This is just the beginning. When Cyclone Zion really covers Moscow with snow
by Kirill Velesov
[REGNUM] A sharp cold snap has come to Central Russia. Heavy rains are falling in many places, and a significant layer of snow has fallen in a number of regions.
If in the cities it does not last long and quickly turns into slush, then outside the city the snow cover may remain until the end of next week.
A real collapse has begun in Moscow and the region, and we have cyclone Zion to thank for it. In some places there are real snowdrifts on the streets, and literally overnight a little less than half of the monthly precipitation norm fell. If on April 4 the capital was up to +16 degrees, now Moscow has returned from the warmth of May to at least the beginning of March.
"Heavy snowfalls of a continuous nature will fall without interruption for 24 hours with maximum intensity from the morning until 9 am on April 7," writes meteorologist Yevgeny Tishkovets. According to him, on Monday the height of the snow cover in the capital could reach 10-15 centimeters.
Drivers in a hurry, having forgotten the folk sign not to change tires until Easter, are biting their elbows. Those who still drive "on winter" try to distance themselves as much as possible from other road users, remembering another folk sign: if you don't hit someone, then someone will hit you. Only car repair shops are happy about the extra "tinsmith day".
The drop in temperature affected, in particular, the Northwestern and Volga Federal Districts.
In the south of the country, as in Krasnodar Krai, notes the scientific director of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia Roman Vilfand, it has also become cooler. “ In the middle of next week, the temperature will be about 1–2 degrees below normal, but these are not such big anomalies,” he says.
PEOPLE WERE SIMPLY BLOWN AWAY
Bad weather began to grip Russia on the morning of April 5. Yesterday, Kuzbass, Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk and Altai Krais, as well as Novosibirsk and Irkutsk Oblasts, were hit hard. As Mikhail Leus, a leading specialist at the Phobos weather center, notes, “a cold atmospheric front rushed through there, connected with an active cyclone moving across the north of Western Siberia.”
The hurricane-force wind tore off roofs of houses and broke windows, turned over cars, felled trees and billboards, and tore down electrical wires. According to leading specialist at the Phobos weather center, Yevgeny Tishkovets, wind gusts in those regions reached 33 m/s (120 km/h).
“On the Beaufort scale, this is a maximum 12-point storm,” the meteorologist notes. “ It happens extremely rarely.”
Unfortunately, there were casualties. It was reported that in Krasnoyarsk, a hurricane blew a woman off the balcony of a multi-story building, and she died. In the Zheleznodorozhny district of the city, a pavilion collapsed due to a gust of wind, and a man was found under the rubble - he is now in the hospital. In Khakassia, 11 people were injured due to the storm wind, five had to be hospitalized.
There are also negative consequences of the rampant elements for infrastructure: for example, in Krasnoyarsk Krai, due to a storm wind with gusts of up to 28 m/s, almost 60,000 people were left without electricity. Massive power outages were recorded in Khakassia, Altai Krai and Kemerovo Oblast, repair crews are carrying out emergency restoration work there.
In addition, in many regions affected by the hurricane, the problem of forest fires has worsened: strong winds carry sparks and burning grass, the flames spread almost instantly and approach residential buildings. Fire threatened the Krasnoyarsk city airport, and fire tornadoes were seen in its vicinity.
In Minusinsk, it was even announced that residents of the Eastern and South-Eastern microdistricts were preparing to evacuate. Later, the fire was localized, but the danger of the fire spreading remains - according to meteorologists, the storm wind will continue today.
THE YEAR WILL BE WARM
Despite the cold snap that has arrived, forecasters are promising us very high temperatures this year. As Roman Vilfand noted earlier, 2025 could be among the top five warmest in the entire history of observations. According to the expert, the warming is associated with an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases - and this process has not yet stabilized.
“In addition, the ocean temperature remains very high, its active layer [in contact with the atmosphere. — Ed.] has warmed up well,” the specialist added. “This also affects the state of the atmosphere: the heat transferred from the oceans contributes to an increase in air temperature.”
