One of the hardest snowstorms so far is about to hit Finland by the evening.
The weathermen call the approaching snowstorm “Valtteri.” January 29 is the name day for the popular Finnish forename but pedestrians, car drivers, dogs—anyone out there—are unlikely to want to link further associations to it when the storm starts coming down in dense flurries, horizontally.
The storm begins its journey from the west coast and by afternoon it has arrived in central Finland.
The snow starts falling slowly in the Uusimaa region in the early afternoon; by the evening it has become a storm. The storm reaches swiftly the eastern parts, too.
In places, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, it may snow as much as 30 centimeters and even more between Saturday and Sunday. The gusts of wind are expected to be about 20 meters per second.
“I am not saying that accidents may happen. It’s a matter of when,” said Eveliina Tuovinen, a meteorologist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Large power outages are also likely.
But whatever happens, the rescue department and the snowplows are ready
