Weather: “May monsoon” meets Germany – expert gives forecast for early summer

In May the weather in Germany comes to a head. One expert even speaks of a “May monsoon” and gives little hope for early summer.

Update from Wednesday, May 12th, 2021, 10:43 a.m .: May is actually a blissful month. Full sun and mild temperatures were not uncommon in recent years. But the weather forecasts for 2021 are pretty bleak. After the coldest April in 40 years, May could also set a sad record.

“What a tragedy this spring,” says meteorologist Dominik Jung from the Q.met weather service to wetter.net. Spring doesn’t really want to get started in May either, instead of mild weather, rain is the order of the day. “Until Pentecost there is no escape from the wet and cool weather conditions,” says Jung. And the amount of rain can be a problem. Because if the heavy rain hits the dry and hard ground, it can hardly seep away and flows into streams and rivers. “Regionally, there is even a risk of flooding or small-scale flooding in the next seven days,” warns Jung.

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Weather: gloomy forecasts for Germany – “Almost a May monsoon”

In Germany, the east of the country will be most affected by rain. In the next seven days, up to 100 liters of precipitation per square meter will be possible there – in other words, real floods of rain. “By German standards, it’s almost a May monsoon,” says Jung. It should continue dirty and wet until the end of the month. According to current forecasts, May could end up being “too cold” for the second month in a row. “There haven’t been two months that are too cold in a row for a long time,” says weather expert Jung.

Weather in Germany: plenty of sunshine in May? Expert forecast brings disillusionment

First report from Wednesday, April 21st, 2021: Offenbach – After the so far mixed start to spring *, people in Germany are hoping for improvement in May. Especially after the months-long corona lockdown, they want to use the May holidays for hiking, barbecuing or cycling and spend time in nature. So there is great hope for early summer weather * and high temperatures. But what are the predictions for May so far? The experts disagree. Because May is often like a real weather roller coaster ride.

It is true that May in Germany is considered a blissful month with lots of sun and higher temperatures. In the long-term average, it comes to a whopping 210 hours of sunshine. In 2011 and 2018, the sun shone for almost 290 hours in May. The temperatures in May can also scratch the 30-degree mark. However, the weather in May also has its pitfalls: In addition to extreme temperature fluctuations and cold snaps with night frost throughout Germany, violent storms * with storms and thunderstorms * are possible. Therefore, even experts often find it difficult to make early forecasts. But what are the weather forecasts * for this year?

Weather in Germany: May is like a roller coaster ride – repeated cold snaps

According to the portal wetter.de, May releases us from the bad April cold. Accordingly, a few days could already provide a first foretaste of real summer weather. However, many experts are also certain that occasional advances of cold air can thwart the bill again and again. In the north of Germany, phases of early summer with temperatures of around 25 degrees are expected. It looks different in the west. At the start of May, the weather there brings cold air to the table – with temperatures below 10 degrees and rain *. Only then does May really get going and bring sun and a rise in temperature.

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Weather in Germany in May: No major early summer outbreak in sight

However, graduate meteorologist Dominik Jung from the Qmet weather service does not promise the very big early summer outbreak. According to him, the rise in temperature is rather meager compared to the May weather of previous years. “According to calculations made by the European and American long-term weather models, May should be 0.5 degrees warmer than the average climate,” says Jung. Compared to the weather of previous years, this deviation is therefore very small. “So it feels like a month that is too cold for many people,” explains the expert to the weather service wetter.net. According to Jung, the usual late night frosts in Germany that the ice saints * bring in mid-May would hardly be noticed. “If the polar air advances continue as they are now, then the ice saints will not be noticed, since we have new cold air advances almost every few days anyway,” he says. A rather gloomy forecast.

Germany weather in May: early summer temperatures with an increased risk of falling

However, there is agreement among the weather experts on the subject of precipitation. According to previous forecasts, May 2021 could be a very dry month in large parts of Germany. “March already brought 15 percent too little rainfall. April has currently not even achieved 50 percent of its target and if May turns out to be too dry, then a too dry spring would be sealed again. Not a good starting point for nature and agriculture, ”warns Dominik Jung. Only in the east of the country does the wetter.de portal forecast a month with a lot of rain. The portal also announces an “increased shower tendency” for the south. This certainly does not harm nature, but it clouds people’s anticipation for the first days of summer.

So almost anything is possible with the weather in May. In the higher elevations of the Alps, for example, temperatures below freezing point and snow. The hope of a May with lots of sunshine and early summer warmth dies last. Even if the risk of falling is significantly increased in all parts of Germany. So it is quite possible that early summer and severe cold spells alternate throughout the month. (Yannick Wenig) * op-online.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

List of rubric lists: © Sebastian Kahnert / dpa