Many wishes come true at Christmas, but the one for holidays "like in the old days" with snow is becoming increasingly rare: An evaluation by Geosphere Austria shows that Christmas days in Austria have become on average one to two degrees warmer over the past decades. The chance of a white Christmas in the lower regions has thus significantly decreased. Since 2011, there has been almost no day with snow cover in the state capitals.

Evaluation Shows: Chances of a White Christmas are Melting Away

"From year to year there are large fluctuations, but over the last few decades there is a clear trend towards ever milder temperatures at Christmas," said climatologist Alexander Orlik. "If you compare the average temperature on the 24th, 25th and 26th of December in the period 1961 to 1990 with the period 1991 to 2020, for example, there is a warming of around one to two degrees in the state capitals of Austria."

In Lower Regions, Rain is More Likely at Above Zero Degrees Celsius

In the lowlands, temperatures above zero degrees are increasingly measured in December. Precipitation then tends to fall as rain, and any snow that has fallen melts away faster than before. White Christmases occur reasonably reliably in valleys from about 800 meters above sea level. Even here it has become milder, but it is still often cold enough for snowfall.

For example, in the past 30 years, there has been a snow cover at Christmas 25 times in Bad Mitterndorf (Styria, 814 meters above sea level), 26 times in Schoppernau (Vorarlberg, 835 m), and 16 times in Weißensee (Carinthia, 949 m).

A snow cover on the 24th, 25th or 26th of December was to be expected every two to three years in most state capitals in the period 1961 to 1990, and every one to two years in Innsbruck. In the years 1991 to 2020, it occurred on the three Christmas holidays in Innsbruck on average every two to three years, in Graz, Klagenfurt and Salzburg every three to four years, and in Vienna, Eisenstadt, St. Pölten, Linz, Bregenz every four to six years.

Since 2011 "Very Low Snow Phase"

In recent history, the climatologist has observed "even a very low snow phase": "Since 2011, there have been almost no white Christmases in the lower regions of Austria," says Orlik. A snow cover has since then only been observed 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. By snow cover, we mean at least one centimeter of snow height on more than 50 percent of the observation site.

Last Snow in St. Pölten 17 Years Ago at Christmas

The state capital with the currently longest "green series" is St. Pölten. Here, the last time there was a snow cover of at least one centimeter on at least one Christmas day (24th or 25th or 26th December) was in 2007. In Linz and Bregenz, this was last the case in 2010, in Eisenstadt in 2012, in Salzburg in 2014, in Innsbruck in 2020, and in Vienna, Graz, and Klagenfurt in 2021.

For Christmas snow records, however, one has to look very far back. The Christmas record of all state capitals is held by the Innsbruck airport weather station with 96 centimeters of snow on December 24, 1962. The other records of the state capitals for Christmas were 55 centimeters at Graz airport on December 25, 1994, 50 centimeters in St. Pölten on December 24, 1969, 47 centimeters in Klagenfurt in 1994, 40 centimeters in Salzburg on December 24, 1962, 39 centimeters in Eisenstadt or 47 centimeters in Vienna Mariabrunn on December 24, 1969, 26 centimeters in Bregenz on December 26, 1969, and in Linz (airport) the record is 25 centimeters on December 25, 1969.

Extreme Values at Christmas from Almost Minus 30 to Almost Plus 20 Degrees

The lowest values also date back a long time. In the Austria-wide evaluation of all Geosphere weather stations 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. At that time, 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 Christmas heat record is held by the Salzburg airport weather station with 19.1 degrees on December 25, 2013.

What the Christmas weather and snow conditions will look like this year is still uncertain, the experts emphasize. Especially in the lower regions, a lot is still possible in the next two weeks. But from an altitude of about 1,000 meters, many regions already have a snow cover - at least that could last until from the current point of view.

(APA/Red)

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