Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Tracking snowcover in Siberia
There is a great website where you can check snowcover in the northern hemisphere: http://moe.met.fsu.edu/snow/
The data is delayed a bit but you can clearly see that 2 weeks ago all territory of Russia and indeed Siberia was covered with snow:
Another graph shows that starting from March, snow is going away.
We'll keep watching for the changes.
The data is delayed a bit but you can clearly see that 2 weeks ago all territory of Russia and indeed Siberia was covered with snow:
Another graph shows that starting from March, snow is going away.
We'll keep watching for the changes.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Is it April?
Just checked my last year notes - on April 4 we had +17C. This year we are having freezing nights all the way down to -8C and chilly days of about 0C. Sun has become much stronger and when it's sunny it does a good job melting snow. In the evening everything freezes again, and new snow falls at night. Morning - everything repeats.
This was yesterday morning:
Snow level is still very, very high.
This was yesterday morning:
Snow level is still very, very high.
Many car owners forget about their vehicles.
Spring, where are you?
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Snowpocalypse goes on
Although it is almost mid March, we don't feel much Spring yet. Instead we are experiencing very harsh weather (but not that cold, I have to admit). It keeps snowing daily in large amounts with strong winds added.
Speaking of snow, it has become thicker and snowflakes are bigger. This is thanks to warmer temperatures that glue the crystals together.
The snow accumulates on the roads and in the streets. There are some attempts to clean it but snow wins. Even Putin's visit did not help: usually all streets are washed with soap. This time the entire city was one big traffic jam. There is a LOT of snow. If you dare to park your car for longer than a couple of days, you risk to end up like this:
For pedestrians it is not better either. Snow-covered streets are hardly passable. Last week we had first positive temperature and a rain so all streets turned into a giant iceskating rink. People get these devices on their boots:
Strong wind with the snow makes it all worse. Even where roads were cleaned, the snow tongues eat up the road making driving very dangerous. On intercity roads there are many accidents. Today people report that hundreds of cars were trapped for many hours. Even now, at 2am the reports say more than 60 cars with 130 people remain blocked by snow. Drivers share their videos from today trips (this is not some off-road track, this is the only intercity road that connects many cities and towns):
Wind is so strong, even planes flying above Siberia suffer. Flightradar24 shows today that westbound planes fly at just 700 km/h while eastbound speed up to more than 1000 km/h.
...waiting for spring...
Speaking of snow, it has become thicker and snowflakes are bigger. This is thanks to warmer temperatures that glue the crystals together.
The snow accumulates on the roads and in the streets. There are some attempts to clean it but snow wins. Even Putin's visit did not help: usually all streets are washed with soap. This time the entire city was one big traffic jam. There is a LOT of snow. If you dare to park your car for longer than a couple of days, you risk to end up like this:
For pedestrians it is not better either. Snow-covered streets are hardly passable. Last week we had first positive temperature and a rain so all streets turned into a giant iceskating rink. People get these devices on their boots:
Strong wind with the snow makes it all worse. Even where roads were cleaned, the snow tongues eat up the road making driving very dangerous. On intercity roads there are many accidents. Today people report that hundreds of cars were trapped for many hours. Even now, at 2am the reports say more than 60 cars with 130 people remain blocked by snow. Drivers share their videos from today trips (this is not some off-road track, this is the only intercity road that connects many cities and towns):
One more video from yesterday, the guy is driving from west to Novosibirsk.
...waiting for spring...
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Snowy winter
I am back. And weather reports from Siberia are now back, too. Well, in fact we have not missed much. The most interesting thing this winter is abnormal amount of snow. It is said that for the last 3 months the snowfall average exceeds 140%. Walking and driving happens usually in tunnels.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Snow tunnels instead of streets in Siberia
Southern Siberia continues to accumulate snow too rapidly. The process of growing the snow mass is so fast, it can become a regional disaster, reports GisMeteo.ru.
