from Eastern Europe

The snowfall in Moscow that began on Thursday has already caused a lot of problems for motorists, traffic police and utility services. The rampant nature was a consequence of the same Atlantic cyclone, under the influence of which St. Petersburg was also, but the Northern capital was lucky and it turned out to be quite far from the moisture-saturated atmospheric fronts. Blizzards, snow, wind gusts up to 20 m/s and, as a result, traffic jams are expected tonight: the city and region will be covered by another cyclone coming from Eastern Europe. On Thursday evening, the thickness of the snow cover in Moscow reached 5-7 cm. Despite reports from the capital's utility services about preparedness for winter, due to icy conditions in the Mother See, a real "tinsmith's day" was celebrated: the traffic police recorded more than 350 vehicle collisions throughout the city. According to weather forecasters, all this was the result of an Atlantic cyclone approaching from the north, which also affected the Leningrad, Pskov and Novgorod regions. The insignificance of precipitation in St. Petersburg yesterday and the day before yesterday is explained by the fact that it was completely covered by the “cap” of the cyclone and was far from moisture-saturated atmospheric fronts separating warm and cold air masses.
However, as Alexander Kolesov, head of the forecast department of the St. Petersburg Hydrometeorological Center, told Kommersant, snowfall quite comparable to Moscow is expected in St. Petersburg on Sunday. Yesterday, a new cyclone formed over Eastern Europe (approximately over Berlin), which will bring snow and blizzards to the city and region. Forecasters predict poor visibility and strong gusty winds (up to 20 m/s). The air temperature will drop to -8 degrees. On Saturday the weather is generally expected to be clear, but by the evening the sky will become cloudy. (By the way, next week, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the weather will worsen almost throughout Russia.)
According to reports from the State Unitary Enterprise "Spetstrans", which is responsible for cleaning St. Petersburg roads, last week all snow removal equipment was tested in action. At night, up to 600 vehicles were busy collecting and removing snow at the same time. In the coming season, treatment with anti-icing reagents will be carried out according to the traditional scheme. In the historical center, roads will be sprinkled with pure salt, while in other areas, as well as on slopes and bridges, with a sand-salt mixture. When asked whether these measures would be more effective than a year ago, Spetstrans explained to a Kommersant correspondent that 1.5 billion rubles were still allocated for winter cleaning, although “according to calculations” three times more is required. And they cited the example of Moscow, which spends 8.5 billion rubles just on clearing snow from federal highways: “Well, you already know the results.”
ANTON BURANOV

Newspaper "Kommersant St. Petersburg" No. 218 dated November 20, 2004, p. 4

The city will be covered in snow on Sunday