Record-breaking heat on Saturday led to overcrowded beaches around Moscow, with water temperatures reaching 25°C. However, the scorching heat gave way to a violent storm with strong winds and heavy rain by evening. Tragically, nine people drowned in Moscow Oblast water bodies within 24 hours. The storm also caused flooding on a section of the Moscow Ring Road (MKAD) and brought down trees across the city.
On Sunday, July 13, the Moscow region`s Ministry of Emergency Situations reported nine fatalities in local water bodies over the preceding 24 hours. Saturday`s intense heat abruptly transitioned into a severe storm featuring strong winds, heavy rain, and lightning. Videos circulating online showed lightning striking the water.
Following a week of intense heat, people flocked to all city and Moscow region beaches starting Saturday morning. The water reached 25°C, surpassing typical July temperatures in the Black Sea. Even paid recreation areas were completely full. Here`s what a representative from `Soho Country Club` told Business FM about their prices:
— Could you please tell me the cost of entry and a sun lounger?
— Inside parking is 2,000 rubles, outside is 1,000. A sun lounger with a towel: you pass face control and pay. It`s 4,000 rubles today. That`s the rental for the whole day per person. We have everything: a restaurant, a summer kitchen.
The banks and water were incredibly crowded throughout the morning, even in areas where swimming is officially prohibited. Svetlana, a resident of Reutov, described the situation at a local pond:
It`s a factory pond, a very old, beautiful spot, an area. It`s like a small `Winzavod` – shops and cafes in the middle of the lake, a fountain, catamaran rental. Sun loungers are free. Swimming is forbidden, but everyone swims.
At Pirogovskoye Reservoir, some enterprising individuals started charging for access to what is formally free land. This didn`t deter the crowds of visitors. Some found alternative solutions. Maxim, a Muscovite, shared his experience:
We arrived at our usual spot on Pirogovskoye Reservoir, where we`ve swum for years. Now there`s a barrier: 500 rubles per person. For a car with two people, plus the car, that`s 1500 rubles. I consider this illegal seizure. We moved to another location, where people were camping. The road is bad because locals try to block it, but enthusiasts still create a path. People had been camping since Thursday or Friday. There was lots of food, tents everywhere, nowhere to park a car. We made it simpler – we inflated our SUPs, took everything with us, put our dog on a SUP, and went out on the water. We returned four hours later – there were even more people, and it was hard to reach the car. We packed up and left.
For those who didn`t voluntarily cool off, the water came by force. After lunch, Moscow was hit by a severe thunderstorm and downpour – meteorologists estimated three buckets of water per square meter. The drainage systems couldn`t cope, and streets literally turned into rivers. A section of the MKAD went underwater, with drivers complaining that the water reached the side barriers at the 16th kilometer.
Trees were brought down in several districts, some landing on cars. People sought shelter in subway stations and bus stops. Pedestrians on Patriarshiye Ponds and Arbat Street waded through ankle-deep water. The departure of vacationers from Serebryany Bor went viral on Telegram channels – they were seen queuing for buses in the pouring rain, using inflatable mattresses and towels as makeshift shelters. Taxi prices skyrocketed: a journey that normally cost 1,500 rubles surged to 6-8 thousand, according to Business FM employee Ilya Balakin.
Ilya Balakin
Business FM Employee
There were many people leaving the beaches, many who had been relaxing by the water, and likely the high demand was related precisely to people`s need to get away from the water during the storm.
Neither Yandex nor other weather services issued warnings about the impending storm. However, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Hydrometcenter were prepared, according to weather observer and meteorologist Alexey Safonov from Meteoweb.
Alexey Safonov
Weather Observer, Meteoweb Project, Meteorologist
Warnings about thunderstorms – and quite strong ones – were issued by both the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Hydrometcenter of Russia for Sunday, Saturday, and Monday. It was the unexpectedness and the sheer contrast that likely struck those affected. It truly looked epic. The thing is, people usually just look at the temperature forecast. But the evening changed very quickly, as happens in summer. We were in a zone of atmospheric flows where very rapid thunderstorm development is possible – it`s called a zone of instability. We fell into one of those yesterday. So, the forecast was there. This kind of rapidly changing weather will continue into next week as well.
An orange level weather warning for heat remains in effect in Moscow until July 14.
