Rijkswaterstaat advises travelers against going on the road tomorrow if it is not necessary. The KNMI has issued a code orange for prolonged snowfall from midnight until 12 noon tomorrow.
Code orange applies to the northern provinces and the Wadden. Code yellow remains in force in the rest of the country.
“The disturbance approaching from the southwest will reach us tonight,” explains RTV Drenthe weatherman Hans Nienhuis. “Around midnight a breeze will pick up, from then on a snow zone will gradually move into our province from the south.”
According to Nienhuis, about five to ten centimeters of snow will fall in most places. “But some spots will receive more than 6 inches.”
But that snow falls when a strong wind has blown up. “The further north you are, the more wind there is. And it will also drift, which can create snow dunes.” These winter conditions are reason for Rijkswaterstaat to advise travelers against going on the road.
Tomorrow during the day there will be a split in the weather in the province, which could cause a number of problems. “The snow dunes are still there, but behind the snow showers, softer air is moving towards the province.”
According to Nienhuis, the softer air will not completely cover the province, but in the south it may thaw in the afternoon. “It looks like the south-west of Drenthe will get rain in the snow. Snow is on the flat roofs, the rain falls there and cannot run off. So the snow load will increase considerably on such roofs,” says Nienhuis.
The thaw attack from the south will not win against the cold attack. In the north of the province it will continue to snow all day. During the afternoon, the rain will turn back into snow in the south. “Then winter returns and temperatures drop far below zero.”
“There will be a second period tomorrow during which snowdrifts may occur.” In the evening the snowfall seems to have largely disappeared, although an occasional flake may still fall in the north. “The snowfall completely disappeared halfway through the day on Saturday. Then peace will return and we can assess the damage if there is any.”