Winter is back in Romania: Snow and strong wind cause power outages, affect road and air traffic

The unexpected winter-like weather that hit Romania these days has affected the road and air traffic in some regions, and caused power outages, leaving thousands of families in the dark. According to the Infotrafic Center of the Romanian Police, at 10:30, the DN17A national road was closed between Sucevita and Vatra Moldovitei to facilitate the intervention of snow removal vehicles. Moreover, the traffic was also closed on DN18 in Maramures county, in Pasul Prislop, due to some trees that fell during the night due to the strong wind. The layer of snow on this road was of some 1-2 cm on Thursday morning. Meanwhile, on DN11 national road in Covasna county, in Pasul Oituz, the traffic was resumed on Thursday morning, but with restrictions for vehicles weighting over 3.5 tons. Other restrictions and problems were also registered on other national roads in Harghita, Suceava, Covasna, Cluj, Gorj, Iasi, and Brasov counties. Meanwhile, several flights from Cluj-Napoca Airport were registering delays on Thursday morning, due to aircraft de-icing. The bad weather also affected thousands of families in Prahova county, where the strong wind and heavy snowfall brought some damage to the power grid. Close to 8,000 households in 12 villages in Prahova county had no electricity on Thursday morning. The affected localities were Apostolache, Provita de Susu, Sangeru, Salcia, Pacureti, Trenu, Batrani, Catunu, Bustenari, Schiulesti, Lapos, and Draganeasca. Power outages were also registered in Buzau, Vrancea, Bacau, Neamt, Suceava, Botosani, Iasi, and Vaslui counties, in eastern Romania, as well as Mures county, in Transylvania. In some regions, the thick and heavy layer of snow has broken down trees, sometimes affecting the power lines. Most of Romania is under alerts of bad weather these days. According to information from the National Administration for Meteorology, between April 20, 11:00 and April 21, 14:00, Moldova and Transylvania regions will be under a code yellow of snow while Northern Muntenia and Dobrogea will be under a code yellow of mixed precipitations. However, heavy snowfall will continue to be registered in the mountain areas, and the wind will blow strongly in all these areas. The meteorologists also issued two orange codes for bad weather. One of them targets the period between April 20, 11:00 and April 20, 15:00, and announces snow in the mountain areas and the low areas of Suceava, Neamt, Bacau, and Vrancea counties. The wind will also blow strongly, with up to 60 km per hour. The second orange code (between April 20, 15:00 and April 21, 09:00) announces snow in Moldova region and the Carpathians, and strong wind.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management also issued flooding alerts on several rivers in Southern and Southeastern Romania. The alerts are valid until Friday afternoon.