Snowfall of the Century: Moscow Experiences a Little Ice Age After Three Straight Days of Storm
The Snowfall of the Century. It's been snowing for three days straight in Moscow fulfilling the monthly precipitation norm. Moscow authorities warn that the situation is still complicated.
Artyom Kol is working on the snowy streets.
- Good morning, Artyom. Where are the snow removal brigades? And what's up with traffic jams? Judging by online services, some roads into the city are gridlocked.
- Greetings. Public services have been working 24/7 for three days. 19,500 snowplows are in the field but that's not enough. Here's one of the main roads of Moscow: the Third Transport Ring. It's still covered in a thin layer of snow despite snowplows passing by every several minutes. Moreover, there's ice under the snow because the temperature has dropped to -12°C which is quite serious especially after the thaw that we had on Saturday. This heavy snowfall began on the same day. It's been called "The Snowfall of the Century."
During the last three days, almost 2,000 cubic meters of snow have been taken to snow melters but still, there's a lot of snow especially on the pavement. Some snow piles are taller than an average person. There, you can see perhaps the smallest snow pile. Public services are continuing to fight the snow. We see their trucks passing by: huge snow loaders and snowplows, vehicles equipped with a scoop, that scatter sand and salt, which haven't been helping that much in melting the snow that's been falling for three days. Despite weathermen claiming it will stop today, the wind speed is rising and the snow is still falling. Let's listen to our emergency services comment on the situation.
Svetlana Tayshmanova, MChS: "The MChS recommends citizens to stay at home, to take public transport, to avoid large and not fixed constructions, roofs, and trees. Drivers are to avoid using personal vehicles, but if there is a certain need vehicle must be driven carefully maintaining distance and speed limit."
According to official reports, Sergey Sobyanin has recently posted on his Twitter that he suggests drivers abstain from using personal vehicles and to use public transportation instead. He also announced that it's alright if children miss school today. Well, the kids are probably happy, unlike the ones who have to go to work today. The roads are dangerous due to the snowfall.
Right now, there are a few cars on the roads. They are driving slowly due to the snowfall, so the average speed is at a minimum. People are simply afraid of traffic accidents.
I'd also like to add that today, the Yandex.Flights service has announced that at Domodedovo Airport, 80 flights were delayed and 6 canceled.
We'll continue to monitor the situation on the roads and will share everything live in an hour.
- Artyom Kol about the situation in Moscow where it's been snowing for three days straight.