Arctic cold to grip Armenia in early january, temperatures to plunge to -30C

Armenia is set to experience a sharp cold spell in the first ten days of January, with temperatures expected to fall as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius in some regions, meteorological officials warn.

At a press conference on Monday, Deputy Director of the Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center Gagik Surenyan said Arctic air masses will affect the country from around January 3-4 through January 8-9, causing temperatures nationwide to drop by 8-10C compared with recent days.

The coldest conditions are forecast overnight in Shirak and Gegharkunik Provinces, where temperatures could drop up to minus 30 degrees Celsius. In Yerevan, nighttime temperatures during the first ten days of January are expected to fall to around minus 15 to minus 17 degrees.

Despite the early cold snap, Surenyan said January’s average monthly temperature is forecast to be 1–2 degrees Celsius above the climatic norm, with precipitation near normal levels. He added that warmer tropical air masses from the southwest and south are expected to dominate during the second and third ten-day periods of the month, bringing a noticeable rise in temperatures.

Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center Director Levon Azizyan said Armenia’s average temperature from January to November 2025 stood at 8.1C, about 1 degree above normal, while precipitation totaled 422 millimeters, or 81% of the norm. He noted that March 2025 was the sixth warmest March on record since observations began in 1935.