Heatwave

It managed to go from kinda chilly to wicked hot here pretty quick. The past few days the temperatures have gotten as high as 32.2 Celsius (about 95 F). The Moscow Times reports this is the first May since 1879 that Moscow has had over 30 degree temperatures for five straight days. And with summer's slightly earlier than usual arrival, we also welcome the first of this year's crop of stories about drowning Russians. For many here, the best response to extreme heat is to drink a lot of beer, then jump in the nearest river, lake, or fountain. Disaster often follows. From AFP:

Seeking to escape the heat, city dwellers headed for beer and cold drinks kiosks and plunged into all available water holes, ranging from fountains near the Kremlin to the Moscow River. Which often made it worse: The emergency situations ministry in Moscow said Tuesday that 12 people drowned last week.... During the same period last year there was just one fatality. Last week 48 people were rescued while swimming, compared to seven last year.The country's top health official, Gennady Onishchenko, warned citizens to avoid bathing in extreme heat. "You can only go to the beach and water when the heat drops," he was quoted as saying by Interfax.

And just in time... our hot water came back yesterday!