53 out of 81 provinces witness snowfall

ISTANBUL

Recent snowfalls have blanketed 53 out of all 81 provinces, with some witnessing heavy snowfall and others experiencing just slight dust of white snow, crippling down and setting on the rooftops like a clean white sheet.

Meteorologists expect snowfalls to continue during the weekend in the central, eastern and southeastern provinces, as temperatures drop 4 to 10 degrees Celsius. Between 21 and 50 kilograms of snow are expected to fall in the eastern provinces of Bitlis, Van and Muş.

Snow with thickness over 20 centimeters is expected in places with a height over 1100 meters in the Central Anatolian provinces.

Experts warned residents in snowy provinces over the risk of frost and avalanches.

The eastern province of Ardahan has become the coldest province, with minus 24 degrees Celsius, followed by the neighboring province of Kars, with minus 23 degrees Celsius. Ağrı, a province bordering Iran, is expected to experience minus 20 degrees Celsius of temperature.

While the snow blanketed the center and east, the country’s west is struggling with harsh storms, with a speed up to 90 kilometers per hour.

“Marmara and Aegean regions and some Mediterranean provinces will witness storms,” the Turkish State Meteorological Service said in a statement on Jan. 13.

The Black Sea provinces will witness hail, it added.

Orhan Şen, a prominent meteorologist, warned inhabitants of the Mediterranean provinces over sea tornadoes.

There were snowfall warnings for Istanbul on Jan. 12 and 13, but Turkey’s most populous province bypassed the bad weather conditions, with slight snowfalls witnessed only in places at high altitudes.

However, the metropolitan municipality is still on alert with some 7,000 personnel and 1,600 vehicles to clean the roads and keep the traffic running in case of heavy snowfalls.

When asked if Istanbul would relive a catastrophic winter like the one in 1985, when inhabitants were stuck at home for nearly a month due to heavy snowfalls, Şen simply replied, “No.”

“Due to global warming, the probability of Turkey’s living such bad winters has weakened,” he added.

For the weekend, snowfall is likely to occur in the capital Ankara, while there is a possibility of pelting rain in İzmir, the third biggest province in the country.