Enlarge image
Autumn in the Black Forest: A temperature record was reached in southern Germany
Photo: Santiago Urquijo / Getty Images
According to a preliminary assessment by the German Weather Service, this year's autumn is the second warmest in Germany since measurements began in 1881. And the period from January to November 2023 is also in second place with an average of 11.2 degrees. "We still have to wait for December, but 2023 is likely to be one of the warmest years in Germany again," said Uwe Kirsche of the German Weather Service (DWD) in Offenbach on Wednesday.
Despite the onset of winter with snow, slippery roads and ice in recent days, meteorologists recorded an average temperature of 11.5 degrees for this autumn. The value is thus 2.7 degrees above the value of the internationally valid reference period 1961 to 1990, the DWD reported after initial evaluations of the results of its approximately 2000 measuring stations.
The 13th overly warm autumn in a row
According to this, only the autumn of 2006 was warmer with an average temperature of 12 degrees. In addition, it is the 13th excessively warm autumn in a row. In southern Germany, it was even the warmest autumn since measurements began, the meteorologists explained. The highest temperature was recorded on 12 September in Waghäusel-Kirrlach (Baden-Württemberg) with 33.3 degrees. "Severe frosts of minus 10 degrees in the eastern low mountain ranges, on the other hand, shaped the wintry autumn finale," it said.
In addition, the season was not only particularly warm with lots of sunshine, it was also the wettest autumn since 2002 with an unusually wet November, according to the weather service.
To make statistics comparable, meteorologists summarize the seasons in whole months: September, October, November make up the meteorological autumn. In contrast, the calendrical or astronomical beginning of autumn this year was on September 23, when day and night are of equal length.
ahh/dpa