975)
February	-46.5 (1991)	-21.4	-16.8	-12.7	2.8 (1997)
March	-45.4 (1964)	-15.5	-10.9	-6.6	7.9 (2008)
April	-36.3 (1987)	-11.2	-6.6	-2	14.2 (1995)
May	-23.7 (1964)	-2.7	0.6	4.7	27.8 (1991)
June	-7.2 (1930)	4.7	8.8	1.14	33.4 (1945)
July	0.0 (1997)	9.2	5.13	8.18	33.9 (1990)
August	-4.3 (1986)	7.1	5.1	7.14	30.8 (1942)
September	-7.8 (2002)	3	5.8	9.3	23.9 (1965)
October	-26.4 (1988)	-3.3	-0.8	1.6	17.2 (1974)
November	-40.2 (1949)	-13.1	-9.6	-6.5	6.5 (2005)
December	-47.6 (1978)	-18.2	-14	-10.1	3.0 (2006)
Year	-47.6 (1978)	-6.9	-3	1	33.9 (1990)

This post has been edited by Big Dave's Gusset: 08 March 2012 - 16:18

[Dave K]

DAY 145: Not quite as cold as the previous day. Norway and Sweden again miss out and once more none of the top 12 locations take any points. Estonia now takes 7th place in the nation rankings ahead of Iceland and Finland is still making ground on Norway.

---

Mikkeli (Swedish: St Michel) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 48,952 (31 January 2012) (around 34,000 in the town itself) and covers an area of 2,124.60 square kilometres (820.31 sq mi) of which 424.7 km2 (164.0 sq mi) is water. The population density is 28.8 inhabitants per square kilometre (75 /sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish (only 0.15% of Mikkelians speak Swedish as their first language).



Mikkeli was the site for the headquarters of the Finnish armed forces during World War II. In recognition of this, the town's coat of arms incorporates a pair of crossed Marshal's batons, and the town was awarded the Cross of Liberty, 4th class, to be displayed with the coat of arms.

The peace treaty of Nöteborg in 1323, with which the pogosta (church parish) of Savilahti was transferred from the control of Novgorod to Sweden, is the oldest written record of the settlement in the present region of Mikkeli. The locality received its present name Mikkeli after Archangel Michael by the early 16th century at the latest.

On January 23, 1597, more than 200 peasant rebels were killed in the parsonage of Kenkävero in part of the larger Cudgel War. In the war waged by King Gustav III of Sweden against Russia 1788–1790, a battle took place at Porrassalmi Strait, a few miles south of Mikkeli, on June 13, 1789. In the battle the Swedes (the Finns) victoriously defended their positions against superior numbers of Russians.

Mikkeli was granted town rights in 1838. The provincial government of the province of Mikkeli that had been established in 1831, moved from Heinola to Mikkeli in 1843.

In 1918 during the Civil War, the headquarters of the White army were established at the Hotel Seurahuone in Mikkeli. Mikkeli was located in a conservative farming area and it was a White stronghold. But elements of the Russian army garrison in the area supported the Reds. A major engagement was fought around the railway station at Mantyharju, about 20 km (12 mi) to the south of Mikkeli, when the Whites blocked a Red thrust coming north out of Kouvola.
During the Winter War and Continuation War, the headquarters of the Finnish Army was located in Mikkeli. The Army staff made their base in a local secondary school. At the site of that school is the small Headquarters Museum (Päämajamuseo) containing photographs and memorabilia of the era. Because the headquarters of the army was based there, Mikkeli was bombed heavily. But since there was almost no "high-rise" development at that time, the damage was quickly repaired. Architecturally most of prewar Mikkeli doesn't exist anymore.

Wartime Mikkeli is identified with Marshal Mannerheim, the commander of the Finnish army and later President of Finland. His personal railway carriage, which he used as a command post during the war, is parked in a siding at Mikkeli station. It is possible to look inside the carriage through its windows at any time. But public entry to the carriage is only permitted once a year, on Mannerheim's birthday (June 4). The carriage was the venue of Mannerheim's famous 1942 meeting (near Immola) with Hitler, on which occasion a private conversation between the two men was secretly recorded. Photographs of this meeting are on display in the carriage. Mannerheim was a regular diner at the Mikkelin Klubi, where his favourite drink was schnapps.

One of the main museums in the town is the Infantry Museum (Jalkaväkimuseo) located in one of the former army barracks, close to the University of Applied Sciences. It contains exhibits from the four wars in Finland's modern history – the Civil, Winter, Continuation and Lapland wars.

In 1997 there was a province reform, which made Mikkeli the capital of the new province of Eastern Finland. In a separate reform, the rural municipality of Mikkeli which had surrounded the town and the municipality of Anttola were consolidated to Mikkeli in the beginning of the year 2001. The municipality of Haukivuori was consolidated with Mikkeli on 2007-01-01.

