The road maintenance personnel counted how much snow they cleared from the M-4 Don highway in the Rostov region during the snow shower on March 30 and 31, 2023. The roadway was cleared of 550,000 cubic meters of snow. Every hour, they cleared a total of 20,000 cubic meters of snow. The road workers were performing their duties in no ordinary conditions as they had to endure strong winds and snow not only falling from above but also blown from the fields, while cars were stuck on the highway.
The efforts to combat the snow shower, which commenced prior to the onset of heavy precipitation, required 1887 tons of anti-icing materials. According to GLONASS data, road services initiated preventive measures over 6 hours prior to the onset of snowfall and 15 hours before the traffic was halted.
This information is corroborated by data from the Meteorological Office. On the sections of the M-4 Don highway, in the vicinity of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky and Shakhty cities, within 24 hours of March 30, 2023 the estimated amount of precipitation was 50-60 cm. In areas of low relief and in proximity to obstacles such as fences and vehicles, up to 70 cm of wet snow might have accumulated. The precipitation was accompanied by an increase in wind speed from 17.2 to 20.7 m/s. This phenomenon falls under the category of dangerous weather conditions, which also includes snow showers, severe snowstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes. This served as the basis for the road closure. A state of emergency was declared in the region.
A single day saw precipitation equivalent to one and a half of monthly snowfall. In such a situation, there was no alternative for motorists to bypass the M-4. The entire road network affected by the severe cyclone was immobilized.
