Snow or rain? So it is a white Christmas in Austria!

Snow or rain? So it is a white Christmas in Austria!

St. Pölten, Österreich - Austria is faced with the question: Will we experience Christmas this year? Current weather forecasts indicate that it could snow in some high regions, but in most state capitals a snow cover on the holidays is rather unlikely. According to the weather expert Michele Salmi from Ubimet, it will be cooler until the weekend before Christmas, but the temperatures could also increase up to 10 degrees in the next few days. Many of the deeper cities have to expect "green Christmas", which means a snow-free festive season, as on Today.at

heat change affects the Christmas days

The chance of Christmas snow in Austria, however, steadily decreases. An analysis of geosphere Austria shows that temperatures have increased by one to two degrees in recent decades. Between 1961 and 1990, people could expect average every two to three years with white around Christmas, while between 1991 and 2020 in most state capitals there were only every three to four years. In deep layers, a blanket of snow on Christmas Eve and the following days has become increasingly less common. Climatologist Alexander Orlik concludes that since 2011 there were hardly a white Christmas in the state capita, as in detail on zamg.ac.at

Especially in cities like St. Pölten, where no snow has fallen on Christmas Day since 2007, the situation is alarming. In Innsbruck and Salzburg, too, there were last snow cover in 2020 and 2014. There is a worrying trend behind these numbers, because the increasing temperatures often drop precipitation as rain instead of as snow. The temperature increase thus limits the likelihood of snow in the lower layers of Austria. In higher regions from around 800 meters high, celebrations in the snow can be expected, but even there the signs are no longer as stable as before.