Estonia: There hasn’t been this much snow on St. George’s Day for ages

Not since 1988 has it snowed as much on St. George’s Day (jüripäev) in Estonia as it did this year. Estonian meteorologists came to this conclusion on Tuesday after looking at their yearbooks. For comparison: exactly 10 years ago, the temperature on April 23 was over 20 degrees.

Heavy snowfall resulted in difficult road conditions. The situation was particularly difficult on April 23, 2024, when the snowfall was so powerful that in some places the thickness of the snow cover exceeded 10 centimeters.

Due to the weather conditions, public transportation was disrupted, and the work of the post office and cabs was hampered. Many drivers who had already replaced winter tires with summer ones found it difficult to drive their cars

“The last time we had wintry weather in the same period was in 2017, but it wasn’t as cold and snowy then, it was more sleet. In the last few days, we’ve certainly had 10 to 20 centimetres of snow. In some places even 35 centimetres,” ERR.ee quotes a weather researcher.

However, the consensus is that such freak weather is not completely unusual at this time of year. “The weather is always changeable in April. In Estonia, the picture can change completely within 24 hours,” says the meteorologist.

Long-term forecast models see warmer-than-average summer
And further: “It’s also cold in Central Europe. But in Russia, somewhere behind Moscow, it’s very warm.” The reason for this is an eddy that developed and intensified a few days ago on the Black Sea.

At the moment, however, it looks like temperatures in Estonia will rise again significantly by the end of the week. Next week it could even be more than 20 degrees. Long-term forecast models also point to a warmer than average summer.

So it looks like travelers to the Baltic States can leave their thick socks in the wardrobe. At least for the middle of the year.

Photo: It snowed heavily again in Estonia this week.