Stormy Weekend is in Store for Much of Europe

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

January 30,2015; 10:37PM,EST

 

A massive area of low pressure will continue to keep much of Europe in a stormy, unsettled pattern through this weekend.
The low pressure will be centered over Scandinavia, where it will deliver heavy snows. Strong winds will rotate around the storm, slamming areas from the UK through southern Europe, right into Turkey. Wind gusts in these locations will locally top 100kph.
Stockholm, Sweden will see between 12-20 cm (3-6 inches) of snow by Sunday morning. To the north of Stockholm, many places will see around 30 cm (12 inches) of snow, including Lulea, Sweden.

On the south side of the stormy pattern, a smaller low pressure system rotating around the main low will head east over the Mediterranean Sea and come onshore over the Balkan Peninsula and will cause some locally heavy rain, especially on the west side of the Carpathian and Balkan Mountain ranges. These areas will be subject to high winds gusting in excess of 100 kph.
Flash flooding and mudslides are a concern across this area. This danger will only heighten as the stormy pattern continues across southern Europe well into next week.
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Substantial snow in the higher mountains across southern Europe will complete this winter storm.
"Travelers will have difficulty getting through mountain regions and the high mountain passes," Sagliani added.
While a fresh 10 to 20 cm (4 to 8 inches) will fall on the Alps (with the highest accumulations on the northern slopes), at least 30 cm (a foot) of snow is set to bury the highest peaks of the Pyrenees and the western Balkan Peninsula.
Meteoroloist Dave Samuhel contributed to the content of this story.