The centre of Mikkeli is located on a low rise, set back about 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the shore of a bay of Lake Saimaa. There are several small lakes in and around the town. The lakes of the eastern parts of the town belong to the water system of River Vuoksi. In the west the town reaches Lake Puula that belongs to the water system of River Kymijoki. The town centre is built around a large market place, where markets are held twice each week. There is an observation tower on Naisvuori Hill which visitors are allowed to climb for a small fee. The hill is a rocky outcrop to the North of the town centre and the tower was built as part of a wartime communications and observation network.

Mikkeli has its own airport (domestic flights only), railway station (five trains to and from Helsinki, daily) and a concert hall. The latter is a genuinely world class facility, built in 1988 to commemorate Mikkeli's 150th anniversary as a town. The concert hall provides the main venue for the annual Mikkeli International Music Festival, which attracts musicians and audiences from across Europe. For example Mariinsky Opera led by Valery Gergiev performs there regularly.

The University of Applied Sciences is now the largest single employer in the town. It employs around 400 full time teaching staff plus around 900 support and services staff. Other local employers operate in the forestry, paper, printing, farming and light manufacturing sectors. The Mikpoli complex houses many local companies. Mikkeli is also a major holiday resort within the Finnish lakeland area.

Mikkeli is famous for its nightlife. There are a plenty of bars, pubs and clubs in it. The most popular clubs are Lounge Bar Kharma, Vaakuna, Wilhelm Club & Bar and Amarillo.

[Dave K]

DAY 146: It was a struggle to complete the scorers today with temperatures up and down and all over the place. It's been a profitable week for Khoseda-Khard which now surges into the top 12 into 9th place, otherwise nowhere again in the top 12 scored. For the national rankings Norway was again unable to take any points and Finland is now within a whisker of 3rd.


It is Day 146, I noticed I wrongly kept Day 145 on two tables in the images but can't be bothered to change them now! Tables are otherwise correct with scores.

This post has been edited by Big Dave's Gusset: 10 March 2012 - 19:19

[Dave K]

DAY 147: Apart from inevitably Russia, and Ukraine ice days were very few and far between so that only 7 locations take any points today. Perhaps we have now seen the end of "hard winter" for the far north at least, although that is by no means certain. No changes on the top 12 locations, Finland makes up a very small amount on the gap to Norway in the national ranking.

[Dave K]

DAY 148: Back to a full house of ten scorers today with three of the locations in the top 12. However the points are not enough to make any positional changes although Čoavddatmohkki has closed a little on 2nd place. And the lowest of all nearly hit the -30 °C mark again, Avangard Zernosovhoz is one of the recent additions to the Russian network and apart from the fact that it is in the Samara region can tell you nothing about it. Hmn.ru reported that many locations that area reported a new minimum temperature record for the date, and it looks quite close to location alltime lows for the month of March too.

[Dave K]

Day 149: Only 7 locations today managing to record ice days for scoring. Sharlyk and Orenburg which are about 150km apart were the coldest by far and much of the Nordic countries wasn't really that cold with ice days confined to a small area. Kilpisjärvi was the sole location in the top 12 which scored.

[Dave K]

DAY 150: Two scorers each for Russia, Norway, Sweden and Finland - no ice days found elsewhere. Four locations in the Top 12 take points with Muonio moving up one place to 11th.

---

Kilpisjärvi (Northern Sami: Gilbbesjávri) is a village in the municipality of Enontekiö, Lapland, Finland. It is located in Finland's northern "arm" near the very northwesternmost point of Finland.



Although Kilpisjärvi is one of the largest villages in Enontekiö, it is still quite small. In 2000 its population was recorded as 114. Like most Lappish villages, Kilpisjärvi is built mainly around one major road, Käsivarrentie, or the "Arm Road" and Neljäntuulentie, or the "Four Winds' Road" — also known as E8. Near the Kilpisjärvi is the highest point of Finnish road network, at altitude of 528 m.

Kilpisjärvi has its own school and a hotel, and the northernmost research station of the University of Helsinki is situated there. The most famous tourist attractions in Kilpisjärvi are the Saana fell and the "three-country border point", a monument at the border point of Finland, Sweden and Norway, located at approximately 69°03′36″N 20°32′56″E, roughly 2.5 km northwest from the end of Lake Kilpisjärvi.



In the music video for Röyksopp's Poor Leno, Leno's place of origin is listed as Kilpisjärvi.

1500
Kilpisjärvi was known as place to overnight for merchants on their way from Tornio to Skibotn. Some kind of a little trail has gone thru Kilpisjärvi towards Skibotn from time immemorial.

1628
The first mention of Kilpisjärvi region as a place in Swedish-Finnish tax records. No permanent dwelling, only as owned wilderness lot for a village down south.

