The autumn weather showed itself without major outliers this year, apart from a violent storm. The measuring stations of the German Weather Service recorded a lot of sunshine – and in the end a lot of snow.
Offenbach / M. – Very dry, warm and a lot of sun: this is how the autumn weather presented itself this year according to a preliminary evaluation by the German Weather Service (DWD).
The very warm late summer dragged on into September, October mostly showed itself from its golden side. An exception was the storm “Hendrik II”, which caused some damage on October 21, especially in central and southern Germany. In Brandenburg a train driver was killed by a tree.
As the DWD announced on Monday in Offenbach, the autumn was clearly too dry compared to the long-term comparative values. In the autumn months from September to November, an average of 130 liters of precipitation per square meter were measured nationwide. This is around 30 percent less than in the international reference period between 1961 and 1990 (183 liters per square meter), which, according to the DWD, enables a better assessment of climate change.
According to the preliminary evaluation of around 2000 measuring stations by the DWD, the temperature during the autumn was an average of 9.8 degrees Celsius, 1.0 degrees higher than in the comparison period 1961-1990. Compared to the warmer period 1991 to 2020 it was an increase of 0.5 degrees. However, autumn 2020 was even warmer – with an average temperature of 10.3 degrees, the fourth warmest since weather records began in 1881.
The coolest federal state in autumn was Bavaria with an average of 8.7 degrees Celsius, the warmest region Bremen with an average of 11.5 degrees Celsius. This year’s autumn temperature record of 30.0 degrees was reached on September 9 in Huy-Pabstorf in Saxony-Anhalt – more was not measured at any other DWD station between September and November. In contrast, on November 25th in Zwiesel in the Bavarian Forest, with minus 7.7 degrees Celsius, it was colder than anywhere else.
Overall, the duration of sunshine was well above the long-term comparison values, which was mainly due to September and October. According to the DWD, November this year was one of the least sunshine since measurements began in 1951. Around 350 hours of sunshine were recorded in all three autumn months, 13 percent more than the long-term target of 311 hours (1961-1990). The sun showed itself most in Baden-Württemberg with around 430 hours.
Shortly before the start of winter, it was also snowy in some areas. According to the DWD, there were 27 centimeters of snow in Freudenstadt-Kniebis in the northern Black Forest on Monday, and 25 centimeters each in the Alpine foothills in Oberstdorf-Birgsau in Bavaria and in Ruhpolding-Seehaus. dpa
