Heavy snowfall blanketed Moscow on Sunday, disrupting traffic, delaying flights and leaving pavements buried with snow across the Russian capital.
More than 60% of the monthly norm descended on Moscow over the past 24 hours, producing 25-centimeter-tall snow banks, municipal authorities said Monday.
Two and a half months’ worth of snow has blanketed the capital since the start of December, they added.
In parts of Moscow, snow piled into mounds over 30 centimeters (12 inches) high, something not usually observed until the end of winter in February, the Fobos weather center said.
The last time a similar depth of snow was recorded in Moscow in mid-December was in 1989 and in 1993, Fobos added.
Close to 120,000 people and over 14,000 vehicles were deployed to clear the snow, according to Moscow city authorities.
“It’s a snow Armageddon: in Moscow there is such a storm that you can’t walk or drive,” the state-run broadcaster Channel One said in a report.
Pavements in some parts of the capital were left completely covered in snow with snow-clearing equipment prioritizing roads to ease the heavily congested traffic.
Air traffic was also affected with over 100 flights either delayed or canceled at Moscow airports.
AFP contributed reporting.
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