Falling light: snowfalls have de-energized three regions and are coming to the Black Earth Region

Powerful snowfalls will hit the Voronezh and Tambov regions in the coming days. The cyclone is moving on them, which has already left tens of thousands of people without light, forecasters warned. Energy collapse has developed in the settlements of the Leningrad, Novgorod and Rostov regions - more than a thousand settlements are temporarily deprived of electricity and heating. Wet snow and falling trees were the most frequent causes of the outage - they lead to broken wires and short circuits. About what other regions may suffer in the near future - in the material "Izvestia".

Where mass blackouts are taking place

In the Leningrad, Novgorod and Rostov regions, residents of dozens of settlements were left without light. As "Izvestia" found out, in 37 villages in the Tikhvin district near St. Petersburg still no light, due to heavy snowfall there were breakages of communications. In several SNTs and settlements there is no heating for the third day.

Repair work is complicated by a large number of accidents, Ivan Petrov, a specialist of Russian Grids, told Izvestia: due to weather conditions, such as strong wind, trees are falling, snow is sticking on wires.

- Somewhere there have been complete wire breaks, somewhere - short circuits," he said. - There are sections of lines of more than one kilometer, and to find the damage, they need to go around. In most cases, there is equipment, which can be used to get to the places of breakage or short circuit faster.

Over the past day in the Leningrad region removed more than 650 fallen trees from the roads. As of February 4, 49 high-voltage lines were disconnected in eight municipalities in the Novgorod region. 269 settlements, where 5 thousand people live, remain without light. In the afternoon, 6.7 thousand people were without electricity.

"The situation is not easy, the snowfall continued all weekend," regional governor Andrei Nikitin wrote in his Telegram channel. - On Sunday, First Deputy Governor Alexander Dronov held staff meetings with operational services. Heads of districts reported on the situation. We are continuing this work.

After the snowfalls in the region introduced a high alert mode, 20 educational institutions were transferred to distance learning. This was discussed at a meeting of the operational response headquarters, which was held by Alexander Dronov.

The heads of municipalities were recommended to deploy temporary accommodation centers for citizens.

In Azov district of Rostov region heavy snowfall led to emergency power outages in 21 settlements - about 30 thousand people were left without light, said the head of the local administration Alexander Palatny.

A third of the monthly norm of snow fell in the region. Only in Rostov-on-Don there were 115 emergencies, including the fall of 41 trees. Governor Yuri Slyusar said that most of the accidents have already been eliminated.

"Utilities and special equipment worked at night, but it still takes time to eliminate all the consequences of the snowfall," he wrote in his Telegram channel. - Instructed the heads of administrations and responsible ministries to report to me on the situation every hour. Especially on power and heating cuts in different districts and cities. Wet snow is sticking on wires and trees, creating a danger to pedestrians. I ask all residents of the region to be attentive and careful."

Rosseti said that they are restoring power supply in Novgorod and Rostov regions. The cause of wire breaks and damage to overhead line supports was overcalculated loads on the infrastructure, said Evgeny Lyapunov, chief engineer of Rosseti.

In 2023 and 2024, appeals concerning problems with power lines came from 75 regions of Russia, the People's Front movement told Izvestia. Most complaints came from Moscow, Rostov, Samara, Tver and Leningrad regions, Krasnodar Krai and Moscow.

The most common problems addressed by citizens are improper operation of power transmission lines, including breaks, the need to cut down trees, dilapidated, emergency transmission line supports and ownerless power grid facilities.

- These appeals demonstrate the urgent need for replacement and modernization of transmission line infrastructure, as well as a more rapid response to emergency situations, especially in rural areas, " the NF stressed.

Which regions will be hit by snowfalls

To the south and north of the center of the European part of Russia there is cyclone activity, the scientific head of the Hydrometeorological Center Roman Vilfand told Izvestia. In the southern regions - wet snow and rain, because the temperature in these places is close to zero.

- This applies not only to Rostov region, but also to Stavropol and Krasnodar Krai, " he said. - In addition, there is a strengthening of the wind up to 22 m/s, and in the Crimea up to 28 m/s.

This situation is due to the fact that the temperature over the Black Sea is high enough, and cold air masses are moving from the north, explained Roman Vilfand.

Now in Voronezh, Lipetsk, Tambov, Penza regions are snowfalls, said the head of the forecasting center "Meteo" Alexander Shuvalov.

- In Rostov region they are over, but this cyclone is heading north. These phenomena may well disrupt power supply, because this cyclone has abundant moisture reserves, contains the heat of the southern latitudes and the Black Sea, - said the expert.

When southern cyclones come to the territory of Russia, they always bring either heavy precipitation or such phenomena as wet snow accumulation, added Tatyana Pozdnyakova, a leading specialist of the Meteonovosti news agency.

- As for the Leningrad and Novgorod regions, it is the deposition of wet snow associated with the passage of the Atlantic cyclone, - said the expert.

These phenomena are characteristic of spring processes, when warmer air comes to the cold surface, previously with negative temperatures, meteorologists said.

From Wednesday in the Voronezh region at night will go very heavy snow, said Roman Vilfand. Slightly less precipitation is expected in the Central Black Earth regions near the Voronezh region, such as Tambov region.

- In a number of regions will come northeast wind up to 25 meters per second, - he added. - Because of such wind, trees are broken, besides, the situation is complicated by heavy precipitation in the form of wet snow. Such bad weather is clearly seen in the Krasnodar region. On February 6-7 on the Black Sea coast there will be wind up to 25 m/s.

In addition, now south of Sakhalin there is a well-defined cyclone, which is moving northward. It will lead to the fact that very heavy snow will soon begin there, meteorologists warn. And in Primorsky Krai there will be an influx of cold air masses, there the air temperature will be at night about minus 20 degrees Celsius, during the day about minus 10-15, but on the coast the wind will increase to 28 m/s, forecasters added.