The weather in Germany in summer 2014

Dry and warm at the start of the summer – then many violent thunderstorms and wet

Offenbach, 29 August 2014 – Summer 2014, which overall saw temperatures and sunshine duration slightly higher than average, was initially relatively dry. From July, Germany frequently fell under the influence of low pressure systems, which brought rain, numerous violent thunderstorms and, often, unusually heavy severe precipitation. This is what the initial analysis by the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) of data from its around 2,000 weather stations shows.

Initially very warm but later considerably cooler

At 17.2 degrees Celsius (°C), the average summer temperature was 0.9 degrees higher than the average, as recorded by the international reference values for 1961 to 1990. Compared to the reference period 1981 to 2010, however, the deviation was only +0.1°C. The summer started with very cool nights: on 2 June, the mercury in Deutschneudorf-Brüderwiese in the Ore Mountain range fell to freezing. However, it was only one week later that a pronounced heatwave brought unusually high temperatures, which reached their peak on Whit Monday (9 June) nearly everywhere in Germany. Rheinau-Memprechtshofen to the south-west of Baden-Baden recorded the highest temperature of the summer of 37.7°C. In July, high summer tended to be confined to the north and east of Germany, whereas at Lake Constance, for example, the weather was definitely on the chilly side. August overall was somewhat too cool. At no point during the summer did the temperature rise above 30°C in Saarland, Rhineland- Palatinate and Hesse.

At first, too dry but later sultry and violent thunderstorms, often with heavy rain

With around 272 litres per square metre (l/m²), rainfall during the summer was 13 per cent above the reference value of 239 l/m². June was significantly too dry in very many areas, whereas in July it was only too dry right next to the coast. Apart from that, very sultry conditions often prevailed with almost tropical conditions. Many severe weather warnings had to be issued, because extensive areas of rain or very slow moving thunderstorms brought huge quantities of rain in some places. From 7 to 13 July and from 20 July to 5 August, the DWD was notified of precipitation in excess of 70 l/m² within 24 hours nearly every day. The highest daily rainfall figures were recorded in Emmingen-Liptingen near Tuttlingen on 28 July (109.4 l/m²) and in Cottbus on 4 August (102.6 l/m²). The North Rhine-Westphalia State Agency for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection even reported rainfall of 292 l/m² within a 7-hour period on 28 July in Münster. A thunderstorm with winds of up to 144 km/h resulted in the death of three people in Düsseldorf on 9 June. On 10 August, a tornado in Bad Schwalbach in the Taunus Mountains caused extensive damage.

This time plenty of sun on the Baltic and not much in the Alps

With approximately 628 hours of sunshine, the normal figure of 604 hours was exceeded by four per cent. Areas with the most sunshine were along the Baltic coast where almost 900 hours were registered. The least sunshine was recorded on the immediate edge of the Alps, with some areas seeing even less than five hundred hours.

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