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Russia’s Coldest City Gets Two Months Worth Of Snow In Just 5 Days And Their Photos Look Surreal (30 Pics)
Unless you live in Florida, there’s no winter wonderland without at least a tiny bit of snow. Even a couple of inches will do the job as long as it gives you time to take a snowy selfie. And there’s nothing more fun than having the first snowfall of the season, as we all suddenly transform into little kids putting our hectic adult lives on hold.
But on the other side of the world, in Russian Siberia, people ain’t “dreaming of a white Christmas” like Sinatra’s song. You see, in Norilsk, which is the northernmost city of Russia, people face continuous darkness for 45 days each year with temperatures dropping as low as -27.4°F in February.
And now, the city has been drowning in a constant five-day snowfall. The Krasnoyarsk hydrometeorological center reported that there has been a whopping 194% of the monthly precipitation falling in the past week. On top of that, the locals have to deal with icy wind gusts reaching 22-27 meters per second.
The pictures from the Siberian snowland speak for themselves, and as fun as they look, one cannot help but wonder how the locals deal with all this. From digging up their cars to having the road signs swept up by snow, this takes survival skills Bear Grylls would be proud of.
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#2
Melissa TO 5 years ago
This is my nightmare. I'm a native Floridian. Spent a few winters up north thinking I would like snow. Nope.
Jennifer Cassada 4 years ago
This would be awesome...if it only lasted one to two days and then disappeared. I can't imagine what emergency services are going through in this time.
#3
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
It would be so cool if they made like tunnels underneath the snow
Steve Cruz 5 years ago
I was in New York during a severe week of blizzards and emergency workers were constantly digging out snowbound housing below street level. When there is no air exchange, people can slowly suffocate to death.
Katharine Lancaster 4 years ago
Am i the only one who sees a coffee cup in the snow around the door?
Arlene Reber 5 years ago
Visit Valdez Ak in the winter. This is normal. A friend has a picture of like 15 mailboxes in the snow. There's like 20 feet on top and holes for mailboxes look like they're on the ground.
Norilsk is situated 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle and is known as a place of brutal extremes. It’s the coldest and one of the darkest places in Russia, since starting from the beginning of December, the locals face the perpetual night of polar winter. The night usually lasts from about November 30 to January 13. Beyond the city, which is populated with around 175,000 people, there’s the uninhabited wilderness of northern Siberia.
Te city is not only famous for its freezing climate, it’s also one of the biggest producers of pollutants, “turning an area twice the size of Rhode Island into a dead zone of lifeless tree trunks, mud, and snow,” according to The New York Times. Norilsk Nickel company is the world’s largest producer of palladium and a major supplier of metals like copper, nickel, etc.
#4
Benjamin Fowler 5 years ago
who even needs actual christmas trees at that point if you can make them out of snow lol
Randi Harlow 5 years ago
What a beautiful tree... wishing and hoping residents are staying warm and safe. Have a wonderful, safe, healthy Christmas. ❤️
#5
Monika Soffronow 5 years ago
Think of it as being in a basement. The good thing is that snow is a very good insulation material. It actually protects the building from the much colder night temperatures, and from the wind.
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Bob Belcher 5 years ago
No no no, insulation is supposed to go in the walls, not on the outside.
The New York Times reports that “at one point, the company belched more sulfur dioxide a year than all of France.” As a result, Norilsk’s Daldykan river, which runs the plant, has turned red.Most locals spend their leisure time indoors, especially during the winter season.
The cold gets so severe here that freelance taxis have been a booming business, with locals too cold to walk outside for even short distances. Buses also exist, but waiting outside for one until it arrives may be impossible, so it’s not uncommon to hide in a nearby shop and wait for the bus to come.
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Martha Meyer 5 years ago
It's probably so hard and frozen by now, it would stay in place.
Load More Replies... Benjamin Fowler 5 years ago
still though if you opened up the window you would still get really cold
Susan Williams 5 years ago
The little girl is dressed in warm clothes even tho' she is indoors
#10
BoredPanda is awesome 5 years ago
Call the Knight Bus from Harry Potter. I'm sure it could blow right through that snow
#11
Oskar vanZandt 5 years ago
A very warm coat... not currently required in the UK (where I live).
