The low temperatures that made last weekend’s national day celebrations among the coldest on record are unlikely to rise any time soon. Residents woke up to a cold and rainy day in southern Norway on Tuesday and state meteorologists warned that most of the country is experiencing unseasonably chilly weather this May.
Temperatures fell below zero in Røros on Tuesday and it wasn’t much warmer anywhere else. Snow fell in Gausdal and Skeikampen over the weekend, cold rain poured down on Bergen and in Oslo, the temperature never rose above 10.3C (50F) during national day festivities. Not even the heavy wool bunads worn on special occasions were enough to keep Norwegians warm on the 17th of May. “I have to admit I was freezing under my bunad, too,” meteorologist Aurora Stensmark told state broadcaster NRK.
She predicted the cold weather is likely to continue for quite a while, at least through the upcoming (and last) long holiday weekend known as pinse (Whitsund), which starts Friday evening. Meanwhile, it was only 6C (just over 40F) in Oslo by mid-morning on Tuesday, just after the city opened its large Frognerbad swimming pool complex for the summer season.
Stensmark said that Saturday is due to be especially cold because of the way the jetstream is placed at present. It marks the line between cold polar winds from the north and warmer air from the south. Norway is likely to be “stuck in a pocket” that the warmer air can’t enter.
Not only will it be cold, but an extremely wet weather system moved in Tuesday over both southern and eastern Norway. The counties of Buskerud, Vestfold, Telemark and Agder counties were expected to be hit hardest, accompanied by lightning and thunder.
Forecasts called for the West Coast, central Norway and Nordland counties to get the same wet weather on Friday. Some of the rain also may move back in over Sørlandet and Østlandet, but there may also be periods of sunshine later in the week. They may not last long.
“Some days look like they’re going to be completely grey, others with rain and sunshine,” Stensmark said. “There will be lots of unstable weather in the week ahead.”
newsinenglish.no/Nina Berglund
