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Temperature hits 100 degrees in Arctic Russian town

Children play in a lake near the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk, where the temperature reached 100.4 degrees Saturday.
(Olga Burtseva via Associated Press)
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A Siberian town with the world’s widest temperature range has recorded a new high amid a heat wave that is contributing to severe forest fires.

The temperature in Verkhoyansk hit 100.4 degrees on Saturday, according to Pogoda i Klimat, a website that compiles Russian meteorological data.

The town is located above the Arctic Circle in the Sakha Republic, about 2,900 miles northeast of Moscow.

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The town of about 1,300 residents is recognized by the Guinness World Records for the most extreme temperature range, with a low of minus-90 degrees and a previous high of 98.96 degrees.

Much of Siberia this year has had unseasonably high temperatures, leading to sizable wildfires.

In the Sakha Republic, more than 680,000 acres are burning, according to Avialesokhrana, the government agency that monitors forest fires.

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