Elena Tzivekis, Staff Writer

As the world continues to adjust to life in a pandemic, Mother Nature has other plans and is throwing historic amounts of snow our way. While heavy snowfalls are normal in countries, such as Russia and certain parts of North America, in the last month, some areas have seen record-breaking snowstorms, some the heaviest seen in decades. Listed below are several of the heaviest and most shocking snow falls from around the world over the last few weeks.

Madrid

When you think of Spain, you often picture the bright sunny city of Madrid, its intricate parks and elegant architecture. You may not always picture it being covered in snow, even during a normal winter season. This year, Madrid received a little over 12 inches of snow, the most since 1971 — bringing the city to a complete halt. 

Moscow

While you can expect that a country such as Russia typically receives several feet of snow a year, this year was a bit more than usual. It turns out last year, Moscow received a very mild snowfall and within the first two days of its recent snowfall, Moscow was sitting under 22 inches of snow. There were 60,000 city crew members who joined in efforts to clean up the snow. 

Athens

Greece is no stranger to snow, however, this year the country has received an unprecedented amount as opposed to years prior. Heavy snow totaling several inches covered Athens during their recent snowstorm, just as the country was beginning to distribute COVID-19 vaccinations across the capital city. While snow is common among the mountainous regions in Greece, it is far more rare to see it in the capital city. 

Texas

The recent snowstorm to hit the U.S. impacted several states, including Texas. While it does not snow often in Houston, one of Texas’ largest cities, it snowed a record-breaking 22 inches this month. This is one of the 94 times it has snowed in Texas since 1981. The last time it snowed as bad as this year was in 1985, on Valentine’s Day. 

New York

New York is no stranger to snow, but the recent storm has hit NYC with one of the biggest snowfalls in its recent history. Since their last blizzard in 2016, this year’s highest counted snow within the last few years totaling in 17.4 inches. 

Philadelphia

We had to mention our lovely city on this list, as we saw a sizable 17.5 inches of snow this winter. Philadelphia had also recorded 4 consecutive days of snowfall, which is only the 4th time this has happened in our history. 

tzivekise1@lasalle.edu