Next week, the rain will bucket down over parts of southern Norway. The cause is “an atmospheric river” of hot air, according to the Meteorological Institute. NVE says they will issue danger warnings in the next few days.
– It’s getting pretty wet.
This is the clear message from meteorologist on duty Håkon Mjelstad.
Next week, large amounts of precipitation are expected in western Norway and in Trøndelag. Locally, there may be up to 100 millimeters of local precipitation during a day. Wednesday and Thursday will be the most intense, according to Mjelstad.
In the mountains, precipitation will fall like snow.
– On Wednesday, most of the precipitation will fall south of Stadt. On Thursday, there will be more in Møre og Romsdal and Trøndelag.
The rain will also be able to move up towards Nordland, but it is unclear exactly where the divide goes, Mjeldstad explains
–– There will be danger warnings
Mjeldstad explains that it is long-distance transport of mild and humid air from the south of the Atlantic Ocean that creates the precipitation.
– We call it an atmospheric river. Thus we get more rain than if the air masses had originated further north.
– There are guaranteed to be danger warnings. This is a lot of precipitation even to Western Norway to be, he adds.
Mild in Eastern Norway
Eastern Norway, however, escapes the worst rainfall. But the mild air does not let go of the roof on the road over the mountains.
Next Thursday, 11 degrees is reported in Oslo, according to Yr.no.
– It looks like we get temperatures well up on the plus side. Thursday will be the warmest day, with an average of between 7-8 degrees Østafjells, says Mjeldstad.
– Is there a danger that the snow will disappear?
– It will probably decrease somewhat, but here there are large local differences. What you can risk is that the soft snow will freeze towards next weekend. Thus, there is a danger of icy trails, and it is not good.
Although the temperatures are unusually high for January to be, there is little indication of record heat, according to Mjelstad. He refers to the heat record for Oslo in January at 12.5 degrees. It is dated 30.01.1898.
Difficult driving conditions in Agder
In Agder, they have already got a taste of next week’s precipitation wave. A warning for snow has been sent out here on Sunday. Until Monday morning, there can be up to 15-25 cm of snow in 24 hours. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute informs on Twitter:
Mjelstad warns of difficult driving conditions on the E18 and for the Sørlandsbanen.
– So much and heavy snow can also be a challenge for the electricity and mobile network, he adds.
He says the snow will last until Monday morning.
Will not affect the price of electricity
Graziella Devoli is a landslide watchman in the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE). She says they are following the situation closely.
– We will assess the situation again tomorrow. There will be a warning from us, but we do not know what level yet, she says.
Devoli asks people to follow the warning services to NVE in the coming days.
So what does the precipitation have to say for the degree of filling in the reservoirs in the mountains in southern Norway? Can next week’s replenishment of rainwater affect the electricity bill?
Not necessarily, we must believe on-duty hydrologist at NVE Peter Borsanyi.
– The magazines vary greatly in size. The smaller ones get good refills, but it will probably have no effect on electricity prices, he says.
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