The Moscow Times reported partial blackouts in at least 12 Sverdlovsk region towns Friday, citing Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry, with the towns’ combined population estimated at about 90,000.
The ministry’s regional branch said outages were concentrated mainly in the region’s southeast. Uralhydromet said Yekaterinburg’s weather station recorded a thunderstorm at midnight ET Friday (10 a.m. in Yekaterinburg).
The Moscow Times reported that meteorologists attributed the storm to a low-pressure system that drove a cold front through the Urals. Temperatures fell below freezing, turning rain to snow. The outlet said images and videos circulating online showed blizzard conditions in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk’s capital.
The Moscow Times also cited Ostorozhno Novosti reports of heavy snowfall, partial blackouts and wind-damaged roofs in neighboring Chelyabinsk and Perm regions.
Friday’s forecast called for the system to move north, bringing blizzards to northern Sverdlovsk and icy roads amid freezing temperatures. Meteorologists expected it to weaken over the weekend, The Moscow Times reported.
