The average temperature in Moscow, Russia on May 9 was 1.7 degrees Celsius, marking it as the “coldest May 9 since 1972.” Despite entering May, Moscow residents were still witnessing snowfall.
According to Russian RT on May 11, Roman Vilfand, the scientific director of the Russian Hydrometeorological Center, pointed out that the snowfall on May 9 was the first recorded occurrence on this date in Moscow’s history.
People crossing the street amidst snowfall in Moscow, Russia on May 8 – (Photo: XINHUA).
Vilfand stated that the snowfall reached a thickness of 1cm to 5cm in various areas of Moscow on the morning of May 9, as the country prepared for a military parade commemorating the 79th anniversary of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War (May 9, 1945 – May 9, 2024) at Red Square.
This meteorologist noted that it was “a cold day equivalent to March 26 (which was a month and a half ago).”
Weather expert Tatyana Pozdnykova from the Meteonovosti news agency reported that the average temperature in Moscow on May 9 was 1.7 degrees Celsius, making it “the coldest May 9 since 1972.” The previous day, many photographs from Moscow showed pedestrians moving under the white snowfall.
After the cold morning, temperatures rose to 6 degrees Celsius in the afternoon, causing the snow to melt. However, the average temperature for that day remained below normal.
Last week, Gismeteo reported that the cold spell in Moscow followed the warmest April in 23 years. The average temperature for the previous month was 10.9 degrees Celsius, which is 5 degrees Celsius above normal. According to Gismeteo, April 2 witnessed a record temperature of 23.2 degrees Celsius in the city.
Snowfall in Moscow, Russia on May 8 – (Photo: XINHUA).
According to reporters, the unusual frost has also destroyed crops in many agricultural provinces of Russia. The cold snap and unusual snowfall in early May threatened to ruin wheat, corn, sugar beet, and other crops in the provinces of Voronezh, Tula, Tambov, and Lipetsk.
This cold wave occurred while the 2,000-hectare sunflower fields of Manino Joint Stock Company in Voronezh were waiting for seeds to sprout for the new season. The temperature dropped to minus 8 degrees Celsius. Manino’s CEO, Sergei Tribunsky, stated that winter crops, sunflowers, winter wheat, corn, and grains had all perished. The company estimates losses of about 80 million rubles (nearly 900,000 USD).
On May 7, Voronezh’s Deputy Governor Viktor Loginov declared a state of emergency due to frost. The Telegram channel of the Voronezh provincial government reported that air temperatures in the area dropped below 0 on May 4 and 5. Initial reports indicated that 265,000 hectares of crops in the province had died or been damaged.
Climate Change
According to Vox, rising temperatures worldwide are bringing more rain and less snow. However, even with overall snowfall decreasing, severe snowstorms are increasing in some areas. There is evidence suggesting that climate change is leading to harsher cold spells in places like Texas and California (USA), where infrastructure is simply not built to handle snow and ice.
