White Christmas in the state capitals? If you look back over the past 13 years, you will hardly find anything in this area. Since 2011, there has been almost no snow day in the state capitals. The risk of white flakes visibly melts away, because in recent decades the Christmas holidays have been on average one to two degrees warmer.
This is the result of an evaluation by Geosphere Austria. “There are large fluctuations from year to year, but in recent decades there has been a clear trend towards increasingly mild temperatures at Christmas,” says climatologist Alexander Orlik. “If you compare the average temperature on December 24, 25 and 26 in the period 1961 to 1990 with the period 1991 to 2020, for example, there is a warming of about one to two degrees in the capitals of the Austrian states. ”
White Festival: Chance lives about 800 meters above sea level
In December, temperatures in the lowlands are increasingly measured above zero. There is then a greater chance that precipitation will fall in the form of rain, and the snow that has already fallen will melt away faster than before. White Christmas occurs with some degree of reliability in valleys above about 800 meters above sea level. Here too it became milder, but it is still often cold enough for snowfall.
Between 1961 and 1990, a snow blanket could be expected in most state capitals on December 24, 25 or 26 every two to three years, and in Innsbruck every one to two years. From 1991 to 2020, they took place on average every two to three years during the three Christmas holidays in Innsbruck. In Graz, Klagenfurt and Salzburg this was every three to four years and in Vienna, Eisenstadt, St. Pölten, Linz and Bregenz every four to six years.
Recently “very little snow phase”
In the recent past, the climatologist has observed “a phase with very little snow”: “Since 2011, there have been almost no white Christmases in the lower areas of Austria,” says Orlik. Since then, there has only been a blanket of snow in the state capitals in 2011 in Innsbruck, 2012 in Vienna and Eisenstadt, 2014 in Salzburg, 2020 in Innsbruck and 2021 in Vienna, Graz and Klagenfurt. Snow cover in this context means a snow layer of at least one centimeter on more than 50 percent of the observation location.
The last time there was snow in St. Pölten at Christmas was 17 years ago
The state capital with the currently longest “green range” is St. Pölten. The last time there was a blanket of snow at least one centimeter deep here on at least one Christmas day (December 24, 25 or 26) was in 2007. This was last the case in Linz and Bregenz in 2010, in Eisenstadt in 2012, in Salzburg in 2014, Innsbruck in 2020 and Vienna, Graz and Klagenfurt in 2021.
Extreme values from almost minus 30 to almost plus 20 degrees
Even the lowest values lag far behind. In the Austria-wide evaluation of all weather stations in the Geosphere below 1,400 meters above sea level, the cold record of minus 29 degrees was measured in Tamsweg (Salzburg) on the night of December 26, 1944. 1962 was also extreme. The highest (!) temperature on December 25 in Vils (Tyrol, Reutte district) was minus 19.8 degrees. In Kitzbühel it was minus 27.9 degrees on the night of December 25, 1962. The weather station at Salzburg Airport holds the Christmas heat record with 19.1 degrees on December 25, 2013.
A white Christmas is possible from about 1000 meters above sea level
It is not yet possible to say what the Christmas weather and snow conditions will be like this year, the experts emphasize. Much is still possible in the next two weeks, especially at low altitude. But from an altitude of around 1000 meters there is already a blanket of snow in many regions – which from the current perspective could last at least until Christmas.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
