Below-normal temperatures expected for Balkans: WMO

Over the next two weeks significant cooling and a period with significantly below-normal temperatures, partly with heavy snowfall, was expected for the southern and eastern Balkan peninsula, Turkey, the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday.

Clare Nullis, spokesperson from WMO, told reporters here in Geneva during a press briefing that the predict was based on a latest Climate Watch advisory about a cold spell in the Balkans and the Middle East.

The advisory covered the period of Jan. 18 to 31, and there was a possibility those conditions could extend until mid-February of 2016, at least for Turkey, she noted.

The probability for the anomaly was estimated to be above 90 percent for the first week and above 60 percent for the second week.

Nullis said that the Climate Watch advisories were still a product in experimental mode, designed primarily for consumption by national meteorological services which then issued warnings at national level, but given the humanitarian situation in the Balkan region and Turkey, the WMO had decided this time to make the advisory public.

Responding to questions, Nullis clarified that specifically for this weather warning 'Middle East' referred to Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan, as other Middle Eastern countries were part of a different regional association. Endit