The unusual drought period at Østafjell continues. Although the meteorologists report that some rain showers may occur this weekend, the forest fire hazard hasn’t diminished.
“The high pressure remains – and the next few days are still dry,”said meteorologist Hanne Beate Skattør.
The drought will probably hold at the weekend in Østafjells, while in Western Norway there may be some prospects for rain next week.
But it will get more cloudy at the weekend, and there may be rain in some of the clouds, according to Skattør.
“There will be no rainfall, and even if it rains, it will reduce the forest fire hazard, but it will certainly not last for long periods,” she emphasised.
Because some clouds will appear, the temperature will be reduced somewhat. But there is no mention that the weather will be cool in Østafjell.
“There will be some cooler weather to the north in eastern Norway, in Hedmark and Oppland. But the temperature will still be just over 20 degrees, so it will not be cold,’’ said Skattør. The clouds will make the temperature reach just over 30 degrees.
Unusually dry period
The Meteorological Institute stated that it is unusual for such a long period of drought.
“It is not uncommon for high pressure periods to occur during the summer,but we only had a long period in May, which was only interrupted by a short period of cooler weather and a little rainfall,” says Skattør.
May was the hottest month measured in the country, over 4.4 degrees above the norm.It was thus the warmest ever registered in the country during one month back to the 20th century. Northern Norway also had warm weather, the meteorologist said.
June did not turn out so heavily on a national basis because of the cold weather in the north.June was therefore only 0.5 above the norm.
Additional preparedness
The extreme forest fire hazard caused the Directorate for Civil Protection and Preparedness (DSB) to have increased helicopter preparedness before the weekend. Three forest fire helicopters are ready for launch at Kjeller, while one is at Torp, one on Sola and one at Værnes. In addition, DSB has a helicopter for emergency preparedness at Torp.
Emergency preparedness could be increased if the situation requires it, the directorate informed TV 2 on Tuesday.
Cloudy, overcast and rainy weather
On the other hand, there is no reason to fear forest fires. In the North, there will not be great summer weather, but in some places where there is sun, the temperature could rise to approximately 20 degrees.
Skattør told that the helicopter in the north predicted in rough terms, a cloudy mixture of weather and rain showers.
© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today
