Fierce Wind Lashes Moscow, Leaving 12 Dead
The chief meteorologist of Russia, Roman Vilfand, warned
that similar bursts of strong wind might continue for a day or so, as the cold front had a zigzagging leading edge, or area of sharp temperature difference.
By ANDREW E. KRAMERMAY 29, 2017
MOSCOW — A fierce windstorm caused by an extreme cold front killed 12 people in Moscow on Monday.
Billboards creaked over on their steel poles, trees crashed to the ground
and roof tiles blew about like scraps of newspaper as gusts of at least 49 miles per hour lashed the city.
"As the cold front moving over Moscow is not a straight line, we expect winds and precipitation in the evening and night," Mr. Vilfand told Interfax.
One turbulent border zone of the cold front moved over the city for only about 20 minutes on Monday afternoon, causing most of the destruction.
#Ураган в Москве валит башенные краныВидео из инстаграмма pic.twitter.com/r5jmgO0BVa The wind toppled a construction crane, knocked down streetlights on a central road
and blocked an aboveground Metro line with fallen trees.
The storm brought the worst spring wind to Moscow since 1998, when gusts killed nine people in a similar burst of natural fury.