Record snowfall blankets Moscow after 56 years
"The snowstorm that hit central Russia on Friday brought record-breaking snowfall, paralyzing ground and air traffic across the region," said Evgeny Tishkovets, a leading specialist at the Phobos Weather Center, a private weather forecasting service
Russia's capital Moscow on Friday experienced the heaviest snowfall in 56 years, with 42 percent of the monthly average precipitation recorded in just 24 hours.
"The snowstorm that hit central Russia on Friday brought record-breaking snowfall, paralyzing ground and air traffic across the region," said Evgeny Tishkovets, a leading specialist at the Phobos Weather Center, a private weather forecasting service.
"Moscow's main weather station at the Exhibition Centre of the National Economy logged 22 millimeters of precipitation in a single day, equivalent to 42 percent of the monthly norm. Overnight, the snow eased off, with an additional 2 millimeters of light snow falling by morning," Tishkovets said.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport reported that over 1 million cubic meters of snow had been cleared from its premises in the past 24 hours.
As of 12:00 pm local time (09:00 GMT) on Saturday, 78 flights at Moscow's four major airports had been delayed by more than two hours, while 35 others were canceled, Russia's Ministry of Transport said.
All four airports resumed full operations by noon.
Moscow Railway estimated that around 70,000 cubic meters of snow had been removed from the city's railway infrastructure over the past 24 hours.
