Blizzards blanketed Moscow in snow on Friday in a historic first for the season, toppling trees onto cars and causing power outages for tens of thousands of residents in the wider region.The snowfall marks the first time that Moscow's base weather station has recorded snow cover on May 2 in its 75 years of operations,said Mikhail Leus from the Phobos weather center.
The station at the VDNKh exhibition center measured 7 centimeters of snow, while some parts of the Moscow region saw up to 15 centimeters of snow.Toppled trees damaged cars anddowned power lines on roads, railways and parking lots.
At least 26,000 residents experienced power outages overnight as emergency crews raced to restore electricity, Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said.After the blizzard, the Moscow Mayor's Office transportation departmentwarned that the snow could alter bus routes and urged drivers to avoid parking near trees and unstable constructions.Phobos said icy conditions could develop on Saturday before the return of warm weather on Sunday.The record snowfall came a day after Moscow was hit by record rainfall on Thursday and after an unusually mild winter.Overall, the capital city and its outer suburbs of 22 million people saw 71% of the precipitation usually recorded in May in just 36 hours.