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WEATHER

Norwegians take skis out of storage after freak snowfall

Norway is currently under an amount of snow extremely rare for late spring, with up to half a metre of snow falling in areas outside of Oslo.

Published: 11 May 2017 14:43 CEST
Norwegians take skis out of storage after freak snowfall
Holmenkollen, Oslo on 11th May 2017. Photo: Berit Roald / NTB scanpix

Snowfall during Wednesday night caused traffic delay Thursday, and so much snow has fallen that Oslo residents have returned to ski slopes in the off-season, reports NRK.

Oslo’s municipality told the broadcaster that it was reopening ski slopes.

“Preparing ski slopes after Easter is completely abnormal. But we have never prepared them in May before,” Knut Johansson of the city authority said.

READ ALSO: Warmer weather finally coming to Norway as May begins

The Vestmarka area outside of the capital is one of the areas that has seen heavy amounts of May-time snow.

“We have 25cm at Solli in Vestmarka, where we are going out with an ATV quad bike to make ski slopes,” ski run manager Hege Blichfelt Sheriff of the local skiers’ association told NRK.

Just under a centimetre of snow was measured this morning outside the Norwegian Institute for Meteorology (Meteorologisk Institutt) at Blindern in the capital, according to NRK's report.

Snow has not been seen at Blindern at this time of year since 1967, according to the institute.

“It is something very rare for the snow to settle as far down as Blindern,” said meteorologist Terje Alsvik Walløe.

Even though snow further north is less uncommon for the time of year, Walløe said the amount that had fallen was “unusual”.

Meanwhile, police advised motorists in the Oslo area who have switched their tyres to summer tread not to take their vehicles out on the roads.

“We recommend that people drive based on conditions and not take any chances,” duty officer Rune Ullsand told NRK.

Walløe told NRK that the unusual snowfall did not mean winter was back for good.

“This is the last spasm. We will now see better and more spring-like weather,” he said.

Temperatures are expected to reach 15°C (59°F) over the weekend, reports NRK.

WEATHER

Norway to get a taste of summer with 20C days this week

Summer is finally here! Or least it is if you live in southern Norway, where a warm front coming up from Europe will bring t-shirt temperatures of 20C by Thursday, according to forecasts.

Published: 30 April 2024 08:42 CEST
Norway to get a taste of summer with 20C days this week

Warm air from southern Europe will combine with a high pressure zone which will bring clear skies and sunshine, with summery weather coming towards the end of the week, Norway’s national weather forecaster Yr has reported. 

“Thursday and Friday especially will be nice,” Ingrid Villa, a meteorologist at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, told the public broadcaster NRK. “Then we will probably get temperatures of over 20 degrees Celsius in some places.” 

Patches of 20C warmth are expected both in western Norway around Bergen and in Western Norway around Oslo, with the area around Tromsø expected to have slightly cooler weather, although Villa said that “it will absolutely be something like summer there too”. 

The warm sunny weather is, however, expected to pass northern Norway by, with grey overcast skies expected for much of this week. 

But if you think summer has come to Norway to stay, you risk disappointment as much cooler temperatures are expected next week.  

“There’s nothing unusual in getting an early taste of summer in April and the start of May, and then we can quickly go back to cooler more spring-like weather,” Villa said. 

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