Nasty blizzard conditions impact parts of northern Slovakia and beyond! (credit: Meteo Europe)

DISCUSSION: As a strong extra-tropical cyclone gradually pushed through parts of south-central Europe, there was a classic set-up in place for very nasty winter storm conditions to persist across areas in and around northern Slovakia.  As shown in the video above as well as the two atmospheric height graphics centered over Europe, you will denote the red-circled regions placed over each map (the upper graphic shows the 850 mb geopotential height map centered over Europe which depicts the spread of atmospheric height contours at roughly a mile or so above the surface while the lower graphic depicts the 1000 mb (or surface) geopotential height map over Europe as well).  These red-circled regions denote the areas which experienced some of the more intense blizzard conditions over the last 24 to 48 hours which were predominantly centered over countries including (but not limited to) Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia, and more.

​The footage attached above (courtesy of Ľubomír Kolesárby) captured near-blizzard conditions which were observed as of yesterday afternoon in the Tatras mountains which are located in northern Slovakia.  As noted by the Meteo Europe team, actively reporting weather stations reported heavy falling and/or blowing snowfall which generated consistently poor visibilities of 250 meters or less (i.e., visibilities of around 800 feet or less) coupled with gusty winds and consequential snowdrifts.   As you head out over the next few days, be smart and safe bv dressing in layers since very low wind chill values are expected to linger for the next couple of days with some wind chill values dropping as low as -30°C or below in some places.

To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across Europe, be sure to click here!

©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz