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Most of Russia has a harsh climate with long, cold winters and short, relatively cool summers. This is because Russia lies at high latitudes, and because high mountains along the country’s southern border block most maritime tropical air masses from penetrating Russia. During winter the moderating influence of the frozen Arctic Ocean is slight. Because most of the territory lies in a zone of westerly weather patterns, warm influences from the Pacific Ocean in the east do not reach far inland. This is particularly true in winter, when a large, cold high-pressure cell, which is centered in Mongolia, spreads over much of Siberia.
Most of the country has only light to modest precipitation, however. Across the Great European Plain, average annual precipitation decreases from more than 800 mm (32 in) in western Russia to less than 400 mm (16 in) along the Caspian Sea coast. Throughout Siberia, annual precipitation generally ranges from 500 to 800 mm (20 to 32 in), with precipitation amounts generally less than 300 mm (12 in) in northeastern Siberia. At higher elevations annual totals may reach 1,000 mm (40 in) or more, but in interior basins precipitation may total less than 300 mm (12 in).
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