Press "Enter" to skip to content

ALERT: Potentially the ‘worst storm the archipelago has ever seen’ with winds of more than 160 km/h forecast between Thursday night and Sunday

0 0
Read Time:1 Minute, 56 Second

A storm expected to bring hurricane-force winds and heavy snow to Svalbard between Thursday night and midday Sunday, with the most intense conditions between midday Friday and Saturday, may be the area’s most severe in recorded history, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.

Winds reaching speeds of more than 160 kilometers an hour are forecast in exposed areas, with more than 30 millimeters of precipitation – or about one-and-half meters of snow – forecast for Longyearbyen, according to a storm alert issued by the weather service.

“We encourage people to be outdoors only for necessary errands,” a statement issued by the city notes. “We ask you to secure loose objects that are stored outdoors, such as bicycles, snowmobile covers, skis, firewood, grills, etc.,” the statement notes. “If there is a failure of infrastructure such as electricity, water or heat we keep you updated on the Longyearbyen municipal government’s website and Facebook page.”

The marina in Longyearbyen is “the most vulnerable area, so it is very important that those who have boats here secure them,” said  Geir Bøyum, a meteorologist for the weather service, in an interview with Nordlys

The high winds will hit both Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund, along with other portions of the west Spitsbergen coast. The winds are expected to multiply the heavy snow impact due to drifts that may be several meters high in some areas.

“The (winds) will be right up against the strongest that there have been in Svalbard, at least as long as we have had measurements,” Boyum told Nordlys.

Winds are expected to increase in speed beginning Thursday afternoon and reach gale strength early Friday morning, according to the weather service. Snow is forecast beginning late Thursday night, turning heavy at midday Friday.

Gale-strength winds will continue throughout Friday, with peak hurricane-strength winds forecast Friday evening through midday Saturday. Snowfall will also be at its heaviest during that period.

Winds are expected to rapidly diminish after midday Saturday, although light to moderate snow is forecast through Monday.

Temperatures, which reached nearly minus 20 degrees Celsius early this week, are expected to rise to just below freezing during the peak of the storm.

The forecast for next week, including Christmas, is for mostly cloudy skies and mild winds, with temperatures between minus 10 and minus 15 degrees Celsius.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
Happy
Happy
0 %
Sad
Sad
0 %
Excited
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
Angry
0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 %

Average Rating

5 Star
0%
4 Star
0%
3 Star
0%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%

One thought on “ALERT: Potentially the ‘worst storm the archipelago has ever seen’ with winds of more than 160 km/h forecast between Thursday night and Sunday

Comments are closed.