The weather in Germany in December 2016 An extremely sunny and exceptionally dry December
Offenbach, 29 December 2016 –– December 2016 was the third sunniest since measurements began in Germany and it was exceptionally dry. At the same time, the month was also relatively warm. Areas of high pressure brought plenty of sunshine, but also fog that persisted. Lowland areas were often covered by a thick layer of cold air, causing frost to prevail, at least at night. At Christmas, the influence of high pressure was interrupted by Atlantic troughs, bringing mild air, rain and, in the north, stormy weather. Thus, the only areas where any snow could be found during the festive season were at places above 1,000 metres. This is what the initial analysis by the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) of data from its around 2,000 weather stations shows.
In December often warmer in the mountains than in the lowlands The average temperature for Germany in December was 2.1 degrees Celsius (°C), which is 1.3 degrees warmer than the average for the international reference period 1961–1990. Compared to the 1981–2010 period, the deviation was +0.9 degrees. At the beginning of the month, the continuous period of high pressure over Germany caused a layer of cold air to form near the ground. During this time, the mercury in low-lying areas failed to rise above freezing all day, whereas the temperatures prevailing in the mountains were comfortably above freezing. The leeward effects in areas close to mountains allowed the high temperatures to dominate even down to lowland areas. This was demonstrated on 8 December in Wernigerode on the northern edge of the Harz Mountains, where a temperature of 15.5 °C was recorded. Just the previous day, at a temperature of -12.1 °C, the DWD had recorded the coldest night of the month at Fichtelberg-Hüttstadl in the Fichtel Mountains. Christmas was mild but significantly cooler than in 2016.
Much too dry, very little snow and no white Christmas With around 25 litres per square metre (l/m²), which is just 35 per cent of the long-term average of 70 l/m², December was much too dry. This made it one of the twelve driest December months since measurements first began in 1881. Low pressure areas or extensions of these managed to interrupt the continuous influence of high pressure only occasionally. This then brought rain. However, this year, too, the snow that many people were waiting for was absent almost everywhere. A blanket of snow made an appearance for a few days only in the Ore Mountains and on the edge of the Alps, as was the case in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on 19 December, when 12 cm was recorded. The most precipitation fell in the Ore Mountains, with some places seeing a total of more than 130 l/m², whereas with just 1 l/m² in places, the least precipitation was recorded on the south-east edge of the Black Forest. The highest daily precipitation figure of 26.7 l/m² was on 27 December in Zinnwald-Georgenfeld in the Ore Mountains.
Third sunniest December in 2016, only surpassed by 1972 and 2015
With around 65 hours, December sunshine was 170 per cent of its long-term average of 38 hours. This made December 2016 the third sunniest December in Germany since such measurements first began in 1951. The most sunshine was recorded in the south, with some areas receiving almost 150 hours. Sunshine in some places was therefore nearly 500 per cent of the average. Some areas of Schleswig-Holstein, however, barely saw 25 hours of sunshine during the whole month.
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