Austria: Up to 50 litres of rain per square meter since Wednesday

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Up to 50 litres of rain per square meter accumulated in Austria from Wednesday morning until noon. But only at low elevations; at higher elevations, the precipitation arrived as snow, Geosphere Austria (formerly ZAMG) reported. Thus, it snowed in large parts of the mountainous region and the Waldviertel. The precipitation amounts so far would roughly correspond to those in an average whole of April, summed up Geosphere climatologist Alexander Orlik.

“Around 50 liters per square meter rained, for example, in Klagenfurt, Graz and St. Pölten, around 40 in Bregenz, Salzburg, Vienna, Eisenstadt and around 30 liters per square meter were in Linz and Innsbruck,” was Orlik’s preliminary assessment. At higher altitudes, it was white: 14 centimeters of fresh snow lay, for example, Friday morning in Mariazell in Styria (864 meters above sea level). Such amounts of fresh snow in 24 hours occur here in April on average every three to four years. Seven centimeters of fresh snow lay in Dellach im Drautal at 628 meters above sea level, where such fresh snow in 24 hours in April occurs on average every six to seven years.

Forty centimetres of fresh snow lay Friday morning at the Rudolfshütte in the Hohe Tauern in Salzburg (2,317 meters above sea level). Sixty centimetres of fresh snow lay at Villacher Alpe in Carinthia at 2,117 meters above sea level, an event that occurs like this in April only once every 20 years.

At least the precipitation of the past few days has mitigated the deficit of the eastern half of Austria, which has been significantly too dry in recent months. Großenzersdorf and Wiener Neustadt in Lower Austria still recorded a precipitation deficit of since the beginning of the year of about 50 percent in March. Only 20 to 25 percent of the average precipitation from the beginning of January to the end of April is missing. In the west of Austria, rain is about 15 to 25 percent below average, similar to March.

In Kufstein, for example, there have been 250 litres per square meter since the beginning of the year; the average here from January to mid-April is 300 litres per square meter (minus 15 percent). The precipitation amounts from January to mid-April are now above average in the area from Lower Carinthia over large parts of Styria to Southern Burgenland.

But it is not over yet with the precipitation: On Friday and the night to Saturday; it is raining and snowing according to Geosphere Austria, especially in the north and east of Austria, at times also heavily. The snow line is between 500 and 1,100 meters. However, in the west and south of Austria, there are only a few showers, and, at times, the sun appears.

Today, Saturday, clouds will predominate, and it may rain everywhere, at least from time to time, most frequently on the northern side of the Alps and in eastern Austria. However, the amounts of rain are significantly lower than recently. The snow line is between 500 and 1,000 meters. On Sunday, according to the forecast, there will be many clouds, only intermittent sunshine and some rain or snowfall, with a snow line of 1,100 to 1,400 meters.