Snowstorm Adds to Frozen Europe's Woes
Broken-down cars sit in front of the Serbian Parliament building in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
The extreme cold gripping eastern Europe is not only responsible for claiming at least 169 lives, but also setting the stage for a significant snowstorm.
The snowstorm will spread from Italy (including Rome) and the countries on the other side of the Adriatic Sea to Ukraine and western Russia this weekend.
The worst of the snowstorm will continue to bear down on the Dinarides Mountains, home to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, through the first half of the weekend. Feet and meters of snow will be unleashed.
A burying amount of snow is the last thing residents living in communities throughout the Dinarides want now.
At least 11,000 people remained cutoff from receiving much-needed supplies by snow-clogged and icy roads in remote areas in Serbia's mountains on Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
Emergency crews worked hard to clear roads prior to this snowstorm's arrival, while some rescue operations in both Serbia and neighboring Bosnia involved helicopters.
Any attempt to complete these rescue efforts will be nearly impossible until the snowstorm leaves the Dinarides later this weekend.
Substantial snow will not be confined to the higher terrain of eastern Europe. Between 6 and 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) is expected in Belgrade, Serbia, and Budapest, Hungary.
Several inches (around 10 cm) of snow will also continue to spread eastward to Romania, Ukraine, southern Belarus and western Russia, where so many lives have been lost due to the brutal cold.
The one advantage of the snow is that the accompanying clouds will prevent temperatures from rivaling the extremely cold overnight lows recorded in recent days.
On the heels of this weekend's snowstorm will be another that will take a track farther south through eastern Europe early next week.
The potential exists for Romania and Bulgaria to endure a repeat of last week's blizzard, while AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Dale Mohler is also concerned for heavy rainfall south of the snow.
"[The storm] is a classic setup for 5 to 6 inches (13 to 15 cm) of rain to inundate Antalya, Turkey."
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| Precip | 3.99" | Wadena, MN |
WeatherWhys®
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