Moscow woke up to heavy snowfall on Thursday, amid expectations that this could be the beginning of the whitest winter in half a century.<br/> <br />The Russian capital's weather bureau said 16 centimetres had already fallen by late morning - more than double the norm.<br/> <br />Some felt terrible about the wintry weather.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MOSCOW CITIZEN SVETLANA, SAYING:<br/> <br />"(Snow evokes) horrible emotions, I don't know. Horrible, just horrible. Dirt and puddles and all that."<br/> <br />While others said it has its perks.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MOSCOW CITIZEN, BANKER, ALEXEI, SAYING:<br/> <br />"(Snow) brings some kind of happiness, the feeling of the New Year and expectations of holidays, I guess."<br/> <br />This season's first snowfall caused massive traffic jams around Moscow, and delayed scores of overnight flights.<br/> <br />Forecasters say that by the weekend snow cover could reach half a metre.
