From Jeff Masters at Wunderblog:
The Great Russian Heat Wave of 2010 ends
A powerful cold front swept through Russia yesterday and today, finally bringing an end to the Great Russian Heat Wave of 2010. Temperatures at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport hit 25°C (77°F) today, which is still 4°C (7°F) above average, but the high temperature since late June. Moscow has seen 62 consecutive days with a high temperature above average, but the latest forecast for Moscow predicts that remarkable string will come to an end Friday, when the high will reach just 17°C (62°F).
And
Moscow- Russian officials reported a sharp drop in the number of fires burning around the country on Thursday, with falling temperatures a contributing factor.
The Civil Defence Ministry reported some 300 fires, down one-third from the day before, covering some 10,000 hectares, according to the Ria Novosti news agency.
Crisis centre chief Vladimir Stepanov said that a state of emergency previously called by President Dmitry Medvedev had now been lifted in the last four regions, while the Defence Ministry planned to take thousands of soldiers off firefighting duty.
Civil Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu, meanwhile, compared the fight against the worst wildfires in Russia’s history to a “war.” He blamed sloppiness for some of the disaster, saying that “one main reason for the escalation was the tardy notification about fires.”
But Shoygu rejected accusations by critics that the government was concealing the true extent of the catastrophe.”We are deceiving no one,” he said.
He also noted that the “most difficult situation” had emerged in the area surrounding the Sarov nuclear centre, some 400 kilometres east of the capital Moscow. The nearby forest, which is off-limits to the public, had not been maintained for years, he said.