Were the Russian winters that so devastated the German military during WWII ordinary winters for Russia, or were they extreme for even Russia?

Jeeves

I have read that the previous two winters had been bad, even by Russian standards. As a result Hitler's weather expert predicted that it was very unlikely that a third consecutive winter would be as bad. Unfortunately I can't find the source of this information. Jan 27 02, 5:49 AM

thinker

What was more important was that the spring thaw lasted longer than the Germans expected. Their initial intention was to invade at the end of May, beginning of June but the ground hadn't dried and their tanks would have got bogged down in the marshes ergo they didn't attack until 22 June 1941, leaving less time to conquer the Russians until the winter set in. Jan 27 02, 6:05 AM