The scenes from Split on February 3, 2012, look a bit different than today…
February 2012 will forever be remembered in the history of Croatian weather thanks to legendary cyclone Gabor. The cyclone had such a memorable impact that it was even chosen as the largest meteorological event in Croatia over the last ten years by Crometeo, reports Dalmacija Danas on February 3, 2019.
After a fairly modest winter, the evening of February 2, 2012, brought the unthinkable – and Dalmatia was covered in snow. The Cyclone Gabor brought a massive dump of the white powder in the north and most of Central Dalmatia (Makarska and the surrounding area was the only location to miss it). Inland Dalmatia might have seen the worst of it.
Already on the morning of February 3rd, Metković measured 27 cm of snow, Ploče 14 cm, Šibenik 10 cm, and Split 8 cm. Temperatures in Split that morning measured -5°C, and in Šibenik -6°C. The snow continued to fall throughout the day, and at 7 pm, Šibenik measured 20 cm of snow, Split and Ploče 14 cm, and Zadar 7 cm.
Because of the danger posed for pedestrians and drivers due to the winter conditions, the mayor of Split at the time, Željko Kerum, declared a ‘Snow Day’ already early that morning, giving Split kindergartens and schools, as well as municipal administration employees and city companies, a free day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v=xMKeMXaLrCs
This included everyone except the services necessary for maintaining and servicing the winter conditions.
After the snowfall, on the evening of February 3rd and February 4th, freezing rain fell in Central Dalmatia, which brought about additional problems. By the end of Saturday, February 4th, the rain transformed into snow again, and Split measured a historic 25 cm in the evening, crushing their record of 21 cm in January 1979.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v=iZWNs3hsNQs
Due to the harsh weather, Ante Sanader, prefect of the Split-Dalmatia County, declared a state of emergency in the County. From February 3rd to 4th, freezing rain even fell on Pelješac. Almost 1,000 people were left without electricity, water, and telephone connections, and there was considerable damage.
Gabor was followed by a strong cold front that strengthened day by day. Zavižan measured a temperature of -22°C with a bitter eastern wind of 22 m/s (79.2 km/h), though the real feel was -41°C.
A day later at Zavižan, the highest daily temperature was -20.8°C. In the history of meteorological measurements at Zavižan, only two days measured lower values since 1954.
Lucky for us, today, we get to sit back and watch the scenes from those whiteout days of 2012. Enjoy.
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