With thick snowflakes, Deep Gertrud has transformed the south of North Rhine-Westphalia into a white winter landscape and massively hindered road traffic – in some cases even paralyzing it. Children set off on their sleighs on Wednesday, drivers struggled with the slippery conditions, and trucks turned sideways. In numerous districts as well as in Cologne and Bonn, bus traffic and, in some cases, trains were stopped. In the Eifel, emergency services only made progress with snow chains.
The German Weather Service warned that there could still be problems due to heavy snowfall during rush hour traffic on Thursday morning. Many schools therefore remain closed for the second day in a row.
The German Weather Service (DWD) expected 15 to 30 centimeters of snow within 24 hours for the region from the Eifel via Bonn to South Westphalia, with up to 40 centimeters possible locally. With so much snow in such a short time, experts are talking about a storm. The authorities appealed via the warning app Nina: “Avoid all car journeys! Only drive with winter equipment!” In the southern half of Germany, however, the DWD expected even more severe storm consequences – NRW was already on the edge of the snow area.
According to the DWD, the snowfall in North Rhine-Westphalia is expected to subside in the southeast on Thursday, and according to forecasts, there will be easing in the northwest. A few light, icy snow showers are still possible in the mountains, otherwise it will remain largely free of precipitation. There may still be mostly light snowfall at times on Friday.
Schools remain closed again
The district governments of Arnsberg and Cologne therefore drew conclusions for the schools. Black ice and snow are expected to cause “severe disruption” on the way to school on Thursday morning. That is why face-to-face teaching in a dozen districts and cities in the south of North Rhine-Westphalia will be suspended, as was the case on Wednesday. Each school decides for itself whether lessons are canceled completely or whether the students have to cram at home. In the evening, the severe weather warnings for black ice in the administrative districts of Cologne and Arnsberg were canceled by the German Weather Service.
In all other districts, parents could decide on Thursday morning whether going to school is reasonable and safe for their children, said a spokeswoman in Arnsberg. The regulation does not apply to teachers. You must appear at school when weather conditions permit.
Bus services suspended in many regions
On Wednesday morning, during rush hour, everything started without any weather problems. But Deep Gertrud was approaching from the south. The low pressure area brought warm and moist air from the Bay of Biscay to North Rhine-Westphalia. Here the precipitation met cold air masses and fell from the sky as snow.
Bus traffic was the first to be hit: in Siegen-Wittgenstein, Olpe, Wuppertal, in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, in the Euskirchen district, in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis and in the Oberbergischer Kreis, public transport on the road was largely stopped. Around a dozen buses had previously been involved in accidents – but there was only sheet metal damage.
Trucks were blocked on many routes; after all, in the Eifel and Siegerland, for example, there wasn’t much left for drivers. Some truck drivers prepared to spend the night in their vehicles.
Police can hardly keep up with accident recordings
Dozens of accidents occurred on the snow-covered roads. In Bonn there were so many accidents in a short period of time that the police could hardly keep up with the recordings. The officials asked for your understanding for longer waiting times. In Siegerland, a gritting vehicle slipped off an icy road. Nothing happened to the driver in the accident. He then continued his work and continued to clear the streets of snow and ice, said a spokeswoman for the state company Straßen.NRW.
There were delays on the train. As a precautionary measure, ICEs drove more slowly and the train connection was lifted for all tickets, Deutsche Bahn announced. At Cologne/Bonn Airport, the runways had to be briefly closed again and again so that the winter service could be deployed. Dozens of flights were canceled at Düsseldorf airport until the evening due to the weather. Several centimeters of snow also fell in the state capital.
Joy of snow in winter sports areas
The winter sports areas in Sauerland, on the other hand, are happy about the new snow that has been announced. In the past cold days, the snow cannons in Winterberg, for example, could have produced a lot of technical snow. If natural snow is added now, it would be ideal for the slopes, said the Winterberg ski lift carousel. “The conditions could hardly be better.” Meteorologists are also expecting a few hours of sunshine in the Sauerland at the weekend.
In the ski lift carousel, 20 lifts are currently in operation with 80 centimeters of snow. Many other ski areas in Sauerland are also open. According to the Sauerland Winter Sports Arena, a total of 80 lifts should be running by the weekend and at least 200 kilometers of cross-country trails will have been groomed. The winter sports arena is an association of ski areas in the districts of Hochsauerland, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Olpe and the northern Hesse community of Willingen.
Weather warning warning VWS Cologne/Bonn airport warning from the railway ski lift carousel forecast DWD for NRW
