Moscow Melts in May

Since many of you seem convinced that I live in a frozen wasteland 12 months of the year, you might be interested to know Moscow has been sweltering in a heat wave lately, temperatures haven't been below 30 degress (~85F) for the past few weeks, and have been in the mid 30's most days!

This has brought with it some upsides as well as downsides. The Soviet enthusiasm for concrete means that it's been hotter than hell on the streets, however it's also interesting to note there seems to be a perfectly inverse correlation between increasing temperatures and decreasing length of girls' skirts. It's unclear whether the decreasing skirt length has contributed to the increase in heat in any way. Further studies are warranted.

The Moscow media has been in a frenzy. Suprisingly, the heat wave hasn't been blamed on the Americans, communists, separatists, or facists, but it's not over yet. Of note:

• These are the hottest temperatures in 116 years;
• The Russian Emergencies Ministry said that 14 electricity transformer substations began to smoke and/or caught fire in Moscow on Monday- always nice to know;
• Moscow residents are being warned not to work too hard;
• Ice cream sales are up 60% from last month

photos: kommersant.ru; moscowtimes.ru