Warm autumn weather survived in the first decade of November over the whole territory of Russia. The decade-averaged air temperature was 3-6° above the normal value in the ETR, and 3-10° above in the Asian territory of Russia. In the first decade, this temperature was close to normal in the south of the Far East only, or even somewhat lower than that in the Trans-Baikal. New records of heat were set in the north-west and north of Russia, in the Urals, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Evenkiya, the Tomsk, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo Regions, and the Altai Territory.

In the second and third decades, positive temperature anomalies in the north of the ETR, in Siberia and the Far East grew higher: up to 4-6° in Karelia as well as in the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk Regions, and up to 10-15° beyond the Urals. The thermometer readings rose to +15° in Western Siberia. The air warmed up as never before in Yakutia, in the Trans-Baikal and Evenkiya, in the Turukhansk Territory, in Chukotka and Kamchatka, in the north of the ETR and in the Arctic. In the Angara Region where twenty-degree frosts are usually observed at this time of year, the air temperatures retained in the range of about -2…-10° for the whole week. Yet, the onset of winter manifested itself at last. In the second decade, cold weather came to most of the ETR. Frosts down to -9° were recorded in the Kuban, and came to the Crimea and the Stavropol Territory in the night-time. In the Perm Territory, Bashkiria and the Orenburg Region, the thermometer readings would sometimes drop below the -20° mark, while in Yakutia and the Magadan Regions, frosts reached as low as -40°. In the second and third decades, the decade-averaged temperatures in the centre and south of the ETR were 1-3° lower than normal.

In overall, November 2020 in Russia, with the exception of the south of Russia and several regions in the south-east of the Volga Federal District or in the south-west of the Urals one, became the warmest in history. Its monthly-averaged air temperature exceeded the record-breaking value set in 2013, and was higher than normal everywhere in Russia: by 2-5° in the north of the ETR, and by 10-14° or more in the Urals and to the east of them. This November was warmer than ever in the Asian territory on the average, and the second warmest in Siberia as well as in the north of the Far East.

The extremely warm weather during all three months of autumn naturally resulted in high season-averaged temperatures. This autumn in Russia was the warmest in the meteorological chronicle since 1891, and the previous maximum of the latter temperature as of 2005 was exceeded by almost one degree. Autumn 2020 was also the warmest in history in the Asian territory, and separately in the Siberian and Far-Eastern Federal Districts. As for the ETR, this autumn replicated the record-high temperature observed in 1923 and later in 2005. The highest season-averaged temperature was also regained in the Central Federal District, the second highest, achieved in the North-Western Federal District, and the third highest, observed in the Ural Federal District. The average temperature in autumn was above-normal throughout Russia: 2-4° above the normal value in the ETR, and 2-10° above beyond the Urals.

Even though the monthly-averaged air temperature in most of East Asia was close to normal, it should be noted that the weather was noticeably warmer than usual in individual regions in the north of Japan and Korea, as well as in the north-eastern and central parts of China. On the Japanese island of Hokkaido and in the Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong and Henan, the normal monthly averages were exceeded by 2-3° in some places.

In the countries of South-East Asia, the monthly-averaged temperatures in November were approximately normal; they were slightly higher than that in the north of Thailand only.

In a large part of India, the monthly-averaged temperatures were also close to normal. But in the northern and north-western regions of the country and in the neighbouring Pakistan, they were noticeably lower. In Delhi, this month was the coldest November in 70 years.

The weather in Central Asia was still very warm at the beginning of the month. New maxima of air temperatures were recorded in Kazakhstan, especially in the north of the country. A new absolute maximum of November temperature was observed in Atyrau (formerly Guryev). However, colds came here later on and spread all over Central Asia. The thermometer readings dropped to -5…-10° at night. In Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the all-time temperature minima were recorded. Frosts in Kazakhstan almost reached -20°. Eventually, this region fell under the spell of cold on the monthly average. The monthly-averaged temperatures were sub-normal far and wide; in Kazakhstan, 2-3 or more degrees below the normal value in some locations.

The weather was warm in the Near East. At the beginning of November, the record-breaking high temperatures in Armenia and Azerbaijan were measured, and at the end of it, the weather in Antalya located in the south of Turkey was so warm that orange trees began to bloom; this usually happens in spring. In some places, the monthly-averaged air temperatures exceeded the normal value by 2° and more.

