A historic late‐spring blizzard on May 2 blanketed Moscow with up to 15 cm of snow—the first May 2 snow cover in 75 years—toppling trees onto cars and cutting power for over 26,000 residents. The record snowfall came a day after Moscow was hit by record rainfall and an unusually mild winter. The capital city and its outer suburbs saw 71% of the precipitation usually recorded in May in just 36 hours.
Unseasonably warm weather triggered ice breakups and subsequent flooding in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region, prompting emergency evacuations and road closures as rising water levels affected multiple rivers.
The mayor of the southern Russian city of Orenburg urged residents to evacuate immediately on Friday as water in the nearby Ural River reached critically dangerous levels and was not expected to recede until next week.
Abnormally hot May weather resembles midsummer with air temperatures as high as +35C.
Residents are lamenting a December without the constant layer of snow that defines Russian winters, when what little light there is typically reflects off the white covering and brightens the days.
Early summer in Moscow brings an onslaught of allergy-inducing, Instagram-ready fluff from poplar seeds.
A fierce storm whipped through Moscow Monday, killing 16 people, toppling thousands of trees and damaging several buildings, officials said.
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