Drought plagues Austria

Unusually warm March brings a change in the weather

The weather will remain spring-like in the coming week - with the possibility of some rain in some regions.

(Bild: BARBARA GINDL)

Spring-like temperatures, but changeable: the coming week will bring temperatures of up to 21 degrees Celsius, with frequent clouds and isolated rain showers. At times, foehn winds push temperatures up to levels usually seen in May. The persistent drought is also causing problems for Austria.

It will remain mild in the new week: the early temperatures will be fresh, but during the day temperatures will rise to 21 degrees. On Monday, a disturbance zone will move across Austria from the southwest, bringing clouds and rain, especially on the southern side of the Alps, according to the meteorologists at Geosphere Austria. Later, the showers will shift to the north, but will become weaker. The snow line will be between 1,500 and 2,000 meters. 

 The first week of March has been warmer than ever before: 

On Tuesday, sunshine and clouds will alternate, with the east remaining the friendliest. Showers are always possible in the west, with the snow line between 1,700 and 2,000 meters. The wind will remain weak to moderate from the southwest. Temperatures will rise from minus 3 to plus 5 degrees in the morning to 11 to 17 degrees during the day.

Wednesday brings rain in the west
While dense clouds will persist in the west and rain will fall more frequently, the sun will shine at least occasionally in the east. In the afternoon, the tendency to shower will increase here too. The snow line will temporarily drop to 1,000 meters in the west, otherwise it will remain between 1,400 and 1,800 meters. Temperatures will range between 1 and 7 degrees in the morning and 9 to 20 degrees during the day.

The persistent drought has caused devastating forest fires in Austria over the past few days:

Clouds will also dominate on Thursday, with the sun only making an intermittent appearance. Some rain is possible at first, especially in the north-east. Later, local showers will move through in the mountains and along the main Alpine ridge and south of it. The snow line will be between 1200 and 1600 meters.

Disturbance front on Friday evening
Friday will start in the west and southwest with dense clouds and rain on the southern side of the Alps. In the north and east, it will initially remain dry and the sun will still appear here at times. Temperatures in the morning will be between minus 1 and plus 9 degrees depending on the wind, reaching 11 to 21 degrees during the day.

Unusually dry weather in the east
With the collapse of the foehn winds, the urgently hoped-for showers will increasingly spread to the north and east of the Alps in the evening. Eastern Austria is particularly affected by the dryness: In Reichenau an der Rax, only 7 l/m² of rain fell since the beginning of the year, instead of the usual 120 l/m² - a deficit of 94 percent. It was only on Saturday that a devastating forest fire caused fire-fighting work to continue until Sunday.