Overview
- Moscow’s snow cover reached about 23 cm Wednesday morning, with forecasters expecting a brief lull on January 1 before renewed snowfall later on January 2.
- Temperatures in the capital are forecast to drop to roughly −12 to −14°C on New Year’s night and turn colder on the night of January 2, with the first −20°C frosts possible on the final holiday weekend.
- City services in Moscow say up to 25 cm of fresh snow could fall over the first five days of the new year, and snowdrifts could approach 30 cm by Orthodox Christmas per independent forecasts.
- Sochi remains under an orange weather alert with sea conditions up to six points, waves to 4–4.5 meters and gusts to 20–22 m/s, while city authorities refuted viral damage videos as footage from 2023 and reported no serious beach destruction.
- Far Eastern forecasts call for severe New Year’s night cold of around −40 to −48°C in parts of Magadan region and eastern and northeastern Yakutia.