© Bogdan Cristel | Reuters
Based on monitoring data, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Altay and south of Krasnoyarsk regions as well as republic of Khakassia received from 35 mm to 73 mm of snow precipitations for 3 weeks of November. In the mountainous areas it has been recorded from 90 to 122 mm, and in a meteostation in Khakassia precipitations reached 146 mm. November's average is 30-35 mm!
© Dominic Ebenbichler | Reuters
The main problem are snowbanks that are growing every day. Average height of snow is 25-41 cm now.
© Dado Ruvic | Reuters
In Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and Barnaul depth of snow is more than 33 cm. In mountains of Khakassia depth of powder is the highest in Russia - 110 cm. Must be a paradise for backcountry free riding!
Driving is especially difficult and even dangerous these days. The video below has been shot on a intercity road (can't really call it a highway) in Altay region.
Driving is especially difficult and even dangerous these days. The video below has been shot on a intercity road (can't really call it a highway) in Altay region.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
10-day Rainfall for Yesterday
It is snowing every day. Yesterday night we had from 4 to 11 mm of precipitations (for snow it is still measured in its liquid state - water, so it does not equal to actual height of snowfall). A 10-day normal precipitation rate for November is 9 mm.
In the Novosibirsk region (not in the city but the surrounding steppe and taiga) they had about 80% of monthly precipitation rate, about 20 mm of rainfall.
Current snow cover is 18 cm, which is also more than normally.
Some pics from today:
In the Novosibirsk region (not in the city but the surrounding steppe and taiga) they had about 80% of monthly precipitation rate, about 20 mm of rainfall.
Current snow cover is 18 cm, which is also more than normally.
Some pics from today:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Snow, snow, snow!
Oh man, was it snowing today! For last two days we've got about 3 inches of snow, driving today was... hm.... fun!
And you know, it does not feel that this snow will melt any time sooner than in spring! I remember in my childhood there was a rule that permanent snow falls in 1 month after the first snow. This year the first snow was on October 23, so looks like the the rule does not work anymore!
I will try to take some pics tomorrow.
And you know, it does not feel that this snow will melt any time sooner than in spring! I remember in my childhood there was a rule that permanent snow falls in 1 month after the first snow. This year the first snow was on October 23, so looks like the the rule does not work anymore!
I will try to take some pics tomorrow.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Unity Day
Today was one of Russian's national holiday, Unity Day. It was an official day off for many people but if you ask anybody what holiday was today, hardly many people would be able to tell you. And not because they've been drinking for 3 days!
A holiday around these days has been celebrated for many decades and it was known as the day of October Revolution in 1917. October revolution is celebrated in November because communists changed the calendar from Julian to Gregorian. It was one of the main holidays in the USSR, always with big demonstrations with red flags.
The holiday on October 7 remained until 2004 (USSR collapsed in 1991) but it was renamed to the Day of Accord and Reconciliation. To tell the truth, nobody really cared and people kept on celebrating "the October 7" giving no meaning to it. To break this pattern, the government changed the date to October 4 and found a pretty controversial history for this day. In 1612 (more than 150 years before the US constitution was adopted!) Moscow was occupied by Polish army and there were those two guys, Minin and Pozharskiy, who gathered volunteers, fought the Polish and set Moscow free. Next year Michail Romanov was declared a tsar becoming the the first tsar of the Romanov's House.
There is a monument to Minin and Pozharskiy in the Red Square in Moscow and I think nobody would argue that they were heroes (although a lot of historical dates are now rethought in Russia). The holiday of Moscow's liberation was celebrated in Russian Empire until 1917 when it was replaced with the Revolution holiday. However, why would anyone celebrate such old events today? Especially when they don't mean anything to today's non-monarchy Russia, when Russians don't really want to blame Polish and when Russia-Poland relationships are not perfect.
Anyway, since this is a weather blog and not about politics, it was snowing today.
