An unusual snowstorm hit Moscow this weekend. The snow was accumulating in the streets, as a result of which traffic was disrupted, flights were delayed and the mobility of pedestrians from place to place was quite problematic. Temperatures of minus 15 degrees Celsius were recorded.
The snow started falling last Thursday, and is expected to stop tomorrow. According to the Moscow mayor’s office, about 60,000 people worked to evacuate the streets.
Following the exceptional situation, the Russian emergency service advised people to stay away from trees, and warned of wind gusts of 18 meters per second (40 km / h).
“This is a real snowstorm, an Armageddon of snow, an apocalypse of snow. This is a real warning of war,” said Yevgeny Tishkovich of the Phobos forecasting services before the storm began.
According to Phobos, the snow in the city reached a height of 56 cm. According to Russian news agencies quoting the National Meteorological Service, the last time such amounts of snow fell on February 12 was in 1973 – and now the record has been broken. Recorded in March 2013, when the snow reached a height of 77 cm.
As mentioned, there have been delays in flights at Moscow airports, a city with more than 12 million inhabitants. The traffic was congested in many places, unusually for the weekend. Residents were asked to drive carefully or use public transportation.