The cold air mass Coral will continue to affect Cyprus until Thursday, when the temperature is expected to return to 15 to 17 degrees Celsius, which is the average for the season, a Meteorology Department officer told CNA.
He added that a low temperature warning may also be issued on Monday, covering the period from Monday evening until Tuesday morning, however it may be downgraded to yellow.
He further recalled that an orange warning was already issued for the period from Sunday night through Monday morning as the minimum temperature at the higher mountainous areas is expected to drop to -10 degrees Celsius. He added that a warning there may be no warning for Tuesday night.
Referring to the current weather conditions, he said that on Sunday afternoon the weather will be partly cloudy, with isolated light showers and possible light snowfall, especially at the mountainous and semi-mountainous areas. Temperatures will rise to 8 degrees inland, around 10 on the coast and -2 at the higher mountainous areas, with frost at the mountains and locally at the semi-mountainous areas.
In the evening the weather will be partly cloudy. The temperature will drop to 0 degrees inland, around 2 degrees on the coast and -10 degrees at the higher mountainous areas. Frost will form at the mountainous, semi-mountainous areas and inland.
Based on the forecast, on Monday the weather will be partly cloudy at first and gradually become mostly clear. Temperatures will rise slightly but will remain lower and below seasonal climate averages and will be around 8 degrees inland, 10 degrees on the coast and -1 at the higher mountainous areas
He added that on Tuesday the weather will be mostly cloudy at times and in the afternoon there is a possibility of isolated light showers and light snowfall at the mountainous and semi-mountainous areas.
On Wednesday, he said that there will be partly cloudy conditions with isolated showers and some snow in the mountains mainly in the afternoon.
As for the weather on Thursday, he said there will be partly cloudy conditions, adding that by Thursday the temperature will rise noticeably to be close to the average for the season i.e. 15 to 17 degrees Celsius, as the Coral mass retreats.
Saturday night passed without any problems in terms of power supply, while on Sunday demand is expected to be increased, but no problems are anticipated, the Cyprus Transmission System Operator spokesperson, Hara Koushappa, told CNA.
As she explained, maximum demand reached 1,017 Mw on Saturday at 7pm, of which 966 were from conventional generation and around 50 Mw from wind generation during peak demand hours. “It was a very high demand for a Saturday, since on weekends demand is usually reduced, but it was met,” she noted.
Asked if power supply will be sufficient on Sunday, during the day and the evening, as the night is expected to be as cold as on Saturday, Koushappa said it was too early to have accurate data, but “it appears that we will have sufficiency with the demand as it stands so far and the current production level at the generating units.”
It is expected that on Sunday the maximum will reach 970 Mw, as demand on Sundays is lower than on Saturdays. There are also 30-40 Mw of wind power available during peak hours, she noted.
Asked if there was any electricity exchange with the Turkish occupied territories through the interconnected grid, Koushappa said there was no flow to the government areas of the Republic on Saturday, but there was a flow at times with sufficient electricity supply from the government controlled areas to the occupied territories, in the framework of the Confidence Building Measures.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory.
Also read: “Coral” brings freezing temperatures and snowfall to Cyprus
Source: CNA
