Snow forecast to fall in large parts of Finland

SNOW is forecast to fall next weekend in large parts of Finland, report YLE and Helsingin Sanomat.

Juha Tuomala, a meteorologist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), told Helsingin Sanomat on Thursday that tomorrow morning the snowfall is expected to be heavy particularly in eastern parts of the country, ranging from six to ten centimetres.

Two to six centimetres of snow is forecast to fall in eastern parts of Uusimaa, Pirkanmaa and Central Finland. In western parts of Uusimaa and Southwest Finland, meanwhile, the accumulation is not expected to exceed two centimetres.

“It’s indeed quite rate to get this much snow,” he commented to the newspaper.

He highlighted that day temperatures are presently roughly five to nine degrees colder than average in large parts of Central and Southern Finland.

On Friday, the regions are forecast to see temperatures ranging from -1°C to +5°C and northern parts of the country temperatures ranging from -5°C to +1°C. On Saturday, temperatures may be up to ten degrees colder than usual and not rise above the freezing point in large parts of the country, according to Tuomala.

Fintraffic has issued a warning of hazardous road conditions, urging motorists not to take to the roads in summer tyres and to take into account the wintery conditions despite the recent shift to summer speed limits. Motorists should also maintain a safe distance to the vehicle in front of them, underlined Sanna Piilinen, head of road traffic management in Turku for Fintraffic.

Nina Karusto, a meteorologist at YLE, stated yesterday that the conditions could resemble a blizzard because the snowfall is forecast to be accompanied by strong winds.

“People in quite a broad area have to prepare for bad road conditions between Friday evening and Saturday, when the weather won’t clear up until the evening. The worst phase will take place overnight between Friday and Saturday,” she commented.

Aleksi Teivainen – HT