First summer temperatures, then snow Are the weather changes still normal this April?
Bonn · There is currently up to 20 centimeters of snow in the Eifel. And the temperature dropped to below zero degrees during the night until the morning hours. Last week, it was still summery warm. Is that still normal?
"April Fool's Day!" - That's the popular name. And according to Bonn weather expert Karsten Brandt from the private weather service donnerwetter.de, this saying is basically true. "April is actually predestined to fluctuate strongly in terms of both temperatures and weather patterns." This, he said, is mainly related to the large temperature differences in the air masses south of Germany and in the Arctic regions. "This year, these fluctuations are already exceptional," Brandt continued. Still last week it was summery warm in the region with up to more than 25 degrees and now at night again a drop to minus degrees.
The service WetterOnline informed that these so typical April weather phenomena had decreased in the past 20 years according to the records. April had been in the past years above all untypically persistently warm and dry, so that people spoke already of the "April summer". But even in these warm April months, there were strong weather fluctuations that again did honor to April - for example, one year on April 14, a centimeter of snow fell in the region at minus 1 degree.
Exceptional amount of snow in the region
"Frost in April is more common than rare," said Karsten Brandt. The probability of ground frost is up to 70 percent, he said, and up to 30 percent of the time there is even air frost in April. What is exceptional, however, is the heavy snowfall this year, he said. "After all, we currently have up to 20 centimeters of snow in the Eifel region, and we'll get some more on Wednesday. That's a lot," Brandt continued. The last time there was a similar amount was in 2016 in April with 15 centimeters of snow cover. At the end of April 2017, it was one day exceptionally cold with daytime temperatures of minus 3 degrees in much of the region.
But all those who are no longer in the mood for cold and snow, but hope for better weather in times of Corona, can at least breathe a little easier: the current weather situation will not last much longer. "I can give the all-clear from Thursday morning," says Karsten Brandt, "then we will put the current cold peak in the region with nightly temperatures up to minus 3 degrees in the highlands behind us." On Thursday afternoon, the temperatures in the region will rise again to up to eight degrees. Although it will remain mostly cloudy in the coming days, precipitation will decrease or even stop completely in some places, Brandt said.
Allergy sufferers can rejoice
For allergy sufferers, on the other hand, the current weather is definitely a boon. "Regardless of whether snow or rain falls, the pollen that is so annoying for allergy sufferers is washed out of the air. This creates a great relief for those affected," says Brandt. The current cold phase also helps, he adds, because it slows down the growth of the plants' blossoms a great deal, which means that much less pollen gets into the air. For fruit growers and hobby gardeners, however, these cold and sometimes frosty temperatures are not such good news, as blossoms can suffer cold damage.
Original text: Dierk Himstedt
Translation: Mareike Graepel