In most of North Africa, the monthly-averaged temperature in November was normal or slightly increased. The air in Algeria warmed up to +36° at the beginning of the month.

Almost all Europe enjoyed warm weather during November. From Spain to the central and northern regions of the continent and further to the Baltic States and Belarus, the monthly-averaged air temperature exceeded its normal value by 2-4 or more degrees. New temperature maxima were recorded in Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Norway and Sweden. In Barentsburg (Svalbard, Norway), a new temperature maximum for November was set. The monthly-averaged temperature in Norway and Belarus was the highest in the history of meteorological observations. In Spain, the air warmed up to +27° at the beginning of the month, and November as a whole became the third warmest in history; in the UK, it was the fifth warmest.

November 2020 in the USA was the fourth warmest in the history of meteorological observations. After cold weather in October, abnormally warm weather returned to the central regions of the country. In the Midwest and New England, the air temperature rose to +23° sometimes. The monthly-averaged air temperature exceeded the normal value by 2° over a large territory, or by 4° in some places. This November was the second warmest in history in New Mexico, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware. From time to time, cold breakthroughs would still occur: for example, the thermometer readings in heat-coddled California dropped as low as +3° sometimes.

November was markedly (by 2-4°) warmer than usual in the north of Mexico and in the polar regions of Canada. At the same time, the temperature was about normal in most of Canada.

This November was extraordinary warm in the Arctic: its monthly-averaged temperature eclipsed the previous highest achievement dated 2016. The normal value was exceeded by 6.5° on the average for the whole territory of the region, or by 14 or more for individual locations. The daily-averaged air temperatures were 20 or more degrees higher than normal at the end of the month.

November closed the calendar autumn 2020, and this autumn, alongside autumn 2015, turned out to be the warmest in the meteorological history of the Northern Hemisphere. Apart from Russia discussed above, this autumn was the warmest in the Arctic and in Europe. The season-averaged temperature was 2-4 or more degrees higher than normal in the north and east of Eurasia, and as much as 4-10° higher in the Arctic. The weather in the south-west and south-east of the United Stated was remarkably warmer than usual (the anomalies reached +2° and more). The highest season-averaged air temperature was recorded in California and Florida.

The monthly-averaged temperature in Moscow was +2.2°, corresponding to the anomaly of +3.4°. This November entered the Top Ten of warmest ones in the meteorological annals of the capital, and autumn was the warmest in history: its average temperature was half a degree higher than the previous record-breaking value observed in 1938.

La Niña in the Pacific Ocean continued growing in strength, and negative SST anomalies exceeded 2° in certain areas. Just as in October, the subtropical and temperate latitudes of the Ocean were occupied by large positive anomalies, larger than 2-3° in the west and east of the Pacific. The average SST anomaly of the Pacific Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere reproduced the highest figure recorded in 2015, and the average SST reached the maximum value for the second month in succession. Abnormally cold water was observed along the coast of the East China and South China Seas.

In the Atlantic Ocean, the average SST remained the same as in the previous month. Large positive anomalies (up to +2° and more) formed at the subtropical latitudes in the west of the Ocean. But further to the north, they gave way to negative anomalies sweeping across the entire Ocean from Canada to Ireland. Along the Northern Sea Route, the SST was noticeably higher than its normal value.

In November, precipitation was deficient in most of the ETR, and was normal just in a few constituent entities of the Federation, most of them in the North-West Federal District. In the Central Federal District, they included the Black Earth Region, in the South Federal District, the Republic of Kalmykia, and in the North Caucasus, the Chechen Republic. The only Federal District in the ETR to exhibit above-normal monthly totals was the Republic of Dagestan. The precipitation amounts were subnormal everywhere in the Volga and Ural Federal Districts even though record-breaking precipitation was observed on some days. For example, up to 20 mm of daily precipitation was measured in the Kursk and Voronezh Regions at the beginning of the month, and Kalmykia was covered with snow reaching 37 cm in depth in the middle of the month. In the third decade, a lot of snow fell in Central Russia. This created snow banks up to 15-20 cm high in the Smolensk, Moscow and Kaluga Regions.

