This year’s first snowfall is expected to coincide with the official start of winter tomorrow. And while national weather service DMI has downgraded its intial snowfall forecast from 6cm to just 2cm, we can still expect to wake up to sub-zero temperatures tomorrow.
DMI is calling for temperatures to drop to -5 C overnight. By Sunday, the mercury will bottom out at -10 C, but while reports from the rest of Europe indicate the cold snap is just a prelude to what is expected to be the coldest winter in a century, Olaf Mathiassen, a DMI meteorologist, says those predictions might be premature.
“It’s impossible to say how cold it’ll get in the next three months,” Mathiasson said.
According to DMI, we can still expect snow this weekend, the heaviest amounts will be in northern Jutland. Copenhagen will see overcast skies, but “nothing dramatic”, Mathiasson said.
Dramatic or not, area mechanics are already preparing for an influx of customers expecting the worst. Jan Wiik, a Peugeot car mechanic in Frederiksund, explained that the winter weather warnings have created a sudden rush for snow tyres.
“There are always people who leave it to the last minute and then panic,” Wiik said. “The workshop’s in full operation at the moment changing summer tyres, and we only expect demand to increase.”
Car owners aren't alone in making last minute preparations for winter's arrival. Bicycle shop Vesterbro Cykler also said it had noticed an increase in business. Cycle mechanic Magnus Jørgensen explained that last winter saw a large rise in customers after a tough winter the previous year wreaked havoc on bike parts.
“Everything seems to break during the winter,” Jørgensen said. “Water gets in the cables, which then freezes and breaks them. Otherwise chains start to rust because of the salt on the roads. And headlights! The dark days ahead are great for light sales.”
We can expect light snow and flurries though Sunday. Snowfall will peter out by Monday, but DMI is currently calling for 9cm of snow to fall on the region on Tuesday.
Show us your visions of winter! Send us your pictures so we can create an on-line photo gallery of the way our readers experience winter in Denmark. E-mail photos to winter@cphpost.dk.
