Road users are advised not to venture out into traffic in the coastal area near Härnösand, Kramfors and Örnsköldsvik.
Tracked trailers are deployed in Kramfors and Örnsköldsvik. Heavy-duty trucks are on standby along the E4 - all to avoid long-term stops that hinder the plow trucks.
Anton Montonen drives a heavy-duty truck that is positioned on a hill where trucks risk getting stuck.
"It's snowing, but it's pretty calm. No one is stuck right now," he tells TT.
He says he has had to help a number of trucks during the day, but the last few hours have been quiet.
On Thursday evening, the snowfall was intense.
It's mainly along the coast in Ångermanland, says Christopher Greenland, meteorologist at SMHI.
The heavy snowfall will continue during the evening and night before easing on Friday.
Home transport challenge
Region Västernorrland has moved into reinforcement mode, the level above staff mode, due to the weather.
"A major challenge at the moment is home transport for patients from hospitals, as patient transport has been severely limited. The weather also affects the ability of employees to get to work," the region writes on its website.
The county's three hospitals describe the staffing situation as strained, but manageable.
Trains cancelled
At 8 p.m., Eon had just over 700 customers without power in Västernorrland, of which around 500 were in Kramfors municipality.
All passenger trains on the Bothnia Line and Ådal Line are cancelled until noon on Friday, but freight traffic is still running.
We are doing this to keep the track running. It will make it easier to get passenger traffic up and running more quickly later, says maintenance manager Anna Lindahl.
SMHI's red warning is in effect from 3 p.m. on Thursday until 9 a.m. on Friday morning and affects Härnösand, Kramfors and Örnsköldsvik.
Locally, there could be 40 to 60 centimeters of snow in combination with strong gusts of wind.
Generally across Västernorrland, yellow and orange warnings have otherwise been issued.
Home care is preparing
In Härnösand municipality, home care services have planned for the storm.
"We have prepared home care and home healthcare and are in dialogue with users who we know may have problems getting to us," says Per Jonsson, emergency preparedness coordinator.
In the municipality of Hudiksvall, where a yellow warning applies, relatives of people with home care are asked to help with the shoveling so that home care can arrive.
Several schools in Sundsvall are closed and bus routes and school transport are canceled in the municipality, reports Sundsvalls Tidning.
Härnösand's high school is closed on Friday, writes the newspaper Ångermanland.
Facts: Weather warnings
TT
SMHI has three levels of weather warnings:
Yellow warning: Consequences for society, some risks to the public.
Orange warning: Serious consequences for society, great danger to the public.
Red alert: Very serious consequences for society, great danger to the public.
