The weather in Germany in the winter 2013/14 Extremely mild, much too dry, hardly any snow but lots of sun

Offenbach, 27 February 2014 – The same general weather pattern was dominant nearly everywhere from the start of December to the end of February. An endless series of storm depressions with frequent precipitation areas came in from the west over the north-eastern Atlantic and turned to the north over the British Isles Most of the time, Germany was influenced by the mild maritime air brought by these depressions, which resulted in a very unusual winter. In spite of the extensive low pressure activity over western Europe, the weather overall was sunny, much too dry and extremely mild. Apart from a nearly two-week period of snow and frost in the north and east, genuine winter weather in Germany was scarce. This is what the initial analysis by the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) of data from its around 2,000 weather stations shows.

Fourth warmest winter since measurements first began in 1881

At 3.3 degrees Celsius (°C), the average temperature in the three winter months of December, January and February was 3.1 degrees higher than the long-term mean of the international reference values for 1961 to 1990. Compared to the reference period 1981–2010 the deviation was +2.3°C. This winter is therefore the fourth mildest since measurements first began in 1881. Frost only prevailed for almost two weeks in the north and east during the last third of January. The lowest temperature nationwide was recorded at Bertsdorf-Hörnitz in Upper Lusatia (-19.8°C), whereas the south and west of Germany hardly had any winter weather. For instance, the mercury at Frankfurt-Westend fell no lower than -0.8°C and only one single night of frost was recorded in the Stammheim district of Cologne. Frequent southerly winds repeatedly caused the föhn wind to blow on the northern edge of the Alps. This resulted in a temperature of 19.3°C in Piding to the north-east of Bad Reichenhall on 25 December; on 15 February, the temperature in the city of Munich was even 19.4°C.

Very dry overall – widespread lack of snow in the west and south

With around 122 l/m², precipitation during the winter 2013/2014 was 33 per cent below the normal of 181 litres per square metre (l/m²). It often rained but the quantities were generally minimal. For instance, precipitation in the catchment area of the River Saale in Saxony was only around 40 l/m2 in some areas, whereas some places in the Black Forest recorded more than ten times as much. The highest daily rainfall figure of 48.1 l/m² was reported in Baiersbronn- Ruhestein on 15 February. Only very little snow fell in the south and west, if at all. In Düsseldorf, Cologne, Trier, Saarbrücken, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Würzburg and Nuremberg, for example, snow cover did not form on one single day.

Particularly sunny this winter, in contrast to last year

After the exceptionally dull winter of 2012/13, this winter was exactly the opposite. With an average of around 190 hours of sunshine, the figure was 123 per cent of the normal. The northern edge of the Alps, stretching from the Württemberg part of the Allgäu to the Chiemgau, was particularly favoured with around 340 hours of sunshine. However, in the Westerwald, Thuringian Forest and the Eifel Mountains some places only reported just over 110 hours.

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