1751
A treaty between Denmark, Norway and Sweden determines borderlines in this region. Present Norwegian-Finnish borders come to be.


1809
Sweden lost Finland to Russia. The border between Sweden and Finland was drawn.

1896
First border marker was built.

1915
First permanent inhabitants in Kilpisjärvi.

1916
The senate of then autonomous Finland, year before Finnish independency dedicated Malla as a Natural Park. Finnish infantrymen exploded the Russian military depot of Kilpisjärvi.

First permanent building constructed close to present day customs building to serve as a boarding house for merchants going to Norway.

1926
Present day Three Border Point was constructed to replace the older marker.

1937
Association for Finnish Travellers (SMY) build the first excursion centre. A picture from those days.

1941
The road via Kilpisjärvi was build in co-operation between Norwegians, Finns and Germans.


1942
In 1942 Kilpisjärvi had a POW camp for Russian solders.

The campsites of the Germans were close to Kilpisjärvi and Siilasjärvi, but bunkers and dugouts can be found in most of the close-by hills and fells. When Germans retreated they blew up most of these constructions.

During the autumn of 1942 a fleet of 9 Junkers-bombers came from Norway having Russian military base Murmansk as their target. A local resident saw one of the 9 start to smoke, most likely the cause was some kind of engine trouble. The plane crashed to the ground somewhere behind Saana. It seems that the bomb cargo was released before the crash to ensure they would not go off at the time of contact with ground. And thus surprisingly one of those onboard survived.


1943
Ahdaskuru Bridge was built. It is classified as a museum bridge.

1945
Lapland War ended. Customs, frontier guard and roadworks depot were set up and built the same year.

1964
Helsinki University Biological Research Facility was built.



1966-1970
A set of cabins up the fells and trekking routes were built by the Finnish Forestry Agency.

1975
Saananmaja - a hostel was started.

1978
Meteorological Institution founded their permanent station in Kilpisjärvi.

KILPISJÄRVI IN A NUTSHELL
- Europe's cleanest air
- 40 over 1000 meter high peaks
- Only 50 kilometres to the shore of Arctic Ocean
- Sun is above horizon from May to August
- Rare plants and birds
- Three Border Point
- Paradise for a photographer
- Favourite activities: skiing, hiking, snowmobiling, photography, fishing, husky rides, plane rides, paragliding, heli-skiing, trips to Norway and Sweden
- GPS-Location: 69°02'N - 20°47'E

CLIMATE
- The longest winter and thickest snow in Finland
- The longest ski-season: from September 'till Midsummer Day
- More Northern Lights than anywhere else in Finland
- Average temperature: in January -13,6°C, in July +10,9°C
- Average temperature all year round -2,3°C

FINLAND-WIDE CLIMATE RECORDS HELD BY KILPISJÄRVI
- Biggest recorded snowfall in one day: 48 cm (29.1.1981)
- Thickest average snow: 190 cm (19.4.1997)

[Dave K]

DAY 151: Just the two each again from Russia, Norway, Sweden and Finland; wonder if that's largely it now for the other nations? We have some movements in the location table which I have expanded to show the Top 15 now. Čoavddatmohkki has moved up into second place and Kuusamo jumped two places into 10th. National ranking table just shows the top 4 nations now unless we have any scores lower down as things seem pretty fixed.

---

Kanevka - (Russian: Каневка) the village is in the Lovozero district of the Murmansk region, and is the fourth largest town district. The population is 107 residents ( 2005 ). Distance from district center is 225 miles . Communication with other cities is possible by air, the village has an airstrip. Village is located on both banks of the river Yugonka, where it flows into the Ponoi.

The climate is subarctic . On January 27th 1999 Kanevka recorded the absolute minimum temperature for the Murmansk region at -51.1 ° C.

The principal place of business, the Co-operative office is experiencing physical and financial difficulties due to the remoteness of the office and high transport costs of transporting products and other goods. Of great importance for the villagers are fishing, hunting, gathering mushrooms and berries. The region is developing eco-tourism. Large areas near the village have been bought by foreigners for private fishing.

Sami singer Ivan Matrehin has lived in Kanevke since 1962.

[Dave K]

DAY 152: And the winter goes on and on...I thought when I found Norway and Sweden had no eligible ice days that it might be just Russia today but the cold still did spread around quite a large area even if a couple of places scraped an ice day by the narrowest margin. None of the top 15 locations scored and neither did any bubbling under so no changes to the location rankings of note. Finland with two scorers just claws back a little of the gap to third place behind Norway.

---

Pinega (Russian: Пинега) is a settlement, formerly a town, in Pinezhsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Pinega River (hence the name). It serves as the administrative center of Pinezhsky Selsoviet, one of the seventeen selsoviets into which the district is administratively divided. Municipally, it is the administrative center of Pinezhskoye Rural Settlement, one of the fifteen rural settlements in the district. Population: 3,763 (2002 Census); 4,401 (1989 Census).




