The harsh cold weather brought life to a halt in eastern Anatolia with citizens encountering disruptions as freezing temperatures hit the region. The cold wave has started to show its impact across the country.
The Siberian cold wave has severely affected eastern Anatolia even but without snowfall. The Göle district of Ardahan became the coldest settlement in the region with minus 24.9 degrees Celsius (minus 12.82 degrees Fahrenheit). In Erzurum, the fountains froze and the ornamental pools were covered with ice even as the region is experiencing the driest winter in recent years. While there is no snow at the city center, its high altitudes in the vicinity are blanketed white. The fountain in the garden of Lalapaşa Mosque in the city center had a temperature of minus 15 degrees Celsius. Citizens, who perform ablutions near the fountain before ritual prayers at the mosque, said that the cold would return to normal with snowfall. Yunus Akın said, "Our hometown is the center of winter. There is a good cold. With snowfall, life returns to normal."
Meanwhile, the pool at the Olympic Park in Erzurum was also covered with ice. Large and small ice ponds have formed on the plain. Streams, fountains and vehicle engines froze owing to the freezing cold in Erzurum, Kars, Ardahan, Ağrı and Tunceli, Bayburt and across the region. The light snowfall in Erzurum earlier paved the way for cold weather in the city, where night temperatures fell to minus 14 degrees Celsius with icing around some fountains, windows, sidewalks and roads.
With the onset of the cold phenomenon in Kars, it has been snowing intermittently for two days. In the city, where the center is covered in white, some citizens cleared the snow in front of their homes and workplaces. While the cold weather in Sarıkamış district negatively affected life as the night temperature dropped to minus 16 degrees Celsius, icicles formed on the roofs of buildings and natural gas chimneys. Streams and open-air fountains were covered with ice as if heron birds were trying to feed on the banks of streams.
In Ağrı, the Murat River and streams were frozen with the effect of the freezing cold. Citizens covered their vehicles with blankets as shields.
As an effect of the cold weather gripping Tunceli, the windows of homes and vehicles were frozen. In the city, where fountains and ornamental pools were also partially frozen, trees were covered with frost. Citizens gave food to city birds such as crows, pigeons and sparrows who were starving due to the cold weather.
Cold weather froze streams in Bayburt, where snowfall has been less common this year, but extremely cold weather conditions are especially harsh at night and in the morning. The surface of the Çoruh River, which has the title of the fastest-flowing river in Türkiye passing through Bayburt, has frozen over. Originating in Bayburt, flowing into the Black Sea from Batumi in Georgia, it is the second fastest after the fastest-flowing river in the world, the Amazon River in South America.
The temperature dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius thereby affecting normal life. Despite the chill, local residents also took strolls around the frozen river and took pictures.
In Erzincan, where the cold weather has swooped in, the surfaces of the dam lakes and Vasgirt Stream were covered with ice. Citizens stated that they are worried that there will be a drought in summer this year due to the lack of snow and noted that the ice-cold streams create a visual landscape.
On the other hand, according to the latest assessment made by teams of the 12th Regional Directorate of Meteorology, the weather will be partly or less cloudy in the region today. It was stated that frost will be seen together with fog and haze in places in the morning and at night.
With the rain that has been effective in Antalya since Tuesday night, a storm, with a wind speed of 120 kph, has hit the city and negatively impacted daily life. In the past 24 hours, precipitation measuring 145 centimeters (57 inches) per square meter was recorded in Kumluca, with storm speed being 122 kph in Kemer. The windows of many workplaces were left broken in the Lara region, and city traffic was locked as vehicles were stranded on roads. There were floods in houses on the ground floors.
Antalya, which was one of 11 provinces that the 4th Regional Directorate of Meteorology, had issued with an "orange" code, and has been witnessing rain and storms since Tuesday night.
Due to the heavy downpour which resulted in floods, students in a school bus, who were stuck on the road owing to road closures in Şirinyalı Mahallesi, were evacuated by firefighters to a safer area.
In the Konyaaltı district, which is the city center, vehicles, stuck in puddles that formed in some intersections in the district remained on the road. Traffic was also halted at some locations. Police teams warned citizens not to venture out unnecessarily, but the warnings did not stop citizens. A tourist who did not mind the rain and storm, engaged in sporting activities on the Konyaaltı beach. While some of them were looking for treasures with a metal detector on the beach where giant waves were crashing in. Some even took pictures of the giant waves.
The roads leading to Saklıkent Ski Center and Feslikan Plateau, one of the highest points of Antalya, were closed at night due to snowfall that began yesterday evening with snow depths reaching 45 centimeters during early morning hours.
Municipality teams reopened the snow-covered roads in the two regions for traffic. It was reported that the teams continued to work until 4 a.m., with measures later in the day to prevent road closures in areas affected by snowfall.
Deputy Governor Suat Seyitoğlu said that Antalya International Airport is open. Stating that there were no canceled flights, Seyitoğlu said: “Our runways are operating normally at the moment. Due to heavy rain, storms and lightning strikes, around four planes aborted landing at Antalya Airport last night and returned."
Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Transportation Inc. announced that there may be rail disruptions due to precipitation in the city center. "There may be pauses and delays in our rail services due to adverse weather conditions," the warning said.
Snowfall was seen on the Söğüt Cuması Plateau of the Kuzca district of Kumluca. Rain, which started on Tuesday afternoon, turned into snowfall in high-altitude areas on Wednesday evening. Kuzca neighborhood head Ali Okur said: "It started snowing on Söğüt Cuması Plateau last night. We were very happy. It's mid-January. There was still no snow in the Taurus Mountains. Snow means water and abundance. We witnessed about 5 inches of snow and hopefully, it will be more."
Heavy rain and storms have adversely affected life in Kemer. In some parts of the district, trees fell and pieces of rocks tumbled onto the road. Deputy Mayor of Kemer Recep Yılmaz stated that as a municipality, they had taken necessary precautions and stated that citizens who experience any inconvenience can call the municipality.
According to information received from the 13th Regional Directorate of Highways, it was understood that there are no road closures due to snowfall in the higher parts of Antalya, where snowfall is effective. Some energy transmission lines near the neighborhood of Sağirin, located in the Beşkonak Forest Field of Manavgat, were overturned. While electricity was disrupted in rural neighborhoods in the Beşkonak region, repair work has been initiated to restore power. It was informed that reinforcement teams were also sent to the region from Alanya.