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#12
Aleksandra Elias 5 years ago
He might be doing that so that the sheer weight of snow won't crush the car
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Velonah Kamau 5 years ago
Imagine shovelling out the wrong car, after spending an hour out in the cold...
wandile dludlu 5 years ago
Just give up man... then again, the snow might crush it if it's allowed to accumulate on top
Kathryn Baylis 5 years ago
Has to be pretty hard to orient yourself in the first place, in order to accurately locate your car and dig it out.
#13
BeazleBug 5 years ago
At these temperatures the fuel gels...not an option.
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Hilary Mol 5 years ago
In Siberia when they say "Remember where we parked the car", they mean "Remember where we parked the car or we won't see it again until spring."
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ramon luis perez 5 years ago
I can't imagine that!!! thanks a lot for sharing this wonderful picture...
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Lainie Anderson 5 years ago
I'm an Australian, this is insane to us, we live outdoors!! Where do the birds go?
#19
Tammy Hawkins 5 years ago
I would not have wanted to be the first person to have made that path, brrrrrrr
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#21
Christina Wilson 5 years ago
I've lived in climates like that, in Canada. Edmonton, and Prince George were two of them. I can remember -50 degrees when I had to catch a bus. Excavating my car so that I could drive to work was a nightmare. Even getting out of my own front door was a challenge.
#23
Lindsey Judd-Bruder 5 years ago
The Day After Tomorrow. Or, if we're being a little more fanciful, I'd call it Snowpocolypse Now.
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#24
#25
Diane Johnson 5 years ago
Come on Mom, we need one more vodka. I can see the bar lights from here.
Monika Soffronow 5 years ago
Hahaha. The good thing is that you fall all you want in newly fallen snow and it will always catch you. It is almost impossible to get hurt. The worst thing that happens is some snow inside the gloves or the collar.
#26
Lady Snowfall 5 years ago
I'm from Alaska. This isn't uncommon lol. As a kid I regularly sledded off our roof straight down into the yard without a drop.
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#27
Diane Johnson 5 years ago
The snow must be a powder. I think he just walked through it to make a path.
#28
Bama Belle 5 years ago
The air quality is very poor, thanks to Norilsk Nickel.
Load More Replies... Enalpria 5 years ago
Why isn't the whole car buried in the snow? And, if they cleaned the car, why didnt they clean the hood? Maybe they cleaned the car, and the snow reaccumulated on the hood ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
Hugh Cookson 5 years ago
The direction and strength of the wind is why it's only part covered - sort of a sand dune effect but with snow ..... eventually it will be entirely covered.
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#29
#30
bill marsano 5 years ago
Folks who live in Buffalo and Winnipeg may consider these folk just a bunch of whiners. And tell me again--what country should sign the Paris climate accords?
#31
Susan Egan 5 years ago
After just shoveling a path for our dogs, in snow that was a little over a foot, I can't imagine facing this and surviving. My shoulders hurt just thinking about it.
#35
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gwen lemay 5 years ago
How do they keep the power on? So much snow would shut down most communities in Canana.
Francesa Miller 5 years ago
Notice there are no power poles with wires. Everything is underground. Also It's a very cold snow which doesn't stick to things well, it just piles up.
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Add New Image
What do you think ?
David K 5 years ago
This much snow may look fabulous, but it can cause a lot of troubles (electricity grid, railways, roads...). I would love to have some snow too (last winter was too mild in my opinion), but this may a bit too much. On the other hand, people there probably know well how to deal with it.
Monika Soffronow 5 years ago
In most places where this much snow may fall, I take it for granted that the electricity cables are below ground. The chaos caused by two months of snow falling in a couple of days is just inevitable, there will be stories told for years about this.
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Tiari 5 years ago
Include Celsius, boredpanda, ffs. You are a European site with lots of European users, why do you convert temperatures in Russia to Fahrenheit and leave out Celsius completely??
Ksenia M 5 years ago
Just FYI, Norilsk is not in fact " the northernmost city of Russia". Pevek is.
