This January has been Moscow’s warmest by a significant margin since records began, clocking in at stunning +0.1C; in all likelihood, it is the first time it has slipped above zero since at least the Medieval Warm Period. The previous maximum was -1.6C just a bit more than a decade ago, in 2007.

Saint-Petersburg likewise broke its record, registering an average temperature of +1.5C. Its previous highest was -0.5C in 1925.

Anyhow, here it is graphed. The black line represents Moscow’s 5 year moving average.

At least during this year, Moscow’s climate has basically turned East-Central European, and by all indications it will continue through February as well.

Here’s a typical street scene from what should be the snowy depths of winter:

I for one am looking forwards to this becoming the norm over the course of the next few decades. In Soviet times, central planners sent masses of people to remote cities in the Far North and deep Siberia that are economically unviable under market conditions. This continues to impose great costs on the Russian budget and economy to this date, while relocating them all back south is too expensive and impractical. But now we have the prospect of warmer weather coming to them instead. In this sense, global warming is highly fortuitous for Russia.