1 killed in road mishap, thousands without electricity

An unusual spring snowfall swept across the central part of the country from Monday to Tuesday, leaving one person dead in a traffic accident and about 8,000 households without electricity.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute said that it measured 18 centimeters of snow at its Tikkakoski weather station in central Finland.

The snowfall was the heaviest on Monday evening -- over 4 mm of precipitation per hour. A general rule of thumb in meteorology is that one millimeter of measured precipitation equals one centimeter of snow.

Snowfall across the area made driving conditions hazardous, causing several road traffic accidents. One person died Tuesday morning in a collision between a car and a delivery lorry in Jyväskylä.

Several other accidents occurred in the same area. Two passenger cars collided in Petäjävesi, west of Jyväskylä, on Monday evening, injuring one of the drivers.

On Tuesday, a heavy truck slid off the road into ditch in Parkano, western Finland. A passenger car got off the road and hit a tree in Hameenkyro, near Parkano. No injuries were reported in these accidents.

According to the police, there was abundant snow mixed with slush on the roads when the accidents happened.

The area also experienced rolling power outages as wet snow downed trees and power lines.

According to the weather forecast, lighter snowfall is expected to continue and road conditions remain hazardous in the region.