The weather in in spring 2019 Initially warm, later cool – much sunshine and sufficient precipitation

Offenbach, 29 May 2019 – Spring 2019 was very different from the previous year. Wintry weather marked the start of spring 2018 but it ended with hot summer temperatures. This year the contrast in temperatures was definitely less. Instead, a series of severe storms swept over the country in . April started with a drought, which, however, did not continue in May, when weather conditions were cool and most areas received sufficient precipitation. Spring overall was somewhat too warm and sunny with normal precipitation totals. This is what the initial analysis by the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) of data from its around 2,000 weather stations shows.

A mild March and warm April were followed by a cool May At 9.0 degrees Celsius (°C), the average temperature in spring was 1.3 degrees higher than the international reference value 1961–1990. Looking at the comparative period 1981–2010, the deviation was 0.5 degrees above normal. March was much too mild at the start of spring 2019, with no frost at all during the first half of the month. April was also too warm and especially the Easter holiday weekend saw some summer days with temperatures above 25 °C. May, in contrast, was unusually cool. During the first third of the month, the mercury fell below freez- ing at night in many areas. The lowest temperature nationwide during spring 2019 was -9.2 °C in Oberstdorf on 20 March. The warmest days occurred in April and not, as would usually be expected, in May. The mercury rose to its highest level on 24 April in Kitzingen on the River Main and in the city of Munich, where 28.1 °C was measured in each case.

Little precipitation in the north-east in contrast to plenty of precipitation in the south Rainfall of around 185 litres per square metre (l/m²) in spring 2019 corresponded almost exact- ly to the normal. Overall, April was too dry, whereas March and May were too wet. Southern Germany was frequently influenced by low-pressure areas, which brought significant quanti- ties of precipitation on numerous occasions. For instance, 231.4 l/m² were measured in Jachenau-Tannern between 19 and 21 May, and on 20 May alone 135.4 l/m² were recorded, the highest daily rainfall nationwide. During the spring, most precipitation fell in the Black For- est and the Allgäu, with some areas receiving over 700 l/m². The driest areas were in the north-east: some places in the and in Western saw less than 70 l/m². Violent thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail occurred in isolated cases yet with a lower frequency than in previous years.

More sunshine than average At around 515 hours, sunshine in spring 2019 was 12 per cent above the normal figure of 459 hours. The sunniest areas were the North and Baltic Sea coast and the coastal islands, where up to 600 hours were recorded in some places. In contrast, some regions of the Allgäu and Sauerland only saw around 400 hours of sunshine.

All the monthly values stated in this press release are provisional figures. The data used for the last three days of the month are based on forecasts. Some of the measurements from DWD's network of stations were not yet available at the time of publication.

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