AccuWeather.com

By Jim Andrews, Senior Meteorologist

Jul 26, 2010; 9:43 AM ET

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Two girls cool themselves in a fountain at the Victory Park in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, July 25. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)

An extreme Russian heat wave that brought Moscow its highest temperature in 130 years of record has also shrouded the capital city in a heavy smog.

Unprecedented Heat Sets Records

On Wednesday, a state environmental agency expert said that the pollution concentration exceeds normal levels by tenfold.

A number of factors for the smog have been cited, foremost among them being the rash of peat fires that have burned lately given the extraordinary heat and drought.

Moreover, strong sunshine and high temperatures fostered by stubborn high pressure have acted upon polluting emissions, especially those related to vehicular transportation.

Hope for relief from the smog lies with some flushing mechanism for the lower atmosphere in and about Moscow. One such cause for hope would lie with a cold front and potential thunderstorms forecast to cross Moscow from the west Thursday night and Friday.

The all-time highest temperature fell on Monday, when mercury topped out at 37.5 C, or nearly 100. The old record had been 36.8 C, or 98 F, which was set on Aug. 7, 1920.

Already, as of last Saturday afternoon, the highest July reading was reached, as the temperature hit 36.7 C, or 98 F. This narrowly edged aside the old mark of 36.5 C, set on July 30, 1936.

Meanwhile, the heat's grip held across the region on Tuesday, when a high of 35.7 C, or 96 F, was reached. Then on Wednesday, the temperature spiked to 37.3 C (99 F), or within 0.2 C of Monday's all-time high mark.

Elsewhere in Russia, temperatures Monday, Tuesday and again Wednesday topped 100 degrees over a broad swath of western and southwestern Russia into neighboring easternmost Ukraine. This vital growing area has already endured major crop losses due to the heat and lack of summer rain.

In Moscow, local authorities have already called this July the hottest on meteorological record. Since early June, the temperature has topped 30 C, or 86 F, on at least 25 days as of Wednesday. Of these, no fewer than eight days breached 35 C, or 95 F.

Moreover, since June 21, the average temperature as of Tuesday was 7.2 C, or 13.0 F, above normal. Normal for this first five weeks of summer is 16.9 C, or 62.4 F. The normal high in July is about 23 C, or 72 F.

For Moscow, Thursday will bring more extreme heat with records rivaled or broken. Another 100-degree F reading could be reached before a cold front trims the heat for the late week.

Peat Bog Fires Add to Moscow Heat Wave Woes

It is not just the heat that residents of Moscow are enduring. Smoke from nearby fires has also blanketed the city.

In the south and west of greater Moscow, visibility has been cut as low as 300 to 500 meters (yards) owing mostly to thick smoke from these smoldering fires.

BBC News reports that firefighters were working to extinguish 60 fires in the countryside outside of Moscow Monday. The blazes were said at the time to be covering 145 acres, a relatively small area.

The fires are burning in woods and peat bogs. Peat bogs are wetlands having thick accumulations of dead organic matter, peat, that are prone to catching fire in times of severe drought.

AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews states that when peat bog dry out deeply under heat and drought, they tend to burn stubbornly with much smoke, typical of an oxygen-starved flame.

Moscow has received only 13 mm, or 0.50 of an inch, of rain since the middle of June. Average rainfall during this stretch is 90 mm, or 3.15 inches. Other parts of Russia have suffered for lack of rain since spring and are thus under severe drought.

Some Heat Relief Is in Sight

Through Thursday, Moscow will suffer extreme heat with all-time records rivaled or broken. Another 100-degree F reading could be reached before a cold front brings a meaningful late-week trimming of the heat.

The dome of high pressure that has been promoting the widespread extreme heat and drought will shift eastward enough late in the week to allow the cold front to afford some heat relief, maybe with a few thunderstorms, in Moscow beginning on Friday.

Yet, for a vast stretch of Russia farther east, there is no prospect of meaningful heat relief for at least another week.

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