Severe Weather Alert for Christmas. Blizzards, frost and snow cover in several regions. Code yellow in half the country

Starting from Tuesday evening until the day after Christmas, there will be precipitation in most of the country, while in the mountains and in Moldova snow will gradually prevail. The weather will cool down significantly, in some areas it will be freezing, according to ANM.

Meteorologists have warned that, between December 23, 6 p.m. and December 26, 10 a.m., Romania will be affected by an episode of severe winter weather, characterized by wind intensifications, moderate precipitation, temporarily blizzard snow, sleet, snowfall and a sharp cooling of the weather, with frost in some areas.

According to the forecast issued by ANM, precipitation will cover most of the country. In the mountains and in Moldova, snow will gradually prevail, while in the southern regions mixed precipitation will initially be reported. In Oltenia, Muntenia and northern Dobrogea, from the night of Wednesday to Thursday (December 24/25), precipitation will turn into snow.

Water quantities will generally be 5–15 l/m2, but in Oltenia and in the west of the Southern Carpathians, locally, they will exceed 25–30 l/m2, where a consistent layer of snow will be deposited, with thicknesses between 15 and 25 cm.

Isolated, rain will form, and in the rest of the territory the precipitation will be weak and mixed, according to ANM. During Thursday (December 25), the area of ​​precipitation will gradually narrow to the southwest of the country.

At the same time, from the second part of Wednesday (December 24) until Thursday evening, the wind will intensify in the southwest and south regions, with gusts of 45–55 km/h, temporarily blowing the snow. Isolated, wind intensifications will also be possible in the other regions.

Significant cooling and frost on Christmas night

Meteorologists also warn that on Thursday, December 25, the first day of Christmas, the weather will get colder, especially in the south and east of the country.

Maximum temperatures will generally be between -5 and 2 degrees Celsius, and during the night, in Moldova and eastern Transylvania, frost will set in, with minimums between -12 and -10 degrees.

Code yellow in Bucharest and 19 counties

The National Meteorological Administration also issued a Code Yellow warning, valid between December 24, 12:00 p.m. and December 25, 20:00 p.m., for Dobrogea, Muntenia, Oltenia and southern Banat.

In these regions, the wind will have temporary intensifications, with gust speeds of 50–70 km/h. On the night of Wednesday to Thursday (December 24/25) and the first part of Thursday, December 25, in Muntenia, southern Oltenia and northern Dobrogea, the wind will blizzard the snow, and visibility will temporarily drop below 100 meters. In Oltenia, heavy snowfall will continue until Thursday evening.

In the west of the Southern Carpathians and in Oltenia, the snow cover will reach 10–20 cm, and isolated may exceed 25 cm. Also, in places, snow will be deposited, favoring the formation of ice and difficult traffic conditions. In places, snow will settle and ice will form.