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Unusually mild weather in Austria: In November, temperatures are rising to up to 21 degrees Celsius, with sunshine instead of frost and more hours of sun.
While people in many places are still drinking mulled wine in their winter coats at the first Christmas markets, the next heat wave is on its way. Temperatures in the west will rise to 18 degrees Celsius, with up to 21 degrees possible on Thursday and Friday – especially in Vorarlberg, the Lower Inn Valley, Tennengau, the Alpine foothills, and Upper Styria.
No sign of winter: “The autumn months have also become warmer in Austria in recent decades as a result of global warming. In November, for example, the average monthly temperature has risen by around 2 degrees since the 1960s, explains Alexander Orlik from ”Geosphere Austria“ in response to a question from ”Heute”.
“Since minimum and maximum temperatures are rising at roughly the same rate, the probability of exceeding the 20-degree Celsius mark in some places is also increasing,” says Orlik. In general, however, temperatures of 20 degrees and above in November “have been relatively rare even in the recent past,” says the meteorologist.
The sun has also been generous this year: across Austria, around 50 percent more hours of sunshine were recorded in the first third of the month than average. In Lower Carinthia and southern Styria, the yield was even twice as high, according to meteorologists.
Even nighttime frost has (so far) failed to materialize in many places this November – there have been no sub-zero temperatures in Vienna, Linz, Eisenstadt, Bregenz, or Klagenfurt.
It is also unusually warm in the Austrian mountains. Even at an altitude of 2,000 meters, the temperature is well above zero, mostly above ten degrees Celsius. “These are temperatures that are more common in June than now in November. Artificial snowmaking in the ski resorts is out of the question so close to the start of the season,” reports ORF.
The cause of the “spring weather” is – apart from long-term global warming – a stable weather situation: a high-pressure area east of Austria and a low-pressure area over the Atlantic are directing a foehn-like southwesterly flow over the Alps. This brings warm air from North Africa – and with it, Sahara dust, which will become visible on Thursday and reach its peak on Friday.
Incidentally, the unusual warmth is not only affecting Austria: temperatures of around 20 degrees are also expected in Germany, Switzerland, and France.
- source: heute.at/picture: pixabay.com
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