The issue of backfilling: is the center of Russia ready for new large-scale snowfalls

A slight warming, which awaits the central part of Russia in the coming days, will bring heavy snowfalls, meteorologists told Izvestia. Precipitation will continue for three days along the Smolensk–Moscow– Vladimir–Nizhny Novgorod line. However, not all yards in Moscow and the Moscow region have been completely cleared of previous snowfalls. The municipal services of the capital have been switched to an enhanced mode of operation due to the upcoming large-scale precipitation, said Vice Mayor Pyotr Biryukov. About how the city is preparing for a new snow collapse and what conclusions were drawn based on the results of the past heavy snowfalls, see the Izvestia article.

Snowfall has arrived in European Russia

Heavy snowfalls should cover Central Russia on the night of January 26-27, Roman Vilfand, scientific director of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia, told Izvestia.

— Snowdrifts and reduced visibility are forecast on Moscow roads. This is a problem not only for land transport, but also for pedestrians. The ice that formed in the first decade of January is under the snow, so there will be ice," the meteorologist explained.

A snowstorm with southerly wind gusts up to 14 m/s awaits Muscovites. Snow will continue to fall not only on January 27 and 28, but will also cover the 29th, said Tatiana Pozdnyakova, a leading specialist at the Meteonosti agency.

— In general, a snow collapse awaits us in the coming days, and then moderate frosts will return, — concluded Tatiana Pozdnyakova.

Snowfalls will cover a fairly large area — from Velikiye Luki to Nizhny Novgorod and Kirov, Alexander Shuvalov, head of the Meteo forecasting center, told Izvestia. Precipitation began to fall in Velikiye Luki on Monday, January 26. They will capture Moscow completely on Tuesday, and the situation is similar in Nizhny Novgorod. And in the regions of the Black Earth region (Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk, Lipetsk and Tambov regions), snow will arrive on Wednesday or Thursday, the expert noted.

— The heaviest snowfall will be along the Smolensk–Moscow –Vladimir–Nizhny Novgorod line. North of Yaroslavl, there may be no snow at all," Alexander Shuvalov added. — South of Tula, snow will already be in the second wave of snowfall, which is expected on January 28-29.

The amount of snowfall on the maximum precipitation line can reach 20-30 cm, which is a significant indicator, the expert noted.

— Snowfalls will come to naught only closer to the night of January 28-29. After that, another attack of colder air is expected in Moscow and the Moscow region and the temperature will drop to -20 degrees again," concluded Alexander Shuvalov.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations sent SMS messages, in particular, to residents of Moscow and the Moscow region. "Very heavy snow, sleet, and blizzard are expected in Moscow from January 27 to January 29. Be careful and careful!" one of them says. And residents of the Moscow region were notified that heavy snow is expected from January 27 to January 28 — there will be a blizzard on the roads, ice, snow drifts.

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And in Chukotka and Yakutia, the temperature will be 25 degrees above normal.

How should snow be removed

Strict standards for cleaning the territory have been established in Moscow: public utilities have two hours after the start of snowfall to send harvesting machines to the roads, Svetlana Razvorotneva, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services, explained to Izvestia. And during the period of prolonged snowfall, they should come out every four hours. In addition, roads must be treated with anti-icing reagents no later than five hours after the start of snowfall.

If public utilities are ineffective, residents can complain to the city council, the prefecture, the housing inspectorate, the Housing and Communal Services Department and the Moscow Administrative and Technical Inspectorate. Complaints affect the rating of the management company that serves the area.

— Following the results of the last snowfall in the capital's Southern Administrative District, three heads (departments) were removed. — Ed.) for poor snow removal. Such decisions are made quite quickly," Svetlana Razvorotneva said.

So, on January 15, an appeal by the former head of the Severnoye Chertanovo city council, Alexander Demin, was distributed in the district Telegram channels.

"It so happened that today I performed my duties for the last day," Alexander Demin wrote to the residents, reminding them that for ten years they "argued and cursed and reconciled, but it was all purely for the sake of life and in the interests of the district."

Alexander Demin thanked the residents of Severny Chertanov for "not letting the officials doze off." And already on January 17, a message appeared on the official page of the city council in social networks that its acting head, Sergei Petrochenkov, conducted a Saturday tour of the district and met with residents. There was no official information about other personnel decisions reported by Svetlana Razvorotneva.

