The Siberian city of Omsk emerges from winter

The Siberian city of Omsk emerges from winter Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features one of the coldest regions in Russia thawing out in the spring. The photograph shows the Siberian city of Omsk, located on the border of Kazakhstan. 

Another image captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on April 1, 2021 shows Omsk covered in snow. But in this image, captured 12 days later, much of the snow cover has melted to reveal features of the city and nearby farms. 

With a population of more than one million people, Omsk is one of the ten largest cities in Russia. It is also one of the coldest cities, averaging around -4 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. Omsk is a city and the administrative center of Omsk Oblast, Russia, located in southwestern Siberia 2,236 kilometers from Moscow.

According to NASA, the region is mostly a flat plain, which helps the snowpack spread evenly across the surface. Farmland dominates the land surrounding the city, producing mainly wheat, mustard, sunflower, and flax.

In 2020, a spring heat wave caused record-breaking warm temperatures in Omsk. Trees bloomed and river ice broke up weeks earlier than usual. 

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory 

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer