Precipitation remains: New heavy snowfalls await the center of Russia
A new cyclone is already moving towards the Center of Russia, which was hit by heavy snowfall on January 9, but abnormal precipitation is no longer expected, meteorologists said. The snowfall that hit Moscow and the Moscow region has become one of the strongest in 146 years of regular meteorological observations, the Hydrometeorological Center of the Russian Federation reported. Hundreds of flights were delayed and canceled across the country, and cars were stuck in kilometer-long traffic jams. Further, the cyclone, leaving Central Russia, headed to the Volga region and the northwest, and early next week it will begin to affect the southern regions of the country - Crimea, the lower reaches of the Don, the Kuban and the Caucasus. About how the utilities coped with the previous cyclone and what to expect from the new one, see the Izvestia article.
How the snowfall caused the traffic collapse
Snowfall in Moscow and the Moscow region, which Cyclone Frances brought last week, turned out to be a record for 146 years of regular observations, the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia reported.
"The daily precipitation record for January 9th has been updated (the previous one was 12.9 mm in 1976). 15 mm fell at the Tushino weather station, 19 mm at the Baltschug weather station. 15 to 26 mm of precipitation fell in the Moscow region," the experts noted.
The height of the snow cover in Moscow reached 30-38 cm, in the region — up to 51 cm, they noted.
The Hydrometeorological Center added that during the entire winter observation period in Moscow, there were 24 cases of snowfall with precipitation of more than 15 mm. Heavy snowfalls are repeated in the capital every five to six years.
Bad weather since Thursday evening and for several days has caused traffic jams, for example, on the MKAD, drivers got stuck in the snow on the road and had to spend several hours in traffic jams. Traffic was significantly hampered on Kashirskoye and Kievskoye highways, the Bolshoy Moskovsky Ring. A traffic jam with a length of about four kilometers was recorded in the Stupino area. In New Moscow, passers-by pushed buses so that they could drive through snowdrifts. Due to the road collapse on Yaroslavskoye highway, the journey from Moscow to Yaroslavl took drivers more than eight hours. The situation on the highways has worsened in the Tula region. And on the federal highway "Crimea", because of the snow-covered lanes, drivers had to move at extremely low speed.
Travel difficulties persisted in Vladivostok until January 11 — some of the roads there are still uncleaned, local residents complained about the situation on social networks, fearing how they would go to work on the first working day after the New Year holidays. The monthly precipitation rate fell in the city during the day, on January 11, while in Moscow on January 9 it was about 40%. The snowdrift storage sites in Vladivostok turned out to be overcrowded, so the snow began to be transported to the territory of the former gold dump.
The regional authorities acknowledged the difficulties due to the abnormal amount of snow. For example, the administration of the city of Maikop in Adygea asked residents, including business representatives, to help with cleaning. The authorities of the region noted that snow is so heavy on the streets of the city that even with the round-the-clock work of special teams, it is not possible to eliminate the consequences of bad weather in a timely manner.
How Moscow cleared the roads
On the day of the snowfall, about 130,000 employees of public utilities and over 15,000 pieces of equipment were involved in cleaning in the capital, said Pyotr Biryukov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Housing and Communal Services and landscaping. And on January 11, the press service of the municipal economy of the capital reported that it had increased its forces — about 145 thousand people were involved in the elimination of the consequences of the snowfall.
— Snow in the metropolitan region continues periodically, over the past day it has increased by 2 cm, by morning we expect another 2 to 6 cm, in total in the coming days, according to the updated forecast of meteorologists, snow growth may reach up to 16 cm. Since the beginning of the snowfall, up to 46 cm has fallen in some areas," said Pyotr Biryukov.
According to him, the road network has now been cleared of snow. Measures have been organized everywhere to remove the formed snow banks. During the day, snow loading and removal operations are also carried out in the courtyards. There are more than 50 stationary snow-melting points, their total capacity allows to recycle about 650 thousand cubic meters of snow per day.
