Rain is more likely to fall

There are fewer and fewer snowy days in Vienna

A past winter in Vienna

(Bild: APA/HERBERT NEUBAUER)

It is snowing less and less in Vienna. This is due to the fact that the average winter temperature in Austria has risen since the 1930s. At low altitudes, rain is falling more often than snow, Geosphere Austria reported in a press release on Thursday.

The amount of fresh snow has also decreased. In an average winter between 1961 and 1990, 66 centimetres of snow still fell. Between 1991 and 2020, only 50 centimetres fell. "The largest amount of fresh snowfall on the Hohe Warte was 222 centimetres in the winter of 1969/70, the lowest was two centimetres in the winters of 2013/14 and 2019/20," said climatologist Alexander Orlik from Geosphere Austria.

Fallen snow is also melting faster today than in the past. The average winter temperature in Austria has risen by around 0.25 degrees per decade since the 1930s.

At the Geosphere Austria weather station on the Hohe Warte in Vienna, there were 47 days with snow cover in an average winter between 1931 and 1960. Between 1991 and 2020, only 32 days with snow were recorded. "The most days with snow cover on the Hohe Warte were 108 in the winter of 1939/40, the fewest with just one day in the winter of 2019/20," explained Orlik.

Less than ten days per year
In future, there could be fewer than ten snowy days per year in Austria's capital, especially at lower altitudes. According to the forecast, snow depths will also decrease. According to Geosphere Austria, the reason for this is climate change.