UPDATED: State meteorologists warned of new heavy snowfall due to move in over southern Norway Wednesday night. It started later than expected but was expected to last through most of Thursday. The weekend forecast was bright.
The weather experts were still predicting Thursday morning that the low pressure system could dump as much as 20 centimeters of snow, also along the coast. “It won’t be any catastrophe, but when there’s that much snow on the roads it can quickly be problematic,” state meteorologist Haakon Melhuus told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).
Melhuus said residents all over southern Norway should prepare for snow, sleet and rain, with the inclement weather due to spread as far north as Møre og Romsdal or Trøndelag.
He was especially concerned about conditions during the morning commute on Thursday, warning of difficult driving conditions “everywhere.” All motorists should allow themselves extra time because of congestion and hazardous roads.
“A couple of days ago we had a lot of snow during the afternoon commute, now it’s due during the morning commute,” Melhuus told NRK. Snow did snarl traffic, as expected, in the Oslo area and a few accidents were reported by 9am.
Melhuus predicted the snow will continue to fall from through most of Thursday. Anyone heading for the high country should also be prepared for challenging conditions, but mostly on the eastern side of the mountains (østafjells) because warmer temperatures on the west coast mean most of the precipitation there will come in the form of rain.
The outlook for the weekend, however, was relatively bright, with skies clearing on Friday and sunshine expected, at least at intervals, both Saturday and Sunday. With lots of fresh snow and temperatures around minus-5C, skiing conditions were expected to be excellent.
Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund
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