"We ask the citizens to understand the inconveniences associated with the work of clearing the city of snow and removing it, and not to interfere with the work of municipal equipment," the city economy service said in a statement.
The Moscow region is better prepared than others for extreme weather events, Konstantin Krokhin, chairman of the Union of Housing Organizations in Moscow, told Izvestia.
— There is more equipment in the capital and in the Moscow region than in other regions of Russia, and the cleaning technology itself allows to clear streets and roads of snow in a short time, — he said.
The expert said that the metropolitan utilities had treated the roads with reagents even before the arrival of the snowstorm. Thanks to this, the snow began to melt faster and it was easier to clear it.
— But on January 9th and 10th, we saw entire bus routes stopped because they could not function. The fact is that bulky vehicles are not adapted to weather anomalies," Konstantin Krokhin said. — In addition, some management companies did not cope promptly with cleaning yards and entrances. According to the regulations, all approaches, exits from the residential sector, and social facilities must be cleared within six hours. But we haven't cleared the paths for the second day.
At the same time, Muscovites went out en masse with shovels into the yards to clear the driveways. They were coordinated in house chats.
How bad weather affected airports
At the capital's airports, 28 flights were canceled and more than 50 were delayed. On the night of January 10, Sheremetyevo Airport announced a temporary closure for aircraft arrivals for several hours, until 08:00 Moscow time, and then extended this restriction until 10:00 a.m. On the morning of the same day, the restrictions were lifted, but arrivals and departures were delayed for a period of several hours to a day.
As of the evening of January 11, flights to Moscow from the Far East, as well as from Beijing, Bangkok, Guangzhou, Male and Colombo were delayed. There were delays for flights to Tashkent, Dubai, Murmansk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kaliningrad, Vladivostok, Phuket, Beijing, Male.
One of the passengers stuck at the airport told Izvestia that people spent almost two days sleeping on air mattresses, those who didn't have enough — on thin mats, while people refused hotels, hoping to fly anyway. There were also problems with baggage claim — after standing in queues for several hours, not everyone was able to receive it. Those who decided not to wait were promised to deliver their luggage home.
At Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, snow completely covered the territory of the runway, where it was difficult to see the signs due to precipitation. On the afternoon of January 10, more than 50 flights were canceled and delayed there.
The Prosecutor General's Office initiated surveillance measures to monitor the observance of passengers' rights, in particular, at four Moscow airports (Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky), transport prosecutors opened mobile reception rooms.
The working week will start with snow
Now a new cyclone is bringing snowfall to the center of Russia again, meteorologists told Izvestia.
"This is a southern cyclone, but it also carries the features of an atmospheric vortex," Tatiana Pozdnyakova, a leading specialist at the Meteonovosti news agency, told Izvestia. — Its center will be located slightly east of the Moscow region. That is, it will affect the Moscow region, but only the edge. Therefore, the main precipitation will fall in the east of the Chernozem region and further in the Volga region.
According to her, the snowfall will continue until the 14th, but it will not be so heavy. The nights will get colder, and the air temperature in Moscow may drop to -12 degrees.
During the day, the temperature in the capital will range from -9 to -7 degrees.
But the regions, unlike Moscow, should prepare for more significant snowfalls, Roman Vilfand, scientific director of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia, told Izvestia.
"Precipitation is expected in the Ryazan, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod regions and the Middle Volga,— he said.
According to the expert, especially heavy snowfalls are expected in the North Caucasus. On January 12, a significant drop in temperature is also expected in Crimea and Kuban.
According to the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia, heavy rain, thunderstorms, heavy and very heavy precipitation (rain, sleet) are expected in most areas of the Krasnodar Territory until January 12, heavy snowfalls will occur in Khakassia and Khabarovsk Territory, and abnormally cold weather is expected in the Bryansk and Orel regions until January 14.
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