'Putrid' orange snow falls in Siberia

By Adrian Blomfield
The Telegraph
Feb. 06, 2007

When Frank Zappa penned the hit single "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" back in 1974, his words were meant as a warning to Eskimos to avoid the spots "where the huskies go." Yesterday Russian authorities were forced to repeat the American singer song-writer's advice for altogether different reasons after putrid smelling yellow, green and orange snow fell across a substantial swathe of Siberia.

The bizarre phenomenon caused consternation across the affected regions of Omsk and Tomsk, where government officials told locals to stay indoors, tie up their pets and avoid either consuming the snow or using it "for household or technical needs."

"The snow is oily to the touch and has a pronounced rotten smell," Anton German, an environmental official in Omsk was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Samples of the snow were flown to Moscow by the department for especially hazardous rescue operations, prompting rumours of a significant environmental disaster.

The emergency situations ministry initially said the most likely cause of the snow was "waste from metallurgical plants" but later backtracked, blaming the phenomenon - which covered an area the size of greater London - on a sandstorm in Kazakhstan.

"Preliminary results of the tests revealed the presence of sand and clay dust particles, which caused the unusual colour," the ministry said in a statement. It said toxicity levels were normal, although other officials said iron and nitrogen levels were four times higher than usual.

Discoloured snow is not unknown in Russia. In Norilsk, a closed city just outside the Arctic Circle that is home to the world's largest nickel and palladium producer, the snow is often black.

According to the Blacksmith Institute, a New York based environmental watchdog, three of the world's most polluted places — including Norilsk — are in Russia.