Dear Tom,
Some books on World War II state the 1941-42 winter was one of the coldest in Russia while others portray it as relatively mild. Can you clear this up?
Frank Dollinger, Channahon, Ill.
Dear Frank,
An article in the March, 1989 Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society by Harald Lejenas, of the University of Stockholm, unequivocally states that the winter of 1941-42 was the coldest European winter of the 20th Century. Temperatures were consistently well below normal, and many soldiers froze to death. The German troops were especially vulnerable, lacking adequate clothing for the extreme cold and having their equipment malfunction in the cold and snow. Extensive ice covered the Baltic Sea that winter, a testament to just how cold it was. Climate tables show that temps dropped as low as -34 (degrees) at Moscow and -21 (degrees) at Leningrad during January, 1942.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
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