Severe weather warnings issued for 63 provinces

ANKARA

The Turkish State Meteorological Service has issued “yellow and orange alerts” for 63 out of all 81 provinces for March 4 following a decrease in temperature between 2 to 4 degrees Celsius across the country.

All provinces except the ones in the Aegean and the Mediterranean coasts witnessed heavy precipitation on March 3, while snowfalls and downpours disrupted daily life in the capital Ankara.

Some 4,230 personnel with 1,300 vehicles worked all day to shovel snow on streets and open the roads to traffic.

The governor’s office especially warned residents of the capital’s south and eastern districts of heavy snow. “Icing on the main roads may occur,” it said in a statement.

Meteorologists estimated that snowfalls will continue until the beginning of next week in various Anatolian provinces, with six of them postponing face-to-face education on March 4 due to downpours.

Two Aegean provinces, Afyonkarahisar and Denizli, the Black Sea province of Sinop, the Central Anatolian province of Konya, the southern province of Isparta and the southwestern province of Muğla’s Kavaklıdere district decided to turn to online education for March 4.

Meteorologists also warned the eastern provinces of frost and avalanches and the Black Sea provinces against winds that may reach a speed of 90 kilometers per hour.

A “yellow alert” is issued when there is a “potential threat by a weather event.”

Meteorologists rarely issue “orange alert,” which signifies a possibility of damage and loss in a “dangerous weather situation.”