Several locations in Troms county are experiencing snow chaos and traffic problems on Friday after a polar low pressure hit full force across the country.
This was reported by the Troms police district Chirping. Many local newspapers also report various weather-related challenges.
– We have no choice but to receive a report about a contractor who is struggling to keep the road open. There are many who struggle to move and cars get stuck, the director of operations in the Troms police district, Lennart Steffensen, tells TV 2.
So far we shouldn’t be talking about accidents, but several people have reported problems with getting to work.
– People need to pay attention and not run away unnecessarily, urges Steffensen.
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Schools are closed
Several schools in Senja are closed and parents have to keep their children at home, the newspaper reported Senia247.
This was also confirmed by the mayor of Senja, Tom-Rune Elisussen, on TV 2.
– It’s absolutely extreme. Cars don’t even pass through Storgata here in Finnsnes. I have talked to a plow and had never experienced such a thing. I have lived in Finnsnes since 2006 and have never seen so much snow in one go.
FOCUS ON THE SNOW: In addition to heavy snow, there is a lot of wind in several places. Photo: Jens André Mehammer Birkeland
Use tractor transport
– In some places, employees organize a tractor, to take people around for home service. We undo what can be undone and deal with what is urgent, continues the mayor.
According to the mayor, employees of the ambulance service are having trouble getting to work.
– But the employees who live nearby and come forward stand up, so that they have professionally sound operations, Mayor Tom-Rune Elisussen tells TV2
Eliseussen encourages people to stay at home.
– I can barely see out the window. At the moment it is completely closed, says the mayor.
– Now there are extreme conditions. We are considering setting up a crisis team during the morning, he adds.
PROBLEMS: Several road users are having major problems overcoming the snow. Photo: Jens André Mehammer Birkeland.
– Very unpredictable wind
– It is Northern Norway’s response to a tropical cyclone, the so-called polar low pressure. This means that there will be very unpredictable high winds with lots of snow. It comes on suddenly, and you don’t know exactly where it’s happening until it’s suddenly there, says Olav Erikstad, StormGeo’s on-duty meteorologist.
The forecaster can’t tell how much snow has fallen until the snowy weather has given way.
– A polar low pressure ends within a few hours. It happens because the sea is much warmer than the air, and now the air has entered towards Norway, which has cooled for a long time over Greenland, says the meteorologist.
BREAKDOWN: The weather made trouble for, among others, this plow on Friday morning. Photo: Jens André Mehammer Birkeland.
– I’ve never experienced anything like this
Torkil Johnsen is a plowman in Senja.
– It’s extreme. I have not experienced the husband. I worked for many years as a plowman. I got off duty at 8 this morning.
– How was the guard?
– It began very slowly and then increased to two o’clock last night. There was quite a bit of wind and in the loose snow the visibility was terribly poor. We just had to give up. When you don’t see the road as well as you can, you don’t drive, says Johnsen.
Many roads are now closed and it is impossible to cross them.
Siv Bente Paulsen is one of many affected and lives just outside Finnsnes.
– Neither ambulances nor the police will arrive now as the situation is if something were to happen, he says.
Read more about how the violent climate lives his.
INVITATION: All those affected by the heavy snow in the north are advised to stay indoors. Photo: Jens André Mehammer Birkeland
