Regional air temperature maxima and the possibility of their simple energy-balance estimates

The record high temperatures during the summer of 2010 in the central part of the European territory of Russia (ETR) raised great interest in the question of whether these temperatures are the maximum possible ones and whether these maxima can be estimated from energy-balance considerations. The gigantic anticyclone was long lasting and stable, allowing the maximum air temperatures to be estimated with the help of simple energy-balance considerations. This situation can be considered an equilibrium state if a stable meteorological situation persists for quite a long time. In this case these equilibrium temperatures can be estimated using energy-balance equations in the atmosphere and on the Earth’s surface. The simple energy-balance estimates presented in this paper show that the maximum daytime air temperatures recorded in the summer of 2010 in the central part of the ETR are close to the maximum theoretically possible values.