Fierce Wind Lashes Moscow, Leaving 12 Dead<br />The chief meteorologist of Russia, Roman Vilfand, warned<br />that similar bursts of strong wind might continue for a day or so, as the cold front had a zigzagging leading edge, or area of sharp temperature difference.<br />By ANDREW E. KRAMERMAY 29, 2017<br />MOSCOW — A fierce windstorm caused by an extreme cold front killed 12 people in Moscow on Monday.<br />Billboards creaked over on their steel poles, trees crashed to the ground<br />and roof tiles blew about like scraps of newspaper as gusts of at least 49 miles per hour lashed the city.<br />"As the cold front moving over Moscow is not a straight line, we expect winds and precipitation in the evening and night," Mr. Vilfand told Interfax.<br />One turbulent border zone of the cold front moved over the city for only about 20 minutes on Monday afternoon, causing most of the destruction.<br />#Ураган в Москве валит башенные краныВидео из инстаграмма pic.twitter.com/r5jmgO0BVa The wind toppled a construction crane, knocked down streetlights on a central road<br />and blocked an aboveground Metro line with fallen trees.<br />The storm brought the worst spring wind to Moscow since 1998, when gusts killed nine people in a similar burst of natural fury.
