averages 0.5–1 C° lower than in the city center, and 0.5–2 C° higher than night minimums in the suburbs. Type of precipitation Most precipitation in Moscow falls as rain, but in winter months almost all precipitation falls as snow, forming firm snow cover. The last wet snow precipitation may be in the beginning of May, and it may restart at the end of September. Snow cover Snow cover (averaging 5–7 months per year) forms at the end of October and melts by the start of April, although in recent years has not lasted as long as usual. For example, in the winter of 2006–2007 the snow cover didn't form until the end of January, and melted at the beginning of March; in 2007–2008, the snow cover melted at the end of February, and in the 2008–2009 winter, snow cover didn't form until the end of December, which is two months later than usual. Yet in 2011–2012 it melted in the middle of April. Wind Speed of wind The average wind speed is very high. In the city it is near 5 metres per second; in open places and airports it may top 6 metres per second. Wind Storms and Tornadoes A few times per season, often in the May–September period during thunderstorms, wind speed may exceed 15–35 metres per second. The last powerful wind storm was in 1998, when wind speed was 30–35 metres per second. 157 persons were injured, 8 died, and 2157 buildings were damaged. Tornadoes were recorded in 1904 and 1945 in Moscow and in 1970, 1971, the 1984 Yaroslavl tornado, 1987, 1994, and 1997 in Moscow Oblast 100 km south-east from Moscow (near Zaraysk), in 2005 in Dubna, and on 3 August 2007 in Krasnogorsk. In the 3 June 2009 tornado, F3 registered near Sergiyev Posad, Moscow oblast. Сloudiness and day light Number of clear, cloudy and overcast days On average Moscow has 1731 hours of sunshine in a year. In 2004–2008, near 1800–2000 hours. Daylight, average number of hours/day Duration of daylight depends on geographical position of Moscow. It varies from 7 hours 00 minutes on December 22 to 17 hours 34 minutes on June 22. The maximum height of the sun above the horizon is 11° on 22 December and 58° on 22 June. Near the day of the summer solstice (June 22), the sun does not fall below −12°, thus the nautical twilight