Start of summer in April?

30 degree mark could be cracked this week

(Bild: APA/Barbara Gindl, krone.at-Grafik)

April has only just begun and the 30 degree mark could soon be broken in Austria. Vienna already reached 28.5 degrees on Monday. The next summer air is set to arrive in Central Europe from Saturday. 

After a large cloud of Sahara dust from the African continent arrived in our country with the southern foehn last week, the extremely high temperatures in Austria are now causing a stir in addition to the weather phenomenon. On Holy Saturday, the 25-degree mark was reached for the first time this year. Two days later - on Easter Monday - temperatures as high as 28.5 degrees were measured at the Hohe Warte in Vienna. 

Summer air moves back into Central Europe
The current weather forecasts lead many experts to assume that the next summer air, which is due to arrive in Central Europe at the weekend, could soon break the 30 degree mark in the country. "The earliest 30 degrees in Austria to date was on April 17, 1934 in the city of Salzburg. This year, it could happen from Saturday (April 6) to around Tuesday (April 9)," ORF meteorologist Daniel Schrott revealed on Tuesday. In Hungary and Croatia, the 30 degree mark was already reached on Easter Monday. 

For weather forecaster Marcus Wadsak, the first 30 of the year is also quite possible: "The coming weekend will be extremely warm again." According to experts from GeoSphere Austria, Salzburg and Tyrol are expected to be the hottest with 28 degrees. In Vorarlberg, 27 degrees are expected. In the rest of the country, maximum temperatures of between 24 and 25 degrees are expected. 

Summer days clearly too early
One thing is certain: the first days of summer are clearly too early this year. Both this year's February and March were warmer than at any time in the last 250 years in Austria.