Code yellow in effect as snow and ice expected overnight across parts of Netherlands
The Netherlands is facing a cold, dry Wednesday, with snow and icy roads expected overnight into Thursday as a Code Yellow warning is in effect for parts of the country. Travel disruption is possible before much milder weather arrives later in the week.
The KNMI has issued a Code Yellow warning, which is active as of Wednesday morning, for slippery conditions during the night from Wednesday into Thursday and Thursday morning. The warning applies to Zuid-Holland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Noord-Brabant, and Limburg. A snow cover of 1 to 3 centimeters is expected, with local accumulations of up to 5 centimeters.
“Probably there will be a fairly narrow zone, somewhere around the river area, where it will snow for a longer period and the most snow will remain,” the KNMI said.
Afternoon temperatures will range from about 2 degrees in the north to 5 or 6 degrees in the far south, weeronline predicts. A brisk easterly to northeasterly wind will make it feel colder. The north will see the most sunshine, while the center and south will have more cloud cover. Conditions will reportedly stay dry through most of the day and early evening.
Late Wednesday evening and overnight into Thursday, precipitation will move in from Belgium, first affecting the southern part of the country. Rain and wet snow are expected near the Belgian border. As the precipitation spreads northward into colder air, it will increasingly fall as snow. The north is expected to remain dry overnight, with temperatures dropping to around minus 2 degrees. Forecasters stress there is still uncertainty about how far north the snow will reach and whether it will remain on roads, as temperatures in many areas will stay just above freezing.
On Thursday, it will be cloudy with snowfall in the central and southern parts of the country, weeronline wrote. In the southern provinces, 1 to 5 centimeters of snow is expected, which could cause traffic disruption due to icy roads. In the far south of Zeeland, Noord-Brabant, and Limburg, especially near the Belgian border, precipitation may fall as rain instead of snow.
By late Thursday morning into the afternoon, snowfall intensity is expected to decrease. Temperatures in the south will rise to 2 to 6 degrees. As temperatures climb, snow will increasingly turn to rain, and slippery conditions will ease. The north is expected to remain largely dry. Thursday evening and the night until Friday will be mostly dry, with clouds alternating with clear spells.
