Many cities welcome snowfall amid drought

ISTANBUL

Many provinces have welcomed the snowfall with joy though it has disrupted daily life and made transportation difficult, as the country has been waiting for months amid the driest winter in recent years.

The rain that started on late Jan. 28 in the high parts of Istanbul’s Silivri district turned into snow, while the citizens who had been waiting for this moment for a long time recorded it with their mobile phones.

The snowfall that started in the country’s northwest increased its effect nearer the Bolu Mountain, with the snow thickness in some areas reaching five centimeters. Highway teams conducted plowing and salting works at the road’s mountain crossing.

The city center turned white with the snowfall that was effective on early Jan. 28 in the central Anatolian province of Sivas, where the snow thickness reached 15 centimeters in the winter sports center on Yıldız Mountain.

The air temperature drops to minus 1 degree Celsius in the city, where snowfall is expected to continue for a while, according to the data of the Turkish State Meteorological Service.

Separately, with the snow thickness reaching 30 centimeters in the Spil Mountain National Park in the southern province of Mersin, citizens from the surrounding provinces, especially Manisa and İzmir, flocked to the region.

Nature Conservation and National Parks (DKMP) teams left 500 kilograms of dry feed and 250 kilograms of vegetable and fruit residues in various areas for jades and wild animals such as wolves, foxes, rabbits, pigs and marten as they would have difficulty in finding food on the snow-covered mountain.

In Erdemli district, five people stuck in a car due to snowfall called a tow truck, which was also stuck in the snow. Thereupon, the stranded citizens were rescued by the municipal teams when the road was opened with a scoop.

Meanwhile, eastern provinces such as Bingöl, Van, Elazığ, Tunceli and Erzurum were also covered in white with the snowfall that started late on Jan. 28. While the snow thickness reached 10 centimeters in the city centers, it increased up to 40 centimeters in the higher parts.

Due to the snowfall, there were some disruptions in transportation on some highways from time to time.

Snowfall was also present in high places in the southeastern provinces as the mountainous neighborhoods of Diyarbakır’s Silvan district hosted beautiful landscapes with the first snow of the year, while it is expected to continue throughout the week in Adıyaman.

In Mardin, local tourists welcomed the snow with joy, stating that they encountered natural beauty though they came to visit historical places.

Snowfall in Batman has also whitened over 30 villages and hamlets on the skirts of Mereto Mountain. Seeing the snow after a long time, the children had fun playing snowballs. The precipitation is expected to increase the effect in the east of Batman throughout the week.