Abnormal snowfall paralyzed traffic in the capital

Unusual snowfall for the beginning of April practically paralyzed traffic in Moscow. The road situation is complicated by the morning rush hour and a large number of cleaning equipment (more than 10 thousand units). Forecasters say the weather will return to normal only in the afternoon. The Moscow City Hall is asking drivers not to drive into the city unnecessarily, especially with summer tires.

A powerful snowstorm that began on Tuesday night caused traffic jams of nine degrees in Moscow. According to the capital's Department of Transport, as early as 9:00 am, traffic was seriously hampered on all radial highways towards the center. The ring highways - the Garden Ring, the Moscow Ring Road, the Third Transport Ring - were partially paralyzed. The day before at 7:00, the Ministry of Emergency Situations issued a warning about possible “damage to power lines, large-format advertising structures, collapses of weakly reinforced structures and emergency situations,” but no serious incidents have yet been reported in the Moscow region.

As the Moscow weather bureau explained, the cause of the April snowfall was the so-called wave cyclone that formed north of Tver. According to Roshydromet, precipitation will continue during the day, but will weaken in the evening as the cyclone moves southeast, towards the Volga region. By 10:30 the snowfall had subsided, traffic jams had decreased to 7 points, but during Tuesday the snowdrifts could grow by another 2 cm (overnight the increase was 10 cm). During the day, the air temperature will rise to +2–4°C, in the region - to +5°C.

The traffic situation is complicated by the large number of cleaning equipment on the roads (more than 10 thousand, according to the Moscow City Hall). In this regard, Moscow authorities asked drivers not to travel into the city in personal vehicles unless absolutely necessary. “Drivers who have already changed their winter tires to summer tires are advised to refrain from driving personal vehicles,” added the press service of the Moscow State Traffic Safety Inspectorate.

The snowstorm did not affect the operation of Moscow airports. “The airports in the Moscow air zone are operating as normal: they are certified in the all-weather category, so they operate on schedule without long delays,” the air traffic control service of the Moscow air hub told Interfax . Short-term flight delays (up to 20 minutes) are possible due to the need to clear runways.

Ivan Buranov

Moscow was covered by a wave cyclone