Thunderstorms in Salzburg

When extreme weather becomes the norm

Fields as a giant lake: when storms flood everything, agricultural land is also hit hard.(Bild: EXPA/ JFK)

Intense storm year for hail insurance too: While drought dominated everything in 2023, claims are now exploding in Salzburg after heavy rain and hailstorms. Alarming: heatwave days have doubled since the 1990s. 

The destructive power of local thunderstorm cells with heavy rain and hailstorms is enormous: when balls of ice up to the size of tennis balls hit houses and fields, everything is often destroyed within minutes. And the work in agriculture is in vain.

Extreme events are becoming more frequent. The latest hail insurance figures confirm this. The number of damage reports after hail alone in Salzburg rose by 150 percent this year compared to the previous year. And this at a time when the storm season is far from over.

Drought and severe weather alternate
Expressed in figures, this means that drought has caused more than a billion euros in damage in Austria over the past ten years, while frost has caused around 400 million euros.

We urgently need measures for even more climate protection. Otherwise, Austria as an agricultural location will be massively endangered.

Kurt Weinberger, Generaldirektor Österreichische Hagelversicherung

Extremes alternate: Last year, agriculture was still struggling with severe drought. This year has been dominated by hail and enormous amounts of water coming down from the sky in ever shorter periods of time. In Salzburg, hailstorms recently cut swathes of devastation through maize fields.

"Stop the destruction of nature"
Problematic: because more and more soil is being sealed, water seeps away more slowly. In the event of a storm, the limits are reached more quickly. Kurt Weinberger from the Austrian hail insurance company is calling for a stop to the destruction of nature by building on it.

The number of hot days is also increasing rapidly. While in the 1990s there were still nine days in Salzburg above 30 degrees, there are now already 18 sweat-inducing hot days.