Geography of Senno region: from relief to climate
Relief, minerals, hydrography and climate
Geography of Senno district
Senno district is an administrative unit in the southeast of the Vitebsk region of Belarus, formed on July 17, 1924. The district borders on Vitebsk, Orsha, Tolochin, Liozno, Chashniki and Beshenkovichi districts. The administrative center is the town of Senno, located on the southern shore of Senno Lake.
Relief and geological structure
The territory of the district lies on the Orsha Upland. The relief is dissected: the town of Senno is located on two moraine ridges separated by lakes. The average height above sea level is about 152 meters.
Geologically, the district is confined to the Orsha Depression. In 2024, near the village of Khodtsy, drilling of the deepest parametric well in the Vitebsk region (1350 m) began to study the deep structure and assess oil potential.
Minerals
| Resource | Deposits | Reserves / Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sand and sand-clarifier | 36 | Being developed |
| Boulder-gravel-sand mixture | 11 | Deposits "Dubnyaki", "Ovsishche" |
| Clays and loams | 12 | Tract "Rakity" |
| Dolomite | 3 | For dolomite flour |
| Peat | 156 | 56 394 thousand t — Total reserves |
| Lake sapropel | 15 lakes | 14 895 thousand t; healing muds on Lake Bolshoye Svyatoye |
| Fresh groundwater | 2 | Deposits "Senno" and "Kozlovka" |
Hydrography: lakes and rivers
The Sennen region is a lake region. According to various data, the territory of the district has from 53 to 69 lakes and 13 artificial reservoirs. The largest lakes: Senno, Berezovskoye, Kichinskoye, Khodtsevskoye, Serokorotnyanskoye, Bogdanovskoye, Lipno.
Lake Senno (within the town) has a maximum depth of 31.5 m, an average of 8.6 m, a water volume of 26.8 million m³, transparency — 1.5 m. 4 rivers and 17 streams flow into it. This is the largest and deepest lake of the district, belonging to the mesotrophic type with signs of anthropogenic pollution.
Lake Berezovskoye has a maximum depth of 15.8 m, an average of 5.8 m. Lake Serokorotnya (34 km from Senno) — mirror area about 1 km², maximum depth 5.8 m, volume — 6.07 million m³, catchment area — 194 km².
There are no large rivers, but about 27–30 small rivers and streams flow with a total length of about 300 km. The most significant: Oblyanka, Serokorotnyanka, Beryozka, Krivinka (length 34 km, within the district — 20 km, basin area 330 km²).
The ichthyofauna of the lakes is represented by bream, pike, perch, tench, roach, bleak, rudd, crucian carp, silver bream, ruff.
Soils, vegetation and forests
The soil cover is represented mainly by sod-podzolic, often swampy loamy and sandy loam soils on moraine and water-glacial deposits. Peat-bog soils are also found.
The forest coverage of the district is 41.9%. Forests are mixed, mainly coniferous, with the participation of birch, aspen, alder. The total area of bogs is 15.4 thousand hectares.
Rare plant species listed in the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus grow in the district: northern linnaea, dwarf birch, bear onion (ramson), gladiolus imbricatus.
Specially protected natural areas (SPNA)
| Object | Status | Area / Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Reserve "Kaplansky Mokh" | Local significance, wetland | 1248,03 ha; white-tailed eagle, grey crane, short-toed eagle nest |
| Reserve "Zamoshansky Mokh" | Local significance, wetland | 1006,21 ha; in the southwestern part of the district |
| Natural monument "Devil's Stone boulder" ("Kravets") | Republican significance | 10,2 × 6 × 4 m; The second largest boulder in Belarus near the village of Sekireno |
| Spring "Dobrinsky Grotto" | Hydrological monument of local significance | — |
Population and economy
The population of the district (with the town of Senno) for 2023 is about 19,035 people; for 2021 — 20,377 people, of which the urban population is 9,898 people (48.6%).
The district is agricultural: agricultural lands predominate. The agro-industrial complex includes 11 agricultural organizations and 22–35 peasant (farm) households. Specialization — dairy and meat animal husbandry, production of grain, potatoes, vegetables.
