STRUCTURE OF LONG-TERM VARIATIONS OF SNOW DEPTH IN NORTHERN EURASIA

V. V. Popova

The space—time structure of winter accumulation snow variations is studied on the basis of February snow depths over Russia and former Soviet Union republics (1936—1995) from the All-Russian Research Institute of Hydrometeorological Information—World Data Center archives using EOF expansion. Homogeneous regions with similar snow depth variations are identified, specific features of long-term snow variations are determined, and a relation with variations of Northern Hemisphere extratropical circulation indices at 700 hPa (1950—2001) is found. It is shown that the major variations of snow depth in Northern Eurasia are connected with a strengthening of high-latitude zonal flow continued since the 1970s.