In Irkutsk Region, with the arrival of calendar spring, it has noticeably warmed, however March, according to meteorologists, remains a winter month, and real spring will come only in April. In the coming days, temperatures will keep rising, in the south intense snowmelt is expected, and by the end of March snow cover may disappear in open areas. At the same time, there is plenty of moisture in the snow and soil, which may favor the start of the agricultural season.

As unusual as it may be for Siberia, with the arrival of calendar spring it has become noticeably warmer outside. This is especially evident against the backdrop that, according to meteorologists’ observations, the average temperature during the second ten-day period of February was 10 - 15 degrees below normal. And that is a rare phenomenon.
However, by meteorological standards, March is still a completely winter month. Spring arrives when the average daily temperature steadily crosses the 0° mark into positive values. And that will not happen for several more weeks.
Nevertheless, Vladimir Gontar, press secretary and head of the agrometeorological forecasting department of the Irkutsk Hydrometeorological Center, explained that in the coming days it will get warmer outside. In March, the average monthly temperature in the southern and western districts will be -6, -11° C, and in the northern districts -13, -17° C. This is 1 degree warmer than the long-term average. But such a temperature increase will not be too noticeable. By comparison, last year March was abnormally warm, when the average monthly temperature was 5 degrees above the long-term average.
According to the forecast for the current month, in the southern districts the thermometer during the day will hover around -1 +4 degrees, and during warm spells it will rise to +8° C. Nighttime temperatures will stay around -9, -14° C, dropping to -20° C during cold spells. In the northern districts, the prevailing temperature will be -1, -6° during the day and -15, -20 at night, with warm spells up to +5 during the day and cold spells down to -32° C at night.
Intensive snowmelt is expected in the south, and in open areas the snow cover may disappear by the end of March. This winter, the water reserves in the snow amount to 130 - 150% of normal, and since late summer and autumn were rainy in our region, the soil will have good moisture reserves. This should have a favorable effect on the start of the agricultural season.
By the end of March, the average daily temperature will steadily cross the mark only at -4° C. This means that spring will finally arrive in the Irkutsk region only in April.