Pinega was known from 17th century as pogost Pinezhsky Volok. In the course of the administrative reform performed in 1708 by Peter the Great the area was included into Archangelgorod Governorate, with the creation of Kevrolsky Uyezd. The center of the uyezd was located in Kevrola, now a village. In 1780, the Governorate was abolished and transformed into Vologda Viceroyalty, with the creation of Pinezhsky Uyezd in place of the Kevrolsky Uyezd. The center of the uyezd was Pinega, which thereby became a town. In 1796, Pinezhsky Uyezd moved into the Arkhangelsk Governorate. In 1897, the population of Pinega was 992. In 1925 the town of Pinega, while still being the center of the uyezd, was downgraded to a selo, and in February 1927, Pinezhsky Uyezd was abolished and merged into Arkhangelsky Uyezd.

During Russian Civil War in 1918, battles were fought between the Red Army and British troops in Pinega and around. For a short period, Pinega was occupied by British and American troops.

In 1929, several governorates were merged into Northern Krai. July 15, 1929 the uyezds were abolished, and Pinezhsky District was established. Pinezhsky District became a part of the Arkhangelsk Okrug of the Northern Krai. In 1930, the Okrug was abolished, and the district became subordinate to the central administration of the Northern Krai. In 1936, the Krai was transformed into Northern Oblast. In 1937, Northern Oblast was split into Arkhangelsk Oblast and Vologda Oblast. Then, in 1959, Karpogorsky and Pinezhsky Districts were merged into one district with the administrative center located in Karpogory.

From 1960 to 1993 Pinega was an urban-type settlement, after which it was downgraded to a rural type settlement again.

Downstream from Pinega there are karst caves which are a major tourist attraction. The karst landscape of the right bank of the Pinega River is protected in Pinezhsky Nature Reserve.

[Dave K]

DAY 152: Re-post with updated daily scores for the 16th as I wrongly deprived Grímsstaðir of points

[Dave K]

DAY 153: Could only find 5 eligible ice days for scoring today, none of the Nordic countries had any. Khoseda-Khard is the only location in the Top 15 to score and moves up a place to 8th. More points for Grímsstaðir means that Iceland moves up one place in the national rankings.

[Dave K]

DAY 154: Parts of the Nordic countries cooled down sharply again and with Iceland increase the scoring contingent back to 10 just as parts of eastern Europe have become much milder. Petrun' and Muonio are the only top 15 locations to take points and Muonio bounces back up two places to 10th.

[Dave K]

DAY 155: Nine scorers today. Khoseda-Khard is putting in a late charge and is now up to 6th, there could be a continuing tussle for the silver and bronze in the locations as the deep freeze persists in NE European Russia.

I'm sensing that such interest as there was in this is dwindling perhaps as we all look forward to some warmth in spring and prefer to forget about winter chills! So I might call an end to this on the 1st April even though it's likely there could still be a few ice days afterwards. We'll see...

[Dave K]

DAY 156: Iceland was a little milder with no ice days so we just have the "usual suspects" today with 8 locations in the scoring. Still the Komi and Nenets regions dominate but also a rather cold night in parts of the Nordic countries albeit that the maxima are close to zero giving a large diurnal range. Three of the Top 15 locations take points but Kevo is the only one to change position moving up a place to 11th. Still uncertain if Norway or Finland will take the bronze in the national ranking.

---

Ust'-Shchuger (Russian: Усть-Щугер), formerly known as Ust-Shchugor (Усть-Щугор), is a rural locality (a village) in the Komi Republic, Russia,located at an elevation of 85 meters (279 ft) near the confluence of the Pechora and Shchuger Rivers. It holds the European low temperature record of −58.1 °C (−72.6 °F), recorded on December 31, 1978. The Shchugor River was once a minor route into Siberia. From its headwaters one could cross the Ural Mountains to reach the Severnaya Sosva River thereby allowing travel from the Pechora River to the Ob River.

[Dave K]

DAY 157: Quite a few locations in the Top 15 had very low minima and scored points, with Khoseda-Khard dropping below -30 °C. Petrun' has climbed back into 3rd place above Karasjok as a result. A few places that missed out had minima just as low but the maxima crept above freezing for another large diurnal range.

[Dave K]

DAY 158: Some problems today with the data from Ogimet, many places in Norway/Sweden/Finland in contention for points had no reported synop data after 01z or 02z so the minimum temps reported by the 06z report are missing. I have been able to use info from the national met sites but today's list of daily scores is provisional and subject to change if the missing data is added at some point. However, the data for Karasjok is complete and it has regained the 3rd place it lost yesterday to Petrun'.