Daily sights and sounds

I suppose when I look back on my first winter in Moscow many years from now, a few things will stick out in my memory. The snow, of course, is one of those things, but there are a few other sights and sounds that are distinctively 'Moscow'. The first is the sound of a shovel scraping the ground. It's what I woke up to at least half of the days this winter, and what I heard all day for the better part of the past two months! If it wasn't scraping, it was chopping to break up the thick layer of packed down snow, from everyone walking on it. Moscow is nothing if not efficient at snow removal!

The other memories are all sights. One, the huge force of migrant workers who are out all hours of the day and night clearing the snow. Two, babushkas brushing snow away with an old fashioned broom made from twigs that looks like they've had for the past five decades. Three, men on roofs clearing off the snow and icicles, typically without any kind of protection whatsoever - just standing and balancing, perhaps leaning against a small railing at the edge of the roof.

The weather has ADD

Here in Russia it's been "spring" for three weeks now. Russian spring begins on March 1st - although I can't for the life of me figure out why! We've only had temperatures above freezing for 3 or 4 days, and just last week the temperature was back in the -15 to -10C (5-15F) range for a few days. Craziness - and COLD!

Currently, the weather can't seem to make up its mind about what it wants to do... and therefore every day is a surprise! Monday was a perfect example of this - when I woke up in the morning it was wonderfully sunny and the sky was a nice shade of blue... then a few hours later it was white and snowing.... then blue/sunny again... then grey and cloudy.... then snowing heavily... and finally by nightfall it stopped snowing and the sky was clear except for a few clouds! I've never experienced weather quite like that, with so many changes all in one day! On Sunday, I was out for a walk, and it had been a bit overcast for a few hours, but the sky certainly didn't look like it would snow soon. But the next thing I know, it's a blizzard! About 20 minutes later, not a single snowflake is falling from the sky! Today it decided to snow again - but it was a real snowfall this time - I think we ended up with about 8cm/3in in total!

Another very interesting thing for me is snow showers when it's sunny! This happened on two separate days, actually. It's sunny out, the sky is blue, there are some nice fluffy clouds in the sky... and it's snowing! Just flurries, but still...! I much prefer flurries to rain showers :) So there you have it - the beginning of "spring". At least today it was above freezing!

Yup, it's still winter...

Today's weather was really strange, and just proved to be a reminder that yes, it is still winter here in Moscow. While it started out beautiful and sunny, it ended up snowing! No accumulation other than a dusting, but still, it was snowing!

The weather right now seems to be a bit of a tease. About a week and a half ago, we had our first day above freezing since December (or perhaps November?)... it's been cold for so long that I just can't remember! It was wonderful and sunny, and some of the snow started to melt. That's fun, let me tell you... There are puddles everywhere, and half the time you have to tiptoe your way down the street to try to find the relatively dry patches, or in some cases, the shallowest puddles! Fast forward a few days, and we're back to temperatures well below freezing, in the -12C/+11F to -6C/+20F range. Guess what those puddles turned into?

The worst part about the change in temperature is that -6C/+20F actually feels cold now! When it was -15C/+7F, -6C felt nice and warm! Now however, it just feels cold, as I suppose       -6C probably should feel! On the plus side, -2C/28F feels fairly pleasant, and +2C/36F feels warm, especially in the sun! As a matter of fact, I just opened the window in my apartment, and as the breeze blew in, I thought to myself, "this feels quite mild, temperature wise." Then I looked at the thermometer and realized that it's only 0C/32F! How's that for acclimation?

How's this for a difference in scenery?
(click to enlarge)

How Moscow Does Snow Removal

This is how Moscow does snow removal. Shovel all the snow, pile it up in a dumpster, and then dump it somewhere else! They only do this for walkways and roads, parking lots still have traditional mountains of snow that children turn into slides! I'll take some pictures of how high some of the snowpiles are and post them within the next couple of days. 

Now the real question is, where do they take all of that snow?