Snow depth = 0
The meteorological station Tromsø (Vervarslinga) measured the following snow depths yesterday:
| Time | Snow depth [cm] |
|---|---|
| 2026-04-18 17:00 | 1.0 |
| 2026-04-18 18:00 | 0.0 |
Thus, yesterday was the last day with snow cover at Tromsø (Vervarslinga) this year. Let’s compare the values with previous years:
| Year | Snow depth 18 April 18:00 | First day with 0 cm of snow at 18:00 | Difference in days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 72.9 | 2025-05-18 | 30 |
| 2024 | 71.0 | 2024-05-10 | 22 |
| 2023 | 87.1 | 2023-05-15 | 27 |
| 2022 | 45.5 | 2022-05-18 | 30 |
| 2021 | 82.7 | 2021-05-20 | 32 |
| 2020 | 157.0 | 2020-06-01 | 44 |
Based on the median values from the data above, around 78 cm of snow should have covered the ground at Vervarslinga yesterday, and snow should have remained for another 30 days. I also checked older data and couldn’t find a single 18 April that was without snow at Vervarslinga within the last 50 years.
That doesn’t mean that all the snow on Tromsøya is gone. Tromsø Vervarslinga is just a single station, but it illustrates how unusually early the snow has melted this year.
This morning I took a walk through the Tromsømarka on top of the island. As you can see, the snow varies. Some forested hills are completely bare of snow, while some boggy places still look wintry, and the lakes and ponds are covered with ice.
The second photo is typical. In winter, cross-country skiing is extremely popular. So popular that countless skiers compact the snow. As a result, it melts more slowly and so you can see “snow lanes” that cross the snow-free ground at this time of the year.
Another typical feature is the contrast: In one spot, thousands of tussilago are blooming while a hundred metres away in the shadow there is still ice on the water puddles.
What I am really curious about this year is the birch trees: will they get their leaves earlier or as usual?