Powerful Anticyclone Over Poland: Dense Fog, Frosts, and Hydrological Alerts in the North

The current weather situation in Poland is determined by a record-breaking anticyclone, which has blocked zonal circulation over Central Europe. This phenomenon brings cloudless skies during the day but promotes rapid heat radiation after dusk. Consequently, IMGW has issued first-degree alerts for dense fog, which can reduce visibility to just 100 meters, particularly in the Greater Poland, Pomeranian, and West Pomeranian voivodeships. The fog is accompanied by the deposition of rime, creating a serious hazard for drivers due to slippery road surfaces. At the same time, a critical situation persists in the river basins of northern Poland. Alarm level has been exceeded on the Guber River in Sępopol and on the Osa River near Grudziądz. Hydrologists indicate that the high water levels result from snowmelt runoff and the occurrence of the backwater phenomenon on the Vistula Lagoon. Second-degree hydrological warnings are in effect for the eastern coast and inland waters of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, where water levels are approaching warning stages. March in the Polish climate is traditionally a time of the greatest temperature fluctuations, when record sunshine during the day clashes with nighttime frost, which historically led to sudden snowmelt floods, like those in 1924 or 1979. An additional phenomenon beginning to be felt in Western and Southern Europe is dust from the Sahara. While currently concentrated mainly over Germany and France, tinting the sky a characteristic ochre color and settling on car bodies, forecasts do not rule out its arrival over Poland with a change in air mass direction. Meanwhile, long-term forecasts for the country suggest that despite March warming, a drastic weather breakdown with a return of winter accents and snowfall may occur by the end of the month. „Pojawiają się mgły, które osadzają szadź, co w połączeniu z ujemną temperaturą sprawia, że drogi mogą być bardzo śliskie, mimo że w dzień słońce świeciło wysoko.” (Fog is appearing, which deposits rime, and combined with sub-zero temperatures, it can make roads very slippery, even though the sun was shining high during the day.) — Grzegorz Walijewski

Perspektywy mediów: Liberal media place greater emphasis on climate change as the cause of temperature anomalies and the record-breaking anticyclone. Conservative media focus on practical aspects of road safety and warnings for agriculture regarding frosts.