Russia's Pacific coast receives warning powerful cyclone coming up.

VLADIVOSTOK, December 30 (Itar-Tass) - An emergency warning about the
passage of a powerful cyclone has been issued to all the territories and
population centers along Russia's Pacific Coast.

Gale, heavy snowfall, blizzards and a sharp fall of air temperatures
are expected in the Primorsky /Maritime/ and Khabarovsk territories, on
the island of Sakhalin, and on the Kurile Islands archipelago that
separates the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean.
The press service of the Far Eastern territorial center of the federal
Ministry for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense /EMERCOM/ warned that
the cyclone is expected to produce snow banks and ice condition on
automobile roads in the Primorsky territory, as well as cleavage of snow
to wires at power transmission lines.
On the face of it, air temperatures in the southern parts of the
territory will sink to anomalously low readings - about 7 degrees Celsius
below the usual climatic norm for this period of the year. Forecasts speak
of a possible temperature of minus 25 degress Celsius in Vladivostok on
the background of gale blowing at about 30 meters per second.
Human organism perceives this kind of weather as if it were minus 50
degrees Celsius.
This will be the product of a Siberian anticyclone that continues
gaining strength and will likely reign in the Primorsky territory through
to January 5.
Last time, the air temperature sank to minus 25 to minus 20 degrees
Celsius in the Primorsky territory in 2000. The record of winter frosts --
minus 48.8 degrees -- was set in the town of Melnichnoye in January 1951,
although notes left by early researchers of climate in the Far East who
visitied the territory at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the
20th centuries suggested that nighttime temperatures would sometimes go as
deep down as minus 54 to minus 50 degrees.
EMERCOM has urged parents to refrain from allowing outdoor activities
to their children until the temperatures come back to the acceptable
levels.
"All the owners of private cars have been alerted to the importance of
not using their cars except for the situations of absolute urgency,"
EMERCOM said in an appeal to the population.
It indicated that fans of winter fishing are strictly forbidden to go
out on the iceshield of the sea, rivers and lakes.
Forecasters say there is a strong possibility of heavy snowfall and
blizzards in the eastern districts of the Khabarovsk territory, in parts
of the Sakhalin region and on the Southern Kurile islands December 31 and
January 1.
Authorities and rescue services in Sakhalin have been warned of high
risks of snow avalanches that may go down hillsides.
EMERCOM experts say an outbreak of emergency situations in not ruled
out in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories and the Sakhalin region.
Also, problems may appear in the functioning of public transport and
ruptures of wires may occur at power transmission lines. The latter may
affect the work of housing services and public utilities.
Emergency situations may break out on ships cruising in littoral areas.
At the time of reporting, however nothing definite was known about any
impact of the cyclone on housing services and public utilities.
-0-kle