Hottest January record breaks in 72 sites of Turkey

ISTANBUL

While sudden changes in weather conditions due to global warming are a subject of discussion worldwide, Turkish officials have announced new high-temperature records, with some parts of Turkey experiencing the hottest months ever recorded during the ongoing winter season.

Turkish State Meteorological Service observed some extreme rise in temperatures in 72 sites of the country last month.

According to the data by the Turkish State Meteorological Service, the average temperature over the previous years during January has been 2.7 degrees Celsius.

However, this January, due to warmer weather, the average temperature has increased by 2.7 degrees Celcius, reaching 5.4 degrees Celsius.

The sites that observed the highest rise, making it to the top of the list, are the northern province of Kastamonu’s Cide district, the Central Anatolian province of Sivas as well as the Central Anatolian province of Kahramanmaraş’s Göksun district.

Meanwhile, experts have issued a nationwide snowfall warning starting from Feb. 12, with average temperatures expected to drop as low as 15 degrees Celsius.

“There is a heavy expectation of snow, especially at the weekend. The expected snowfall in the country is likely to be similar to the heavy snowfalls seen in 1987, 2002 and 2004,” said Abdullah Karaman, an expert from the U.K. based Newcastle University.

He noted that according to weather models, severe snowfall is expected in the south and east of the Marmara Sea, the Black Sea and the North Aegean circles.

In recent years, Istanbul has been receiving good snowfall, with snow thickness exceeding one meter in some places.