Weather and natural disasters in Ukraine

Flood – a phase of the water regime of the river, which annually repeated in these climatic conditions in the same season, characterized by the highest water content, high and continuing rises and falls in water levels. For most rivers in Ukraine flood lasts from March to June and is due to snowmelt and prolonged intense rains in spring and early summer.

Thunderstorm – atmospheric phenomenon associated with electrical discharges in Cumulonimbus clouds. Accompanied by lightning and thunder.

Thunderstorms in Ukraine constantly occur even in the winter months. They are particularly dangerous in the steppe zone, strikes of lightning striking all that little bit towering above the grass or bushes.

Forest fire – forest fires are divided into grassroots, riding, underground. The intensity of burning wood fires are divided into weak, medium, strong.

Winter is cold in much of Ukraine: the average temperatures are below freezing (0 °C or 32 °F), except in the most sheltered areas of Crimea. Going south, the temperature increases a little, but remains below freezing in inland areas. Snow covers Kiev for about 80 days per year (which were about one hundred in the previous decades, when the climate was colder).
The coldest periods are those in which the Siberian Anticyclone settles in the country: in these situations, the temperature can drop to -30 °C (-22 °F) or even below. The average winter temperature has increased by a few degrees over the last few decades, especially in the interior. Anyway, periods of severe cold are still possible, although, in comparison with the past, they are less frequent and tend to be shorter.