Russian winter stands on hind legs
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E-mail Xinhua, December 17, 2012
Central Russia and Siberia face another wave of extreme cold with temperatures remaining seven to ten degrees Celsius below the multi-year average, Russian weather center Rosgidromet said Monday.
As of Monday morning, in the Moscow region temperatures dropped to 26 degrees below freezing point. It was the coldest night this winter so far, according to the Rosgidromet official Alexander Golubev.
"Till the end of this week the frost will persist," he told reporters.
According to Golubev, the night temperatures in Central Russia will be stably below minus 20 degrees, while further east they could drop down to minus 34 degrees, thanks to the anticyclone which pumps Siberian air westward clearing the skies of warming cloud blanket.
The coldest night in Russia was fixed in Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East, where it was 52 degrees below zero.
Some local airports and coach stations canceled operations throughout the weekend citing safety concerns.
However, the traditionally coldest Russian region of Kolyma in northeast Siberia enjoyed the "balmy" weather of only minus 13 degrees Monday.
In southern Siberia, where the temperatures dropped to minus 40 degrees, two elephants have stranded in a truck on a highway connecting the cities of Novokuznetsk and Omsk.
The animals got away with minor frostbite to their ears, while the handler was taken to the hospital, local media reported Monday.
