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Forecasts: Winter brings a lot of frost but little snow
LINZ. The unusual drought of summer was a "first slight impact of climate change," says Anschober of the Environment Council.
The winter becomes cold, but not particularly snowy, says ZAMG (Weihbold) An image: VOLKER WEIHBOLD
The drought this year has caused 300 million euros of damage to Austrian agriculture, according to the country's environment department. Only in Upper Austria, there are about 100 million euros. Austrian federal forests estimate damage to their forests at € 23 million this year.
According to environmental advisor Rudi Anschober (Greens), it is only the "first minor effects of climate change". The situation will worsen in Upper Austria in the coming years, he said, and urges the federal government to "immediately submit a climate plan".
The fact that the weather was statistically unusual this year illustrates the statistics of the Central Institute of Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG). "The summer season this summer has been the hottest in Austria since the start of the measurements," says meteorologist Alexander Ohms. Overall, the average temperature was 2.5 degrees above the long term average. It is unclear whether the year 2018 will exceed the heat record previous 2014. This will likely be a race neck-to-neck until the end of the year.
In precipitation, developments are similar. In Linz, only 452 millimeters of rain have fallen so far this year. On average, it has exceeded 800 millimeters in the last 30 years. In Upper Austria, precipitation was lower than forecast this year at 24%.
Stable weather conditions under high pressure
According to the meteorologist Ohms, "blocking weather conditions" are one of the main causes of low rainfall: "The usual varied weather conditions in Central Europe with a rapid succession of frontal pbades are more often replaced by stable weather conditions. high pressure which, especially in the lowlands, may cause prolonged drought.
This development will also have an impact on next winter. Although long-term models of ZAMG show that the winter will probably be cold, the forecast for snowfall is rather meager. "The lift operators will not be happy, but it looks like a cold winter with little snow," said Ohms.
Not only high in the mountains, but also deep below the surface of the earth, you can observe the effects of extreme weather conditions. Well builders had the high season this year in Upper Austria. According to the province of Upper Austria, more than 500 wells in the country had to be drilled in the last ten weeks, so as to reach the water table.
Dried creek
Commercial shipping statistics from the state firefighters' badociation provide another warning sign that climate change is more prevalent in Upper Austria. In order to maintain the water supply in some areas, the fire department has moved 5406 times this year as a water supplier. The previous year, there were only 2720 trips. Even some of Upper Austria's watercourses have already dried up due to drought in recent months. The Weißenbach near Lake Attersee is an example. (Hip)
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