RUSSIA: RUSSIA IS FACING ONE OF ITS COLDEST AND SNOWIEST WINTERS IN THE PAST DECADE

Record ID: 639559

  • Title: RUSSIA: RUSSIA IS FACING ONE OF ITS COLDEST AND SNOWIEST WINTERS IN THE PAST DECADE
  • Date: 8th January 2002
  • Summary: (W5) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JANUARY 8, 2002) (REUTERS) LV OF THE KREMLIN COVERED IN SNOW (2 SHOTS) MOSKVA RIVER THROUGH STEAM LV/CU DUCK IN RIVER (2 SHOTS) SLV/SV PEOPLE IN THE STREET BUNDLED UP AND COVERING FACES FROM FROST (2 SHOTS) LV/CU THERMOMETER SHOWING -22 CELSIUS (2 SHOTS) LV SMOKE COMING FROM CARS IN THE STREET SV POLICEMAN WATCHING TRAFFIC LV OF CARS DRIVING ALONF STREET SLV DRIVER TRYING TO START A BUS BY HEATING THE ENGINE WITH GAS-BURNER CU OF GAS-BURNER MCU (Russian) BUS DRIVER SAYING: "It's OK when it's -15 Celsius. If it's below that, then it becomes a problem. It was -26 today. It's hard" SLV/CU/SV MAN FIXING CAR (3 SHOTS) LV AMBULANCE RUSHING IN THE STREET (2 SHOTS) MCU (Russian) ALEXEY LYAKHOV, HEAD OF MOSCOW'S METEOROLOGY CENTRE SAYING: "In the past 24 hours temperature dropped down to -29 in Moscow and to -32 Celsius in the suburbs. And yet that's not a record. The record for this time of the year is -36 Celsius. But still the frost was quite serious, and it has caused a lot of problems for the city's essential services"
  • Embargoed: 23rd January 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JANUARY 8, 2002
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Weather
  • Reuters ID: LVA1X72VL20H9U9OFVO7R5FBUYI6
  • Story Text: Russia is facing one of its coldest and snowiest winters in the past decade. Moscow has been hit by a cold spell , the worst in the last four years, that plunged night temperatures to - 28 Celsius (minus 14 Fahrenheit). And Russia's Far East is suffering from the worst snowstorm in 50 years that cut electricity supplies and brought traffic to a standstill.
    Temperatures in Moscow plunged to -22 Celsius ( minus
    6 Fahrenheit) in the daytime on Tuesday (January 8) with overnight temperatures falling to -27 Celsius (-16.60F) and -30 Celsius (-22F) in surrounding regions.
    Meteorologists say that so far this January had been the coldest in the last 24 years in central Russia, with the mercury dropping to -33 Celsius (-27.40F).
    "In the past 24 hours temperature dropped down to -29 in Moscow and to -32 Celsius in the suburbs. And yet that's not a record. The record for this time of the year is -36 Celsius.
    But still the frost was quite serious, and it has caused a lot of problems for the city's essential services," said Alexey Lyakhov, Head of the Moscow Meteorological Centre.
    In Moscow, four people died from hypothermia in the capital overnight, Interfax news agency quoted emergency services there as saying.
    They estimated that a total of 297 people had been killed by the cold in the capital this winter.
    Russia's Far East is struggling with the worst snowstorm it had in years.
    In the streets of the Pacific coast port of Vladivostok, armoured personnel carriers helped tug trolley buses up slopes while fist fights broke out over limited places on public transport.
    In Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Russia's far east Sakhalin island, which has been cut off from mainland Russia by the storm, Interfax news agency quoted emergency services as saying three children died on Sunday after being buried in a heap of snow.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register