Moscow sets new record in atmospheric precipitation in February

Moscow City's weather forecasting service says the snowfall that emerged late last week has added new quantities of snow to what has already fallen out in the city.

The forecasters have registered additional 7 millimetres of snow since Saturday afternoon, whereas the previous days of February saw 34.7 millimetres of snow on Moscow's streets.

An average norm for this month is considered to be about 36 millimetres. Over Saturday, a southern cyclone added between 6 and 9 millimetres of snow in different parts of the city.

Back in early February, Russia's Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environment Monitoring /Rosgidromet/ forecast heavy snowfalls throughout this month.

Meteorology experts say that February normally adds sufficiently to the snow cover that usually starts accumulating in late November or early December.

From the beginning of the snow season about 16 million cubic meters of snow has been melted; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass. See www.itar-tass.com for full version.