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The rasputitsa is a muddy season that happens twice per year in West Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. It happens in mid-October to late November due to rains, and mid-March to late April due to thaws (according to the Russian wiki page with google translate). These conditions make travel by dirt road almost impossible, as made famous during WW2.

What I'd want to know is, does Siberia and Canada also have rasputitsas? If so, what times of the year do they occur? and are they comparable to the West Russian one?

Edit: I should have specified this, but Siberia and Canada are large places. I would guess there's an arctic limit somewhere, to the north of which never gets muddy since it's always too cold. So I guess what I'm asking is, what regions of Siberia and Canada have rasputitsas (if any)?

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    $\begingroup$ I don't know about rasputitsas, but Siberian roads certainly become quite muddy. $\endgroup$
    – gerrit
    Jan 22, 2018 at 12:04
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    $\begingroup$ @gerrit Do you know what part of Siberia that photo is from, and if that's from rains or thaw? BTW I made an edit, I shoulda specified earlier what parts because they are big places lol. $\endgroup$
    – DrZ214
    Jan 22, 2018 at 13:52
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    $\begingroup$ Sources say it's from the Kolyma highway and that it's around July/August. I don't know how reliable those sources are (I would not trust them for scientific work). $\endgroup$
    – gerrit
    Jan 22, 2018 at 14:54

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In Canada there is definitely a rasputitsa period, though it does not occur everywhere or necessarily in the fall, and it is not considered a rasputitsa by name. Every spring in most parts of Canada there is a period of time when many of the soils are saturated with water from the recent snow melt. The various forest services and companies will often close roads or reduce the load limit during the spring thaw specifically because the roadbeds are saturated to the point that large equipment can punch out the roads and if bad enough get stuck. Even the major highways in parts of the western prairies and in many mountainous areas have reduced load limits just after spring melt because of issues with the roadbed being saturated. This issue mainly affects the tertiary road systems because modern road construction methods are developed to reduce the effect of the spring thaw on the stability of the roads. The post here describes the highway load reductions.

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