St Petersburg turned white by heaviest snow in century

Saint Petersburg has been blanketed in white by the heaviest snowfall to hit the former Russian imperial capital since 1881, local authorities said on Thursday.

By Nuclear Power Daily Editorial Team · Editorial process

Published December 23, 2009

Saint Petersburg has been blanketed in white by the heaviest snowfall to hit the former Russian imperial capital since 1881, local authorities said on Thursday.

On Wednesday evening, there was a nine-centimetre (3.5-inch) coat of snow across the city of five million, rising to 14 centimetres (5.5 inches) on Thursday, St Petersburg council said.

The exceptional snowfall — the highest since December 1881 — snarled traffic and more than doubled travel times in parts of the northwestern city according to residents.

City officials deployed 1,216 snowploughs, 340 lorries and 1,144 workers to clear the snow, officials said.

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Nuclear Power Daily Editorial Team

The Nuclear Power Daily Editorial Team produces content across our two editorial pillars: space industry news and Mind & Meaning. We cover launches, missions, satellites, defense, and the technology of getting humans to space, alongside the psychology of ambition, isolation, and meaning under extremes. Articles reflect our team's collective editorial process, source verification, drafting, technical review, and editing, rather than a single writer's work. Nuclear Power Daily takes editorial responsibility for content under this byline. For more on how we work, see our editorial policy.