Expecting snow in Moscow this winter? Not so fast.

The Russians may be able to tell us that Dmitry Medvedev is in charge of the country and get away with it, but rigging the weather is just too much. Come on now. It's obvious that you're up to something.

This year, Moscow's Mayor Yury Luzkhov is putting forth the proposition of seeding clouds to prevent large volumes of snow from falling on Russia's glorious capital city. The project, which would cost $10M to fund, could save money by cutting back on the $16M snow removal process currently in place -- not to mention the fact that the skies would be chipper and blue more often.

Perhaps the funniest part of whole exercise is that the process wouldn't stop snow. It would relocate it, directly depositing the white stuff all over the neighboring regions. It's as if Los Angeles saw a tsunami coming and said "Um, we have a parade this weekend. You take it, Las Vegas."

So if you find yourself in Red Square this winter snapping beautiful photos of St. Peter's against a perfect blue sky, don't send your thanks to Mother Nature. Instead, thank Mayor Luzkhov -- or more appropriately, the residents of Lyubertsy, Russia, who will be digging out from under twice as much snow this year.

Filed under: Asia, Russian Federation