June 22 (UPI) -- Meteorologists are working to verify the temperature in Siberian town that reportedly reached 100 degrees on Saturday, the hottest on record for an area inside the Arctic Circle.
Warming in the region has increased two times more than the rest of the world, but if the 100.4-degree temperature in Verkhoyansk, Russia is confirmed, it would be the highest temperature since they have been recorded since 1885.
Verkhoyansk, which is 3,000 miles east of Moscow, is known for having wild swings in temperatures. In the winter, it has recorded temperatures of minus-50 degrees, making it one of the coldest places on Earth.
Siberia was locked in an unprecedented heatwave before the reading, where temperatures were recorded 18 degrees higher than its average last month.
"It is undoubtedly an alarming sign, but not only May was unusually warm in this region," Freja Vamborg, senior scientist at the Copernicus Climate Change Service in a statement last week. "The whole of winter and spring had repeated periods of higher-than-average surface air temperatures."
Quickly melting snow and ice helped contribute to a major oil spill in Siberia earlier this year along with a surprising start to a wildfire season in the region. The oil spill near the Ambarnava River in Norlisk is believed to be worst ever in the Arctic Circle.
"Although the planet as a whole is warming, this isn't happening evenly," Vamborg said. "Western Siberia stands out as a region that shows more of a warming trend with higher variations in temperature. So to some extent, large temperature anomalies are not unexpected."
