Lawmakers, Leopards and Roads Swelter in July Heat Wave

A heat wave that engulfed Moscow this week, causing asphalt to melt, air conditioner sales to skyrocket and lawmakers to disrobe, will not go away until at least Thursday, meteorologists said.

Russia's top public health official, Gennady Onishchenko, has advised Muscovites to stay away from the sun, subsist on a diet of fruits and vegetables, and not go overboard fighting the weather.

He cautioned against drinking cold water and turning up air conditioners all the way, which is a good way to catch a summer cold.

Moscow temperatures have exceeded the norm since the start of July and are likely to break records by peaking at 36 degrees Celsius this weekend, said Tatyana Pozdnyakova, chief specialist at the Moscow weather bureau.

It remains unclear when the heat might subside, but it will definitely not happen before Thursday, the Russian Weather Bureau said on its web site.

Many Muscovites have tried to find solace from the heat in the city's ponds and rivers, which has resulted in 85 people drowning since June 1, Interfax reported.

Onishchenko suggested this week that employers introduce siestas, the work habit popular in Mediterranean countries in which people take a break during the midday heat and make up for it in the evening.

But Onishchenko spoke against using the word “siesta,” calling it an “obscenity” that has no place in the Russian language, RIA-Novosti reported. He did not elaborate.

Onishchenko's suggestion for a siesta appears to have fallen on deaf ears. Only 2 percent of Moscow employers have adjusted their work schedules to cope with the heat, and another 4 percent plan to make changes, according to a survey of 1,000 recruitment managers conducted by the Superjob.ru recruitment web site.

But 23 percent of Moscow companies have eased up on dress regulations, according to another Superjob.ru survey.

The Federation Council followed suit on Wednesday, when senators voted to take off the suit jackets that they are obliged to wear during sessions.

Meanwhile, State Duma offices have been overcome by the heat, causing deputies to complain even though air conditioners in the building are turned up all the way, RIA-Novosti reported.

Major electronics chains said sales of fans and air conditioners have soared, leading to a shortage of supplies.

"Goods are delivered every morning but are sold out before early afternoon," M.Video spokeswoman Nadezhda Kiselyova said, RIA-Novosti reported.

At Tekhnosila, not just the store shelves but even the warehouses have been "drained," prompting the retailer to place additional orders with suppliers, a spokesperson told RIA-Novosti.

Another booming business is ice cream. Street sales have doubled in Moscow in the past three weeks, RIA-Novosti reported. But freezers have been breaking down in the sun, forcing vendors to lower prices for the melting ice cream, it said.

The Federal Consumer Protection Service will step up inspections of stores selling perishable food, Onishchenko, who heads the agency, said at a news conference Thursday.

The heat allowed a suspected drug dealer to escape Wednesday from a Moscow office of the Federal Drug Control Service because most doors and windows were wide open, Lifenews.ru reported.

The heat even took its toll on the Kremlin. The Federal Guard Service canceled the traditional weekly parades of presidential honor guards on the Kremlin's Sobornaya Ploshchad because of the weather.

An ambulance has been placed on duty outside the Kremlin for people who might feel sick because of the heat. An elderly Japanese tourist died at the gates of the Kremlin over the weekend, apparently from a stroke caused by heat.

About 900 trucks have been pouring cold water on the roads two to three times a day ever since temperatures climbed above 25 C three weeks ago in an effort to prevent the city's 88 million square meters of asphalt from melting, Marina Orlova, spokeswoman for City Hall's communal services department, said in an interview.

But road workers are still immersed in emergency repairs, replacing melting regular asphalt with a hastily developed brand that can withstand higher temperatures, Zvezda television reported.

Workers have also been disinfecting the city's water reservoirs to prevent the propagation of bacteria in the heat, Orlova said.

Peat bog fires broke out this week in the Moscow region, covering the capital's eastern, southeastern, southern and southwestern outskirts with a veil of smoke that increases pollution and makes the air hard to breathe, Vesti.ru reported.

Emergency officials said they have won the battle so far, putting out at least 27 big peat bog fires and 15 forest fires in the Moscow region.

All open wildfires were reported extinguished Wednesday, but dozens of peat bogs were still smoking.

If the smog persists, Muscovites may need gas masks and anti-asthma medicine, a top medical official, Alexander Chuchalin, said Thursday.

Temperatures are expected to hover around 32 to 34 C on Friday and 34 to 36 C over the weekend, likely setting new records, said Pozdnyakova, of the Moscow weather bureau. The previous record for July 16 was 32.8 C, set in 1986, while the record for July 17 was 33.7 C, set in 1951, she said.

Animals at the Moscow Zoo have also been suffering from the heat wave.

A female hunting leopard has a worryingly high respiratory rate, albino tigers have been ignoring visitors and the polar bears have to be showered in cold water, Vesti-Moscow.ru reported.

The elephants have not been eating properly and became inert and dejected already in late June, according to a Moskovsky Komsomolets report on June 24.

Zoo employees have placed water sprinklers near the cages of musk oxen, snow goats, zebras and giraffes to keep them cool.

But zoo employees who don cartoonish animal costumes to entertain children remain stoic and continue with their job in the sweltering heat.

“Yes, it's tough," a woman dressed as a bunny told a Moscow Times reporter. "But we lose weight."