Deep Charlie brings snow and black ice: onset of winter in Aachen!

In the Aachen city region, winter weather conditions are currently expected. On Wednesday evening, January 8, 2025, it begins to snow. Especially in the Eifel, the snowfalls will pass into rain and smoothness rain around midnight, while in Aachen and the northern city region will continue to be expected. An air mass border, influenced by the Charlie low pressure area, ensures this weather conditions. This low brings mild air flows from Brittany, which meet polar latitudes on cold air masses. This results in temperature differences of up to 9 degrees within 50 kilometers.

On Thursday morning, the low pressure area Charlie will continue and take over cold air masses. Snowfall is predicted in the entire region, followed by snow showers and occasional sunshine in the afternoon. Snow depths of 10 to 20 centimeters are expected in cities such as Monschau, Hürtgenwald and Hohen Venn. The temperatures will fluctuate between minus 1 and plus 1 degree, whereby up to 2 degrees are even possible in the northern city region. On Friday, the snow of snow should come to an end and calm, sunny winter weather is expected.

winter service and prepared measures

The high pressure influence from Beate will ensure the weather calming on the weekend. At temperatures around zero degrees, the conditions in the Northern Eifel are ideal for tobogganing enthusiasts. Roads of North Rhine -Westphalia and the roadmasters in Aachen and Simmerath are responsible for winter service in the region. In Simmerath there are 11 clearing and stray vehicles, in Aachen there are 6 vehicles. The focus is on heavily frequented roads and escape routes, such as the B258, B266 and B399. The winter service vehicles are equipped with clearing shovels and scabies. Salz or brine is scattered; Other materials such as sand and split are not used. The Masteri in Simmerath has capacities for 1775 tons of salt and 60,000 liters of brine, while the master's egg in Aachen holds 500 tons of salt and 50,000 liters of brine. In the case of snowy days, a consumption of 150-170 tons in Simmerath and 20-30 tons in Aachen is forecast.

In large parts of Germany, similar winter conditions can be observed. This creates numerous risk of black ice, such as ZDF . Many flights and trains are late, which led to traffic accidents. The German Weather Service (DWD) raised a few levels of severe weather warnings, while warnings of level 2 continue to exist and point out "striking weather". A deep with snow and smooth ice rain moved from Southwest to the northeast, which also led to 120 annulments under 1,090 scheduled starts and landings at Frankfurt Airport.

Winter conditions have also led to traffic accidents in other federal states. For example, a federal police car crashed on the A81, with five officials being slightly injured. In Freiburg, 20 traffic accidents were recorded on smooth lanes, and in Rhineland-Palatinate the police reported 17 accidents due to snow or freezing moisture. Further traffic accidents occurred on the night of Sunday, including a truck accident on Autobahn 1. On Monday, there are sometimes stormy weather and rain and temperatures between -2 and +9 degrees.