Norway’s Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) posted flood warnings for southern and eastern Norway as the area headed in to another wet weekend. Heavy rainfall was predicted and officials fear that several rivers and creeks will rise over their banks.
NVE officials said they were unsure exactly where the most amount of rain would fall, and therefore where the flooding could occur. They caution, though, that the entire area from Agder in the south and east towards Lake Mjøsa is vulnerable.
More rain also has raised fears of more rock- and earth slides especially in narrow valleys and areas with steep mountainsides.
The sun was shining many places around southern Norway on Thursday but it didn’t last. Clouds rolled in Thursday evening and most of southern Norway was covered by a stubborn low-pressure system on Friday. It was pouring rain and windy in Oslo Friday morning, as predicted, and the state meteorological institute warned that an entire month’s worth of normal rainfall could fall on Friday and Saturday.
“We predict a a lot of rain on these two days,” state meteorologists John Smits told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). “On Friday the most rain will likely fall west of the Oslo Fjord and westward towards Aust-Agder. There can also be a lot of rain in northern Telemark and Buskerud counties with great local variation.”
On Sunday the heavy rain was expected to move northwards. Meanwhile, the immediate forecast for northern Norway on the weekend was much better than for southern Norway.
The sun should reappear early next week with temperatures rising, possibly up to 25C (77F), Smits said. Temperatures were expected to rise in northern Norway as well, to more than 20C.
Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund
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