The calendar only shows February, but the northern part of the country has already experienced large temperature jumps. After a soaking wet week with large amounts of rainfall and slush avalanches at the end of January, this week the snow has crackled well over large parts of northern Norway. But over the weekend the weather turns suddenly – again. In the northern municipality of Hattfjelldal, during the weekend it will go from minus 18 to plus five degrees, according to yr.no – so the temperature will rise by 23 degrees. In the Finnmark municipality of Kirkenes, it will fluctuate from minus 22 to plus two degrees. In the Troms municipality of Målselv, Bardufoss will see a jump from minus 25 degrees to plus 7 degrees – i.e. a temperature difference of 30 degrees during the weekend. – The temperature will rise. In some places it can reach 6–7 plus degrees. This is according to meteorologist on duty Rune Skoglund at the Meteorological Institute in Tromsø. The reason is several low pressures queuing in the direction of the Norwegian coast. – Everything that involves wind and wet mostly comes from the Atlantic Ocean, says Skoglund. Tracks increased risk of avalanches But it is not just the temperature that is rising. So do the wind sausages and the precipitation measurements. – There will be a lot of rain and a lot of wind. It is not unusual to have such mild weather periods, even though it is February, says Skoglund. – We are expecting quite a lot of thawing in Nordland. In Troms and Finnmark, there will not be much thawing, even if there will be a lot of precipitation and wind. The meteorologist is aware that this can mean challenging driving conditions. – It’s guaranteed to be smooth at first. At least until the snow goes away. So you should be aware of that from night to Sunday. Skoglund already says that the avalanche danger in the north will increase. This is what it looked like last week when there was a slush avalanche at the entrance to the Tosen tunnel between Brønnøy and Grane municipality in Nordland. Photo: Kurt Konradsen Sørperas closed several roads Compared to normal, it was northern Norway that had the warmest weather in January. The areas of Varanger, Nordland and Troms were all 2.6 degrees warmer than the average over the past 30 years. Northern Norway had the warmest temperature in January compared to normal. Graphics: Meteorological Institute The warm weather has created significant challenges at the start of the year. On 25 January, the busy exit road between Bodø and Fauske in Nordland was closed after what is probably the biggest mudslide on the stretch ever. On the same day, there were also landslides in both Hemnes and Brønnøy municipalities, which closed the E6 and county road 76. The storm last week also led to a dramatic rescue operation in Lofoten, when a foreign tourist became stuck on the popular mountain Reinebringen. The gusts of wind were so strong that the new SarQueen rescue helicopter had to give up after two attempts. The tourist was not rescued until the Svolvær alpine rescue group got to the top in the evening. Mostly fine weather Østafjell’s Julie Solsvik Vågane is the meteorologist on duty in Bergen. She says that the whole coast will feel the low pressures that will hit next week. It will be fine with precipitation in Western Norway and in Møre and Romsdal, although it will not be as heavy as in Nordland. The best weather next week is Østafjells. – There is little precipitation that falls over the mountains. Østafjells lies in the lee and the weather will therefore be drier than on the coast. It can be somewhat cooler with frost at night, says the meteorologist. The areas of Østafjells will have the nicest weather next week, free of precipitation and temperatures around freezing point. Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth / news
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From minus degrees to plus seven degrees – news Nordland
