In Styria

White Christmases are becoming increasingly rare

There is snow in Altaussee on the Loser

(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian)

Christmas holidays with regular snow are a thing of the past in large parts of Styria, with the chance only living on at higher altitudes.

People like to look back nostalgically, especially during the Christmas holidays: "In 1994, there was half a meter of snow in Graz on 24 December," says Alexander Orlik from Geosphere Austria. In 1996, 1999, 2007 and 2010, the ground was at least covered in snow. It remains to be seen whether the one centimeter of snow in Graz in 2021 can be described as a "white Christmas". In the low altitudes south of Graz, there is a "very low-snow phase", says Orlik.

This was not always the case, as the Geosphere analyses show. In the Mur and Mürztal valleys, for example, the probability of a white Christmas between 1960 and 1990 was 60 to 80 percent, between 1990 and 2020 only 40 to 60 percent - climate change caused an average warming of one to two degrees. In some areas, the probability has halved.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

Snow cover in the upper Enns Valley and Ausseerland
When it comes to snow, only those parts of Styria that lie north of the main Alpine ridge and above 800 meters are safe today - especially the upper Enns Valley with Schladming or Ramsau and the Auseerland, for example in Bad Mitterndorf. "There has been a blanket of snow there 25 times at Christmas in the past 30 years," says Orlik. "But everything above 800 or 900 meters in this area is virtually guaranteed to snow" - as you can see from the dark blue areas in the graphic above.

Will it snow before December 24 this year? In principle, it's still too early to predict this, says Orlik, but no precipitation is forecast in Graz and the south of Styria in particular. "The next seven days look to be low in precipitation. Something could come around December 20, but the temperatures are quite high, so it will be difficult to get snow at low altitudes."

There is a thick blanket of snow in Ausseerland, which is likely to stay. However, according to Orlik, precise forecasts for the holidays are only possible from around Wednesday next week.