The decision by air transportation officials to close down the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk airport was particularly detrimental to air travel as the airport serves as the gateway for most air travel to Russia's Sakhalin region, ITAR-TASS reported Saturday.

The insular region was not completely cut off from necessary supplies by the winter storm as a ferry line to the island continued to operate, the Russian news agency reported.

Railway service to the region also had not been affected by the snow cyclone and remained a transportation option, the regional department of the Russian Ministry for the Emergency Situations said.

The forecast for Sunday for the region offered a hint of optimism as the storm and its gale-force winds were expected to diminish.