— Moscow is better prepared than any other regions, but in any case, the capacity is calculated for the average amount of snow. At the same time, everyone will be responsible if they fail," the deputy clarified.

It is allowed that snow is not immediately removed from the territory of the district after harvesting. At the same time, precipitation with reagent residues should not be placed on lawns and green spaces, and snowdrifts that interfere with passage and passage should be removed faster, Svetlana Razvorotneva noted.

What are the difficulties of cleaning cities?

The main problem area for Moscow and the Moscow region remains the courtyards of houses, Konstantin Krokhin, chairman of the Union of Housing Organizations of Moscow, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Committee on Housing and Communal Services, told Izvestia. He explained that usually the equipment is "thrown" to clean the roads.

— As there were snowdrifts, as there was ice, everything remained the same: no one knocks down the ice. People can barely walk," the expert explained. — No aliens will come to clean up the snow if there are no wipers.

On January 16, a week after a heavy snowfall, the press service of the Moscow City Economy complex reported that its consequences were continuing to be eliminated.

— Work is continuously carried out on loading and removing snow from the road network, during the daytime — and from the courtyards. Snow removal from temporary storage sites has begun. Almost 5,000 pieces of equipment are involved in the work, including front loaders, mini-loaders, dump trucks. Heavy loading equipment is operating, including on the roadway," the press service said.

In addition to cleaning, snow masses still need to be disposed of, Konstantin Krokhin reminded. It costs from 100 thousand rubles to remove the removed snow from the capital's yards, which is why the mountains are "growing".

— I think it's pointless to take snow to snow melting points. If there is a territory where it can be stored, it should be stored," the expert explained. — In Moscow during the Soviet era, snow was dumped into the Yauza River because it was clean. And there was no need to spend money on snow melting points. Now that the reagents are there, it is forbidden to dump snow into the river.

The system of snow melting points works when there is no abnormal amount of snow and there are no traffic jams, Konstantin Krokhin explained. During heavy snowfalls, utilities do not even have time to deliver snow to the disposal site. In addition, in many cities there are no such points, so the snow is unloaded in certain places, where it remains until spring, and then melts.

The most famous snow mountain in Moscow following the snowfall on January 9 was the "Great Miusskaya Dune" — it was formed on Miusskaya Square in the Tverskoy district of the capital, where public utilities brought snow after cleaning the territories. Its appearance is already a fairly regular story: this "education" even has its own point on Yandex Maps.

Judging by the messages in social networks, the "Mius dune" appears in this place for the third time, the previous one was five years ago. This year, the place quickly gained popularity among Muscovites, parties were held there and spontaneous concerts were held, Miusskaya Dune had its own social networks. It was also popularized by actor Andrei Gaidulyan (TV series "Univer" and "SashAtan").

"We're in a big snowdrift!" Everyone who didn't come is a sucker," he says in a video from a party on dune.

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A few days later, the utilities still removed the snowdrift. On January 17, the Moscow City Management Complex announced that "snow removal from temporary storage sites continues, for example, Miusskaya Square has been completely cleared of snow."

Izvestia sent a request to the Department of Housing and Communal Services of the city of Moscow and the Ministry of Territorial Maintenance and State Housing Supervision of the Moscow Region with a request to comment on the readiness for new heavy snowfalls.

On January 26, the Moscow City Management Complex issued a message stating that public utilities are operating in an enhanced mode due to the expected heavy snowfall.

— The largest amount of snow will fall on January 27 and 28, less intense precipitation will remain until the end of the week. In this regard, city services have been switched to an enhanced mode of operation, emergency crews from engineering companies and prefectures of administrative districts are on duty around the clock," Deputy Mayor of Moscow Pyotr Biryukov was quoted as saying in the message.

According to the regulations, as precipitation falls, continuous mechanized sweeping of the roadway, sidewalks and courtyards with deicing treatment will have to be carried out. The work cycle will be repeated according to the weather situation. Moscow authorities have asked citizens to be extremely attentive and careful on sidewalks and roads during the snowfall, and to postpone trips by private transport if possible.