Weather patterns

The climate is much influenced by the position of the zapovedniks territory on the Ural Mountain Ridge stretching from north to south deep in the continent. This affects both the seasonal temperature changes and the quantity and spatial distribution of precipitation. Although there is not enough of meteorological data to present a decent quantitative description of the climate, the perennial data allows revealing general tendencies.

The climate is continental. Winters are long and cold; summers are short and relatively warm. All seasons and sub-seasons have distinct boundaries.

The warmest period of the year is the middle of July with average temperatures reaching 13.6 degrees Celsius. Temperatures are generally stable in late June and throughout July. In spring and autumn the average decade temperatures increase or fall steadily, ascending above freezing in May and falling below freezing at the end of October.

Unlike other seasons, the colder months show significant temperature fluctuations, this phenomena is reflected in the decade temperature averages. In the beginning of winter (late November), there usually occurs a period with very low temperatures: the minimal temperatures reach minus 30 degrees Celsius. The warmest winter period is the third decade of January. The coldest period of the year is the second decade of February; the average temperature reaches 19.8 degrees Celsius below zero.

The eastern slopes receive less precipitation than the western ones. The mountain foot (River Solva) receives up to 659 mm of precipitation, the highlands get up to 900 mm and more. Two thirds of precipitation occurs during the summer months. The snow on the ground remains for 6-7 months. The snow height at the foot of the mountains reaches 130 cm.

Soils

The soil formation in the region is influenced by the rugged terrain, low temperatures and heavy precipitation. The main soil type of the mountainous area is the shallow podzols (Spodosols) with a large portion of gravel. It variation are In the mountain part the ground is mostly shallow rubble podzolic soil: mountain forest podzolic soils, mountain meadow podzolic soils, mountain tundra podzolic soils. The podzol stratum is not clearly defined. The high humidification of the upper soil horizon determines the formation of mountain wetlands. The soil depth in the mountainous area is 5-10 cm.

The main soil types of the flatlands are forest pozolic soils, forest-gley podzolic soils, taiga bog soils, and loamy soils with a portion of gravel. The average soil depth in this area is 40-50 cm.