A holiday around these days has been celebrated for many decades and it was known as the day of October Revolution in 1917. October revolution is celebrated in November because communists changed the calendar from Julian to Gregorian. It was one of the main holidays in the USSR, always with big demonstrations with red flags.
The holiday on October 7 remained until 2004 (USSR collapsed in 1991) but it was renamed to the Day of Accord and Reconciliation. To tell the truth, nobody really cared and people kept on celebrating "the October 7" giving no meaning to it. To break this pattern, the government changed the date to October 4 and found a pretty controversial history for this day. In 1612 (more than 150 years before the US constitution was adopted!) Moscow was occupied by Polish army and there were those two guys, Minin and Pozharskiy, who gathered volunteers, fought the Polish and set Moscow free. Next year Michail Romanov was declared a tsar becoming the the first tsar of the Romanov's House.
Anyway, since this is a weather blog and not about politics, it was snowing today.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Ice and snow
Woke up today to see it's -7C (20F) outside. It means all the yesterday rain and snow that had melted are now frozen but I haven't had time to change to spike tires. Asked some friends who have already been outside, they confirmed it's all not that bad and it's safe to drive carefully.
So it was - all not that bad but it looked like some drivers didn't notice the sudden start of the winter (or just want to finish their winter driving soon :) )
Snow is slowly covering the green grass...
So it was - all not that bad but it looked like some drivers didn't notice the sudden start of the winter (or just want to finish their winter driving soon :) )
Snow is slowly covering the green grass...
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Siberia Weather
Partly inspired by Jamie Monk's Phuket Weather blog, partly motivated by a chance to check in the future what weather looked like some years ago, I decided to start this Siberian weather blog.
Siberia attracts so many people because it is so far away, it is cold and pretty much unknown. There are many awkward beliefs about Siberia, its climate, traditions and people here. Being a part of Russia, Siberia can be thought of a separate land and when you travel to some distant parts of it, you feel strange when you have to speak Russian and pay in rubles.
I live in Novosibirsk and all weather updates should be around here. If you don't know, this is a third largest city in Russia and we have pretty hot summers and chilly winters. Weather is always funny here.
I plan to update this blog weekly or daily and of course I will be writing not only about weather (weather by itself is not a topic that can keep you awake for a long time). We'll discuss traveling to Siberia, taking a trans-siberian train (which is a hot topic all year round) and I'll keep you updated on what is going on here anyway.
So let's try it. And let's start it today, October 23, 2012. It was snowing for the first time after summer today. Although snow seemed to melt immediately when it touched ground, I could spot a few cars with about 5 mm of snow on them.
It must be getting colder and colder, with more precipitations, so stay tuned :)
Oh, and if you want me to cover any specific topic (i.e. how to buy a railway ticket), let me know in comments!
Siberia attracts so many people because it is so far away, it is cold and pretty much unknown. There are many awkward beliefs about Siberia, its climate, traditions and people here. Being a part of Russia, Siberia can be thought of a separate land and when you travel to some distant parts of it, you feel strange when you have to speak Russian and pay in rubles.
I live in Novosibirsk and all weather updates should be around here. If you don't know, this is a third largest city in Russia and we have pretty hot summers and chilly winters. Weather is always funny here.
I plan to update this blog weekly or daily and of course I will be writing not only about weather (weather by itself is not a topic that can keep you awake for a long time). We'll discuss traveling to Siberia, taking a trans-siberian train (which is a hot topic all year round) and I'll keep you updated on what is going on here anyway.
So let's try it. And let's start it today, October 23, 2012. It was snowing for the first time after summer today. Although snow seemed to melt immediately when it touched ground, I could spot a few cars with about 5 mm of snow on them.
It must be getting colder and colder, with more precipitations, so stay tuned :)
Oh, and if you want me to cover any specific topic (i.e. how to buy a railway ticket), let me know in comments!
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