Liucija Adomaite 5 years ago
Hey there! Thank you for your observation. Prevek is indeed very far north, but it does not classify as a city since it has a population of less than 5000, making Norilsk the actual northernmost city in Russia :))
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Astrid Nineor 5 years ago
Some of this would be perfectly normal here (Norway), but snow covering the entire window? Yikes, that would be too much for me. ...and I bet it is "a bit" colder in Russia. Brrr
Uncommon Boston 5 years ago
Believe or not we had a wild snow storm in Virginia. I have photos of my son standing in front of glass doors totally blocked by a snow drift, on the second door deck. Everyone worked creating paths connecting the houses. The sides of walls were over the kids head, but they raced from house to house, under parental supervision, of course. For five magical days it was just us. Birthdays were celebrated, life continued but more innocently, with less stress, in a white cold silent world..
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Kevin Donegan 5 years ago
I grew up in Montana on the west side of Glacier National Park ... Nope. Not ever going back to a cold weather climate. Not gonna do it.
ML 5 years ago
And people somehow manage. In some countries you get 1" of snow and all hell breaks loose.
Uncommon Boston 5 years ago
The rush to buy toilet paper starts. I was on Cape Cod before a big snow storm. Everyone raced to the supermarket in Provincetown. A small crowd stood silently in the front of the store trying to think of things they needed. One by one we left. Nobody needed anything. I guess people had different shopping habits. Then again, the end of the Cape is a bit unusual.
Load More Replies... jevais 5 years ago
My idea of hell, piles of snow everywhere. I truly hate snow, it's so ugly when it starts to melt, the salt burns the paws of dogs, when it turns into ice it's hard to not to fall, the city is upside down because of the traffic.
Kathryn Baylis 5 years ago (edited)
But a couple of hot chocolate and/or a dish of fresh snow cream makes up for it. Every. Single. Time.
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David K 5 years ago
This much snow may look fabulous, but it can cause a lot of troubles (electricity grid, railways, roads...). I would love to have some snow too (last winter was too mild in my opinion), but this may a bit too much. On the other hand, people there probably know well how to deal with it.
Monika Soffronow 5 years ago
In most places where this much snow may fall, I take it for granted that the electricity cables are below ground. The chaos caused by two months of snow falling in a couple of days is just inevitable, there will be stories told for years about this.
Load More Replies... Tiari 5 years ago
Include Celsius, boredpanda, ffs. You are a European site with lots of European users, why do you convert temperatures in Russia to Fahrenheit and leave out Celsius completely??
Ksenia M 5 years ago
Just FYI, Norilsk is not in fact " the northernmost city of Russia". Pevek is.
Liucija Adomaite 5 years ago
Hey there! Thank you for your observation. Prevek is indeed very far north, but it does not classify as a city since it has a population of less than 5000, making Norilsk the actual northernmost city in Russia :))
Load More Replies... Astrid Nineor 5 years ago
Some of this would be perfectly normal here (Norway), but snow covering the entire window? Yikes, that would be too much for me. ...and I bet it is "a bit" colder in Russia. Brrr
Uncommon Boston 5 years ago
Believe or not we had a wild snow storm in Virginia. I have photos of my son standing in front of glass doors totally blocked by a snow drift, on the second door deck. Everyone worked creating paths connecting the houses. The sides of walls were over the kids head, but they raced from house to house, under parental supervision, of course. For five magical days it was just us. Birthdays were celebrated, life continued but more innocently, with less stress, in a white cold silent world..
Load More Replies... Kevin Donegan 5 years ago
I grew up in Montana on the west side of Glacier National Park ... Nope. Not ever going back to a cold weather climate. Not gonna do it.
ML 5 years ago
And people somehow manage. In some countries you get 1" of snow and all hell breaks loose.
Uncommon Boston 5 years ago
The rush to buy toilet paper starts. I was on Cape Cod before a big snow storm. Everyone raced to the supermarket in Provincetown. A small crowd stood silently in the front of the store trying to think of things they needed. One by one we left. Nobody needed anything. I guess people had different shopping habits. Then again, the end of the Cape is a bit unusual.
Load More Replies... jevais 5 years ago
My idea of hell, piles of snow everywhere. I truly hate snow, it's so ugly when it starts to melt, the salt burns the paws of dogs, when it turns into ice it's hard to not to fall, the city is upside down because of the traffic.
Kathryn Baylis 5 years ago (edited)
But a couple of hot chocolate and/or a dish of fresh snow cream makes up for it. Every. Single. Time.
Load More Replies... 
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