Snow returns to Turkey for second time in two weeks
More winter fun and less travel disruption is the result of the latest winter storm.
When snowfall hit Turkey at the end of January, it was caused by air that had been brought down from the arctic, causing much disruption to normal life throughout the country.
This time, the air is nothing as cold, nor the snow as deep.
Istanbul avoided the snow all together, receiving rain instead: 19mm in all.
Nevertheless, there was a northerly wind blowing over the city, gusting to 80km/h, giving a wind chill of 0 degrees Celsius.
In Ankara, after 15C in the sun on Friday, things rapidly clouded up and cooled down. By Saturday, the temperature had dropped to just 2.5C, and it snowed for most of the day.
Snow depth this time is a only one-third of the late January figure, at 5cm – and it is warm enough to have fun outside rather than stay indoors.
As a favourable comparison, the temperature dropped to -4C on Saturday night in Ankara. During the arctic snowfall of late January, the thermometer registered -26C on the night of January 26.
Gaziantep in eastern Turkey fared better this time around, too, receiving rain, even at 700 metres above sea level. The city stayed above freezing, even by night, when the temperature was 3C.
Gaziantep is close to the Syrian border and conditions there reflect those experienced by the thousands of refugees living in nearby camps.
The forecast for the next few days is a sunny one and increasingly warm.