Snowfall of the century in Moscow: Tons of snow cause white hell in Russian capital

In Moscow, more than 100 servicemen, graders and universal road vehicles were involved in cleaning the streets from snow after a major snowfall that hit the Russian capital and the region on February 4 at night. A snowfall like this has never been recorded in the history of meteorological observations: the layer of snow that fell on February 4 was measured at 47 centimetres, which accounted to 53% of mean monthly precipitation.

About 150 flights were delayed at Moscow airports because of the snowfall that has been dubbed as the "snowfall of the century." The two-day snowfall has paralysed traffic in the city and caused many delays at airports. Moscow airports operate at their maximum capacity, the clearance of airfields and the processing of aircraft with anti-icing agents is carried out as frequently as possible.

The number of aircraft that could not land in Moscow was growing as well; some airplanes had to land at other airports near Moscow. At Domodedovo International Airports, over 53 flights were delayed, 17 were canceled. Representatives of Russia's major airline, Aeroflot, said that snow and ice damaged engine blades of 19 of its aircraft on runways. Repairs will take several days.

As many as 3,000 people and countless units of heavy equipment will be used to remove snow from Moscow streets at night. The amount of snow that has blanketed the Russian capital is really impressive: many people said that they could not find their cars outside when they woke up in the morning.

The heavy Moscow snowfall claimed one life: a 27-year-old young man was killed as a falling tree crashed onto electric power lines causing them to land on the car, in which he was staying. The man died of electric shock. Moscow mayor promised to support the victim's family financially.

Pravda.Ru