This weekend, something miraculous happened in the Netherlands. It snowed like it hadn’t in a very long time. Thick layers of snow in some parts of the country allowed sleeën (sleighing), langlaufen (cross-country skiing) or even skiën (skiing)! Here’s a short overview of what happened and related Dutch vocabulary as well as some Dutch news articles with more information.

SO MUCH Snow!

In the days before this last weekend, the verwachtingen (expectations) were high. A lot of sneeuw (snow) and very cold temperaturen (temperatures) got many people in a spending spree to buy snow boots, sleighs and winter jackets to prepare what was to come.

And come it did. A Gevoelstemperatuur (windchill factor) of -19°C (-2.2°F) due to strong winds made sure the weekend was chilling. Due to both these winds and the snowfall, there was a sneeuwjacht (blizzard) in parts of the country that led to sneeuwduinen (snowdrifts) of up to 1 meter high!

Of course, many people were thrilled. A nice break from the coronagekte (corona craziness) and a traditional way to enjoy the Dutch winter like it hasn’t been possible in many years. Sleeën from small heuvels (hills) with the children, sneeuwballengevechten (snowball fights) with friends and hearty wandelingen (walks) followed by erwtensoep (pea soup) or snert, or perhaps a nice warme chocolademelk (hot chocolate).

On the other hand, such weather can also be incredibly gevaarlijk (dangerous). With sneeuwduinen on the snelweg (highway), drivers had to be extra careful this weekend. Thankfully, traffic should be reduced a lot with the coronavirus, but still. Wees voorzichtig (be careful) out there!

More on the snow

If you want to see more pictures and read more about this crazy weather, here are some news articles:

Volkskrant, Nederland zet zich schrap voor sneeuw en hoogwater: dit zijn de mogelijke maatregelen

NOS, Sneeuwpret ondanks harde wind, teleurstelling in het noorden en zuiden

RTL Nieuws, Sneeuw én wind nemen af, na morgen ‘prachtig winterweer’

AD, Nederland geniet! Sneeuwpret in wondere wereld

Snow Vocabulary

Here’s some vocabulary!

 

Wat een weer!

een lage temperatuur – a low temperature

het is koud! – it is cold!

de koude wind – cold wind

prachtig winterweer – beautiful winter weather

de zon schijnt – the sun is shining

vriezen – to freeze

sneeuwen – to snow

de windstoot – gust of wind

de windkracht – wind force

de sneeuwjacht – blizzard

 

Heerlijk, die sneeuw!

genieten – to enjoy

schaatsen – to (ice) skate, skating

de natuurijsbaan – natural ice skating rink

de schaatsliefhebber – skating fan

de sneeuwpop – snowman

de winterpret – winter fun

de sneeuwpret – snow fun

het winterweer – winter weather

sleeën – to sleigh, sleighing

de sneeuwbal – snowball

het sneeuwballengevecht – snowball fight

een sneeuwbal gooien – to throw a snowball

 

Pas op! Het is glad!

Pas op! – watch out!

de voorzichtigheid – carefulness

Het is glad! – it is slippery/icy!

de gladheid – iciness

gladheid op de weg – icy patches on the road

de winterregeling – winter regulation

het antivriesmiddel – anti-freeze agent

zout strooien – to spread salt

de strooiwagen – “spread cart”, gritter

de sneeuwschuiver – snowplow

 

Did you have weather like this in your country recently? Let me know in the comments below!