1904 Moscow tornado
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The June 29, 1904 Moscow tornado was one of only two disastrous tornadoes that occurred in central Russia in recorded history (the other occurred June 9, 1984 in Ivanovo and Yaroslavl regions). The 1904 disaster started as a thunderstorm in Tula region. It travelled northward, passing through eastern suburbs of Moscow 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.
[edit] 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 18 kilometers west from his town, through the villages of Kapotnya (200 homes destroyed), Chagino (65 out of 67 homes) and Khokhlovka; all three of these settlements are now within Moscow city limits. Nearer suburbs of Lyublino and Karacharovo 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, 15-20 kilometers wide, advanced from south-east at estimated 25 meters per second (no instrumental wind readings were made). The tornado was preceded by a hailstorm 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-day Aviamotornaya subway station). It passed through Lefortovo barracks, tearing roofs from masonry buildings, passed over Basmanny District into Sokolniki 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.
[edit] 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-time censorship. Many of the victims are presumed to be squatters of suburban parks and Annenhof Forest, which was cleared from fallen trees years after the accident.
[edit] References
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