And such processes already have a direct impact on the state of affairs in Russian regions: for example, in Crimea March turned out to be warm and dry, due to which the reserves of local reservoirs in the region during this month decreased by 3 million cubic meters and amounted to about 112 million cubic meters. At the same time, last summer they contained about 210 million cubic meters of water.
In the southern cities of Russia, for example in Taganrog, due to abnormal warming, hordes of mosquitoes have emerged, which can literally be collected by the handful. But for Russian agriculture, the possible threat of invasions of other insects is much more important: locusts and other pests, the expansion of their habitats to the north is facilitated by climate change.
Warming also threatens increased risks of forest fires. Their occurrence can be facilitated by an early spring, a winter with little snow and drought in some regions, although the main cause is still human actions.
According to the forecast of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia on the fire danger in the country in 2025, fires may flare up in April in Transbaikalia, in the south of the Siberian and Far Eastern Federal Districts. And in May, a difficult situation is expected in the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions and the Komi Republic.
If, due to climate change, residents of the central regions may face stifling heat and torrential rains this summer, then, as Roshydromet notes, warming in the northern regions risks bringing further thawing of permafrost.
This process carries the risk of damaging local infrastructure due to soil instability, so scientists are monitoring the situation and developing technologies to minimize the risks.
More from regnum.ru
On the night of April 6, up to 15 mm of precipitation fell in the Moscow region
On the night of Sunday, April 6, up to 15 mm of precipitation fell in the Moscow region, and 3 mm in Moscow. This was reported on April 6 by leading specialist of the Phobos weather center Evgeny Tishkovets.
"Cyclone Zion brought real winter to Moscow overnight! Three mm of precipitation fell in the capital overnight, in the south of the region: in Naro-Fominsk - 7 mm, Kolomna - 9 mm, Serpukhov - 10 mm, Mikhnevo - 15 mm, or 43% of the monthly norm," he wrote on the Telegram channel.
The forecaster specified that in the central regions of Russia, the greatest amount of precipitation (15 mm) was recorded in Kaluga. According to Tishkovets, snowfalls are moving from west to east and are observed in the Smolensk, Kaluga, Moscow, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod regions, and in more southern regions they are turning into rain.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on the evening of April 5, Deputy Mayor of Moscow in the Moscow government Pyotr Biryukov said that the capital's city services had been put on high alert due to the expected sharp deterioration in weather conditions. According to him, utility service employees are continuously monitoring the condition of the street and road network.
Earlier that day, the Russian Emergencies Ministry warned that, according to weather forecasters, a severe snowstorm is expected in Moscow from 2:00 a.m. on April 6 to 9:00 a.m. on April 7. The department also warned of the possible establishment of temporary snow cover.
Even more from regnum.ru
Heavy snowfall hits Moscow
Moscow got sharply colder on April 6, and a heavy snowfall hit the capital. This was reported by a correspondent for IA Regnum.
Winter weather in April came because of the cyclone "Zion". In Moscow, snowdrifts grew in places in a short time. On April 4, the air temperature was +16 °C, and in two days it dropped to -1 °C.
Traffic in the capital is difficult. Electric scooter and bicycle rental operators have suspended rentals until the situation improves. Emergency services had to start fighting the consequences of the bad weather early in the morning.
"At 6:00 Moscow time, we carried out a complete mechanized sweeping of the roadway and sidewalks, followed by anti-icing treatment. We will repeat the cycle of work throughout the day," the Moscow City Services Telegram channel says.
Leading specialist of the Fobos weather center Evgeny Tishkovets reported that Mikhnevo received 43% of the monthly precipitation overnight. According to the forecast, snowfalls will continue throughout the day.
“The snow cover will grow to 10-15 cm by Monday. The snowdrifts in Moscow will melt only by April 17-18,” he wrote on the Telegram channel.