One of the coldest places on Earth on Saturday became one of the hottest places on Earth. A Russian heat wave sent the thermometer in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk soaring to 38 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). Meteorologists say that would be the highest temperature ever recorded north of the Arctic Circle. Verkhoyansk is about 10 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. Temperatures in the town average 40 degrees below zero Celsius (-40 Fahrenheit) in winter, and it rarely gets warmer than 20 degrees (68 Fahrenheit) in summer. Experts blame the unusual heat wave on a massive high-pressure system that has been stalled over Siberia for almost two weeks, preventing cooler air from flowing south. All of Russia has experienced an uncharacteristically warm winter and spring this year with average temperatures breaking records in the first five months of the year set in 2016.
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