Transport infrastructure
Two railway mainlines pass through the district: Vitebsk — Orsha and Orsha — Lepel, as well as the Druzhba oil pipeline. Main republican roads:
- P-86: Bogushevsk — Senno — Lepel — Madel
- P-25: Vitebsk — Senno — Tolochin
- P-113: Senno — Beshenkovichi — Ushachi
The total length of paved roads is 741.75 km; density — 37.7 km per 100 km².
Climate and weather history of Senno
The climate of the district is temperate continental. According to the agro-climatic zoning of Belarus, the territory belongs to the northern agro-climatic region, which is characterized by moderately cold winters with stable snow cover, a moderately warm vegetation period and sufficient moisture.
Instrumental weather observations in Senno have a long history. The meteorological station was founded in 1887. Air temperature observations have been conducted since April 1936; after a break during the Great Patriotic War, they were resumed in 1944 and have been conducted continuously to this day.
Current weather
Senno
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Climatic records of the Senno meteorological station
For comparison: in neighboring Orsha the absolute maximum was +38.2 °C (August 2010), and in Tolochin the absolute minimum reached −42.2 °C (January 1940).
Climate change by decades
In the Vitebsk region, as in Belarus as a whole, there is a steady increase in the average annual air temperature. In the last decade it has been recorded above +6.0 °C, and in 2019–2020 it reached and exceeded +8.0 °C. On average for the period 1989–2019, the average annual temperature exceeded the climatic norm by +1.5 °C.
| Period | Average annual temperature |
|---|---|
| Climatic norm (long-term) | about +5.2 °C |
| 1989–2019 | norm +1.5 °C |
| Last decade | above +6.0 °C |
| 2019–2020 | above +8.0 °C |
Average monthly air temperatures
| Month | Average t, °C | Daily amplitude, °C |
|---|---|---|
| January | −7,6 | 6,1 |
| February | −6,9 | 6,9 |
| March | −2,5 | 7,4 |
| April | +5,2 | 8,5 |
| May | +12,6 | 10,5 |
| June | +16,0 | 10,5 |
| July | +17,6 | 9,8 |
| August | +16,2 | 10,0 |
| September | +11,4 | 8,4 |
| October | +5,6 | 6,1 |
| November | −0,1 | 4,2 |
| December | −4,9 | 5,0 |
| Year | +5,2 | 7,8 |
Seasons of the year
Begins on average after November 15, lasts about 130 days — until March 25–30. Snow cover is relatively stable, but thaws are frequent.
The transition of the average daily temperature above +5 °C — on average April 15, above +10 °C — April 30.
Climatic summer (above +15 °C) lasts on average 103 days — from May 18 to September 6.
"Golden autumn" — when dropping below +10 °C (on average September 25); "deep autumn" — below +5 °C (October 20).
Precipitation and moisture
The average annual precipitation is 635–683 mm. About 71% of precipitation falls in the warm period (April — October). The main mass is rain (70–80%), snow (9–16%), the rest is mixed precipitation.
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Precipitation, mm | 45 | 41 | 40 | 40 | 65 | 70 | 95 | 74 | 62 | 60 | 48 | 44 | 683 |
Wind and humidity
The average wind speed during the year is 1.6–2.4 m/s (minimum in August, maximum in January and December). Western and southwestern directions predominate.
Relative air humidity is high: from 67–68% in April-May to 86–88% in the winter months.
Agro-climatic resources
Agro-climatic conditions are generally favorable for agriculture:
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Period with temperature above 0 °C | 230–235 days |
| Period with temperature above +10 °C | 140–145 days |
| Period with temperature above +15 °C | 80–85 days |
| Vegetation period (above +5 °C) | 185–190 days |
| Sum of active temperatures during vegetation | 2400–2500 °C |
| Frost-free period | 145–150 days |
| Average depth of soil freezing | 79 cm |
These data confirm that Senno district belongs to the zone of moderate agriculture with sufficient moisture and the possibility of growing grain, potatoes, vegetables and fodder crops.