Climate
The Marksovsky district has a moderately continental climate. The summer is quite long and hot, lasting from May through September, winter lasts from December through February. The difference between maximum winter and summer temperatures is 85°C, the difference between average temperatures of winter and summer is 35°C. The annual precipitation varies from 391 to 435 mm (Fig. 4). The relative air humidity never exceeds 80%, during summertime it averages about 60%. A blanket of snow settles on the region in the beginning of December and melts away during the last ten days of March. The average maximum snowfall is 28.5 cm in the forested plains, 26.5 cm in the plains. In April the water storage in the upper 100cm layer of soil reaches 80-150 mm.
Fig. 4: Distribution across Saratov Region of a) annual amount of precipitation, b) available soil water at the beginning of growing season.
