It was a mild winter with a lot of rain showers and the last few weeks it was nice and sunny, so you may not have seen it coming: snow. It is not often that it snows so late in the year. NH News lists a number of wintery spring months.
1. Heavy snowfall in April
The fact that snow in April and March is not so special can also be seen in weather spells about the month, according to Visser. Such as ‘ sweet April, sometimes has a white hat ‘.
“In 1978, for example, there was 18 centimeters of snow in Wognum on April 11, and in 1979 it even snowed in May,” Jan Visser tells NH Nieuws. “On May 3, 4 and 5 it was snowing almost all day.”
On April 11, 1978 there was 10 centimeters of snow in the western coastal provinces to 18 centimeters locally (in Wognum). In Alkmaar there was 15 centimeters of snow that day.
2. A depression from England
In 2005, after a fairly dry, sunny and mild winter, we were surprised by severe winter weather. A depression moved across England to France and very slowly dragged a front across our country from northwest to southeast.
A thick pack of snow fell throughout the Netherlands, including in North Holland. Here fell 15 to 30 centimeters. It was also quite cold: a temperature of -15.9 degrees was measured at Schiphol. “It was the most unique situation in March ever in our province. There was a huge layer of snow. There was even a layer of 15 centimeters on the football field of AZ.”
3. A frozen IJsselmeer
After the harsh February, winter in 1947 continued for more than two weeks in the north. The IJsselmeer was frozen solid on March 8, so skating could be done in Den Helder for eight days. Only after March 16 did the weather get warmer.
4. Code yellow and smoothness
But last year it was still very cold at the end of March! The KNMI announced code yellow on March 31 due to the risk of slipperiness due to winter showers. And on April 1 there was even a thick layer of snow.
Below you can see a nice video that was made with children in the snow at the time. The text continues after the video.
What are the predictions?
“In the night and morning, an area with rain and wet snow moves across the country. For us, that is mainly rain with sometimes wet snow,” says Visser. The temperature remains above zero, so there is little chance of a snow cover.
A few March showers will follow later in the afternoon. “So showers with snow and hail. Then it can become slippery locally.”
And then nature?
Although the snowfall can hinder traffic, this is not much of a problem for nature. “For nature, it is actually better to have 10 centimeters of snow than 10 millimeters of rain, after such a dry period. Snow melts slowly and can therefore be absorbed well, while rain immediately runs off,” explains Visser.
According to Visser, the birds and plants only suffer from the snow if it is also very freezing. “Frost can be harmful to nature, especially fruit trees, for example.”