Moscow weather bureau chief specialist Tatyana Pozdnyakova has dismissed warnings of an impending mega downpour across the Russian capital region.
Speaking to newspaper Vechernyaya Moskva, Pozdnyakova said earlier forecasts predicting a severe deluge in the metropolis on the night of Thursday to Friday, August 20 to 21, were exaggerated.
A warm atmospheric front is moving toward the Moscow region and bringing rain, but Pozdnyakova insisted that the precipitation cannot be described as a mega downpour. She estimated total rainfall would remain within 10 millimetres and emphasized that this volume does not fall into the category of heavy rain.
Rainfall predictions and temperature outlook
According to Pozdnyakova, Friday will see rainfall occurring only during the daytime hours. Following a brief period of cooler weather, temperatures in the capital are calculated to rise above the seasonal climate norm over the coming days.
Rain is expected to persist through the weekend of August 22 to 23, though Pozdnyakova noted that these showers will be brief. Air temperatures are forecast to reach 25 degrees Celsius.
The climate norm for Moscow represents the long-term average temperature and precipitation levels recorded over several decades, which meteorologists use to benchmark unusual weather patterns in the metropolitan area.
Conflicting weather forecasts
Pozdnyakova spoke after Yevgeny Tishkovets, a leading specialist at the Fobos weather centre, issued a contrasting warning that a powerful rainstorm would hit Moscow. Tishkovets had stated that rain would begin at approximately 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. before intensifying into a heavy downpour overnight.
Tishkovets estimated that roughly 10 litres of rainwater would fall per square metre during the event. In standard meteorological measurements, 10 litres of water per square metre is equivalent to 10 millimetres of rainfall, indicating that both experts agreed on the physical volume of water despite their differing assessments of its severity.
The Fobos weather centre is a commercial forecasting organization based in Russia that frequently provides independent weather predictions alongside official municipal services such as the Moscow weather bureau.