Precipitation in Siberia was not abundant too. Its amounts were above-normal in Taimyr only and normal in Evenkiya as well as in the south of Western Siberia and of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. At the same time, the monthly precipitation totals in the rest of Siberia did not reach the normal values. The figures were sufficiently or excessively high only in the north of the Far East and in the Trans-Baikal, viz., in the Republics of Buryatia and Yakutia and in the Magadan Region, but were lower than normal in the south of the Far East. Just like in the ETR, new maxima of daily precipitation totals were recorded on some days: 71 mm per day in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski at the beginning of the month, and 36 mm per day in Vladivostok (the Primorye Territory) in the second decade.

The total amounts of precipitation in autumn were noticeably above normal in Eastern Siberia and in the Far East only – first of all, around Baikal, as well as in Chukotka and Kolyma. These amounts were close to normal in the Urals and in the north-west of Russia, and less than that in the rest of the ETR.

In the east of Asia, a lot of precipitation (2-3 times the normal value) went to most parts of Mongolia, to the central and north-eastern regions of China, and to Korea. In Seoul, 68 mm of rainwater fell in a single day: this exceeded the normal monthly value, and was the largest daily amount ever observed in the last month of autumn. Precipitation was scarce in Japan and in the rest of China.

The precipitation amounts were normal or decreased in South-East Asia. Heavy rains fell in Indonesia. They caused landslides hurting thousands of people.

The weather was mostly dry in South Asia. Rains took place in the south-east of India only, and in the north of Pakistan where powerful downpours that gave way to unprecedented snowfalls after a few days brought snow in amounts never seen before this time of year. There, the depth of snow cover reached one metre.

Heavy rainfalls hit the countries of the Near and Middle East. The normal monthly precipitation amounts in Iran, Iraq and Kuwait, in the north of Saudi Arabia, in Lebanon and Israel were exceeded by 2-3 or more times. On several occasions during November, downpours inundated Israel and caused flooding. In some locations, up to 160 mm of atmospheric moisture accumulated in a pair of days: this is three times the normal monthly amount. Roads were under water to a depth exceeding 40 cm. In Iraq, torrential rains flooded a number of districts in Baghdad. At the end of the month, roads turned into rivers after powerful downpours in Lebanon, and more than 100 mm of rain fell for a single day in Kuwait where the normal monthly amount of rainwater is 30 mm.

The western part of North Africa received almost no precipitation in November. Yet, rains were pouring in the north, centre and east of the continent. In Libya and Somalia, they caused floods that deluged agricultural lands and caused large-scale destruction. Heavy rains also occurred in Chad, in the north of Cameroon and in Uganda. Along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Guinea, the monthly precipitation totals were normal.

The weather in Kazakhstan was mostly dry. In the middle of the month, its capital Nur-Sultan was impacted by the ever-heaviest snowfall that created the snow cover 13 cm deep in two days. At the same time, mixed precipitation fell in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. 17 mm of rainwater, i.e., 40% of the normal monthly amount, was collected in Dushanbe for a single day, while the ground in Samarkand was covered with snow.

Most European countries received much less precipitation than normal in November. For the most part, rains and snows fell in the north and south of the continent were their monthly totals were close to normal. At the beginning of the month, heavy rains hit the south of Spain and brought 148 mm of rainwater in twelve hours, and at the end of the month, rains, snows and sleets passed through the UK and Northern France, bringing more than 20 mm of daily precipitation to some places. Italy and Greece were also overwhelmed by downpours. In Italy, more than 300 mm of rain fell in two days, thrice exceeding the normal monthly figure. Rivers overflowed their banks, destroyed bridges and flooded roads. In Greece, sustained heavy rains caused flooding on the island of Crete and inundated its main city of Heraklion.

In the USA, the precipitation rates were normal or increased on the east coast and to the west as far as Nebraska and Kansas, and were low further westwards. All the more surprising is that the record-breaking snowfalls took place exactly in the latter areas, in Colorado and Nebraska. Most of their territories were covered with snow up to 10 cm deep. Heavy snowfalls took place along the Atlantic coast of Canada as well: up to 30 cm of snow per day fell in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Snow was also abundant in the Arctic regions of the country, but most of Canada received normal or decreased amounts of precipitation. In Columbia, heavy rainstorms caused floods and landslides, and led to fatalities.

In Moscow, 48 mm of precipitation fell in November; this is 82% of the normal amount.