Heavy rainfall suddenly overwhelmed parts of Moscow, with more than forty percent of the month’s precipitation falling in under an hour on August 20. Local authorities in the Moscow municipal economy described the intense downpour as a defining weather event for the day.
Officials reported that the hour between 15:00 and 16:00 brought extreme rain to the city, producing rapid flooding and creating hazardous conditions on many streets.
Meteorologists noted that the North-Eastern Administrative Region bore the heaviest burden, receiving roughly 33 millimeters of rain, while the North and North-West districts each recorded about 30 millimeters.
In addition to the rainfall, strong winds reaching around 16 meters per second were observed, and hail damaged some neighborhoods. Residents faced limited visibility, slick surfaces, and the risk of sudden water accumulations in low-lying areas.
The Moscow City Administration urged residents to stay indoors during the peak storm period and to exercise extreme caution when outside, citing dangerous road conditions and possible power outages in vulnerable districts.
Earlier in the day, Evgeniy Tishkovets, Chief Expert at the Phobos Weather Center, noted that several city weather stations recorded more than a third of the month’s precipitation on August 20. He also released footage illustrating the impact of the storm, including flooding near key transport hubs and residential pockets that experienced stormwater accumulation.
The weather event prompted a wave of public commentary on social media, highlighting acts of everyday resilience amid flooding—stories of residents helping neighbors, and city workers coordinating to mitigate the flood’s spread in busy corridors of the city. One widely shared post praised a local cleaner for performing essential cleanup work in adverse conditions, illustrating how urban services and ordinary citizens contribute to city safety during extreme weather. (Source: Phobos Weather Center)”}