A surprise snow storm hit Dnipro, Zaporizhzhya, Kharkiv and other places in central and eastern Ukraine on the night of April 18, destroying thousands of trees and stopping the traffic.
A snowfall this late in April is a rarity in Ukraine where the average April temperature is 11 degrees Celsius. On April 18-19, it dropped to -2 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country. More snow and rain will hit Ukraine before the end of the week according to the forecast.
While much of Ukraine suffered from the snow storm, Kyiv remained sunny and relatively warm with day temperatures reaching 8 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, cities like Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhya had a transport collapse and had to close public schools for the rest of the week.
“It is a natural disaster,” Borys Filatov, Dnipro mayor wrote on Facebook on April 9. “We must stay strong.”
Filatov added that it was impossible to turn the central heating back on, which in the most of Ukraine was turned off in late March due to warm temperatures. Turning it back on would take too much time, according to Filatov.
The emergency service also warned about possible snow avalanches in the mountainous Zakarpattya Oblast.
In Ukraine, snowfalls happen this late in spring once in 10 years, the weather forecasting service told TSN.ua news website.
Surprised by the late snow, many Ukrainians shared photos of the snow-covered streets on social media:
The consequences of the snow storm in Dnipro.
Kharkiv resident Masha Tilinina shared photos of her morning trip to work on April 19.
Надеюсь в Киев не придёт ❄️!только ☀️
28 Likes, 1 Comments – Annа? (@nana_annet) on Instagram: “Надеюсь в Киев не придёт ❄️!только ☀️”
Snow-covered spring flowers in Zaporizhzhya on April 19.
#выхожу_я_значит_с_подьезда
27 Likes, 1 Comments – viktoria-kulikova (@viktoria_kulikova) on Instagram: “#выхожу_я_значит_с_подьезда”
The snow storm of April 18 brought down over 2,000 trees in Dnipro only, according to the city authorities.
Spring in Dnipro, Ukraine. Snow, April 19, 2017. Photo by Vladislav Titarev.
19 Likes, 3 Comments – Maksym Neviadomskyi (@maksym_neviadomskyi) on Instagram: “Spring in Dnipro, Ukraine. Snow, April 19, 2017. Photo by Vladislav Titarev.”
An aerial view of the center of Dnipro covered in snow on April 19.
