- 1904 Moscow tornado
The June 29, 1904 Moscow tornado was one of only two disastrous
tornado es that occurred in centralRussia in recorded history (the other occurredJune 9 1984 inIvanovo andYaroslavl regions). The 1904 disaster started as a thunderstorm inTula region. It travelled northward, passing through eastern suburbs ofMoscow into Yaroslavl region. When the cloud approached remote Moscow suburbs, it formed a tornado funnel, destroying suburban settlements and Lefortovo district within the city itself.Contemporary reports
The tornado was recorded by thousands of witnesses in Moscow, but very few outside of the city. The Dean of
Sukhanovo church reported that the cloud has passed some 18kilometer s west from his town, through the villages ofKapotnya (200 homes destroyed),Chagino (65 out of 67 homes) and Khokhlovka; all three of these settlements are now within Moscow city limits. Nearer suburbs ofLyublino andKaracharovo were completely demolished too.Many witnesses in Moscow, including the famous journalist
Vladimir Gilyarovsky , report the same picture of advancing storm: an unusual black cloud, 15-20kilometer s wide, advanced from south-east at estimated 25 meters per second (no instrumental wind readings were made). The tornado was preceded by ahail storm and a sudden drop in temperature. Two black funnels, one from the skies, another from the ground, merged into a wide tornado with a yellow fire-like light in the middle. Witnesses mistook this light for an explosion at oil reservoirs that, indeed, were close to the path of tornado, but were spared from destruction.The tornado broke into the city proper in
Lefortovo District , destroying the freight yard of Kursk railroad, then literally shaving off the Annenhof Forest - an old, neglected park in Lefortovo (north from present-dayAviamotornaya subway station). It passed through Lefortovo barracks, tearing roofs from masonry buildings, passed overBasmanny District intoSokolniki park and left the city in due northward direction. Apparently, the tornado faded down, thus destruction in densely populated Basmanny was far less than in Lefortovo.Present-day assessment
Modern scientists rate 1904 tornado at F2–F3 in
Fujita scale .Total damage is estimated at 3,000 single-family homes (Razuvaev), while the loss of life was not properly counted (Gilyarovsky reported seeing only one dead). The disaster occurred in the middle of infamous
Russo-Japanese War , and clearing the rubble and counting the bodies was not on top priority list; police reports and formal damage assessment were not published due to war-timecensorship . Many of the victims are presumed to besquatter s of suburban parks and Annenhof Forest, which was cleared from fallen trees years after the accident.References
* [http://www.rus-stat.ru/stat/3932001-6.pdf V.Razuvaev. Weather in Russia, 20th century] ru icon
* [http://www.booksite.ru/fulltext/esy/nre/por/taz/hy/21.htm V. A. Gilyarovsky, The Hurricane] ru icon
* [http://www.booksite.ru/fulltext/gui/lya/rov/sky/3/18.htm V. A. Gilyarovsky, Russkoye Slovo] ru icon
* [http://www.krugosvet.ru/articles/118/1011828/1011828a1.htm 1904 hurricane assessment] ru icon
* [http://nikant.narod.ru/1904.htm A. S. Nikulin. 1904 hurricane] ru icon
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