Snow near Ivanjica, truck ban on the road to Kopaonik
The winter service reports up to five centimeters of slushy snow around Ivanjica, and trucks with trailers are banned from the Brzece to Kopaonik road.
Heading to Ivanjica or Kopaonik today? Check the road before you start the car: the first snow has settled on the carriageway, and one stretch is closed to heavy vehicles.
According to the winter service of the public enterprise Putevi Srbije as of 5:04 a.m., carriageways on first-priority roads are wet at lower altitudes, and the Ivanjica area has patches of slushy snow up to five centimeters deep. Second-priority state roads are passable and free of snow, and carriageways on third-priority roads are wet at lower altitudes.
Where are trucks banned, and where are they waiting?
A ban on trucks and vehicles with trailers is in force on the II A-211 Brzece, Kopaonik (Jaram) road. Snow covered Kopaonik and Golija as early as Tuesday morning, November 3, as footage on social media shows. The first flakes fell on the mountains back in October.
The other problem is in the east. In the Zajecar area, small rockfalls from unstable rock faces keep occurring in gorges, road cuttings and embankments. Most of them are on the I B-34 road through the Djerdap Gorge and on the II A-221 stretch between Knjazevac and Kalna (the Korenatac gorge).
Crowds at the border are limited to freight traffic. According to the Border Police Directorate as of 5 a.m., trucks leaving Serbia are waiting:
- about four hours at Sid
- about three hours at Kelebija and Batrovci
- about one hour at Gradina
The Automobile and Motorcycle Association of Serbia says there are no longer delays at the passenger terminals of border crossings or at motorway toll stations.
What is the weather outlook until the start of next week?
For Wednesday, November 4, the Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia (RHMZ) forecasts cloudy and cold weather. Light precipitation is expected mostly in central and southern areas and should stop by late afternoon or evening, while northern Vojvodina partly clears. Belgrade gets rain in the morning and before noon. Daytime temperatures run from 7 to 11 degrees, and earlier broadcasts of the same forecast put the top at 12.
On Thursday, November 5, the weather is moderately to fully cloudy, with light rain in places in eastern Serbia. On Friday, November 6, skies partly clear. Mornings are cold, with light frost in places and some fog, and the day turns sunnier and a little warmer. The service expects new cloud and precipitation at the start of next week.
According to the RHMZ table issued on November 4 at 12:06 p.m., the highest temperature for each day (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) and the lowest for the first two days look like this:
- Belgrade: 9 and 5, then 10 and 3, then 11
- Novi Sad: 9 and 3, then 11 and 0, then 11
- Nis: 10 and 8, then 10 and 4, then 11
- Zlatibor: 4 and 3, then 4 and 1, then 6
- Kopaonik: 2 and -1, then 3 and -4, then 4
Frost in the first days of November is no surprise. Our November forecast, presented by Ristic, announced frost from November 5 to 9, and for Friday the service now mentions light frost in the cold mornings.
What does the law require of drivers in snow?
Under the Road Traffic Safety Law, winter equipment is mandatory from November 1 to April 1 whenever there is snow, ice or black ice on the carriageway. That means all four winter tires. Anyone heading to Ivanjica or the mountains today should check this before leaving, not on the first uphill stretch.
