“Tropical Berlin” – July 12, 2014

Showers and more showers. Thunderstorms in Germany nearly everywhere. It has been a strange week and a weather situation which must weather forecasters drive cracy – Saturday was supposed to become dry in the North-East but already in the morning again big white clouds could be seen in the sky. Weather seems to be unpredictable these days. And they can’t tell where exactly severe weather must be expected.

Saturday brought again an interesting weather situation in Berlin. It’s really a tropical feeling now with a constant change between sun and rain and the wet air let you think you are really close to the rain forest. In the early afternoon there was a remarkable development: instead of many smaller shower clouds the Northern horizon became really dark and an impressing ice-umbrella of a thunderstorm cloud could be seen. I expected another big thunderstorm coming in but interestingly the cloud didn’t come closer. Instead sun was shining in the city for most of the time since the sky in the west was clear. What happened can be seen in the time-lapse video below: the clouds close to the ground are moving in the opposite direction as the higher clouds. As the radar later showed heavy rain fell later north-east of Berlin. Obviously there was some wind-shear in the air – I am not an expert and can’t tell what exactly was going on the higher layers of the atmosphere but something must have happened and created these impressive scenes.

So far the “tropical air” is supposed to last even longer. The day before hiker’s found a snapping turtle in the river Spree. Seems like we’re getting closer to the equator.

Severe Storm In Berlin, July 8, 2014

In the morning of July 8 there was already heavy rainfall in Berlin and the question was, if people could enjoy the public viewing of Germany-Brasil in the evening. A severe weather warning was issued. In the late morning the sky cleared and it was sunny for some hours. However the air was very humid and thunderstorms neared from the South. They travelled fast from Saxony to Berlin. In the later afternoon the storm hit Berlin. For minutes there were strong winds, some but not very intense lightning could be seen. The bigger problem became the rain, which was flooding streets and cellars. The Berlin fire brigade needed every emergency vehicle. Luckily the thunderstorm in the end wasn’t as bad as some forecasters had expected. It cooled down a little bit after the rain.

The crowd anticipating the soccer game was lucky in the end. After the storm passed the weather calmed down and in the evening there was only slight rain.

Thunderstorm And Heavy Rainfall In Northern Germany, July 5

Saturday, July 5, was a hot and humid day in Northern Germany. In Flensburg near the Danish border the day began cloudy and later it was sunny. In the afternoon towering clouds could be seen. A cold front was moving fast from the west reached Hamburg and soon later the sky in Flensburg became really dark. Wind picked up and when the front arrived there was heavy rain. It was nearly like a flash flood and cellars and some streets were flooded. The severe storm didn’t last very long and luckily the wind wasn’t too strong. After the storm had passed there was an impressing atmosphere at the Flensburg Fjord, which is a well known area for sailors from Germany and Denmark. It wasn’t much colder after the thunderstorm and the air was still humid. The pictures show the arrival and the aftermath of the cold front.

After the storm calmed down and was moving towards the East the sea was completely calm. For some moments the sun appeared again. The sea reflected the dark blue and different tones of grey in the sky.

Rain Clouds From The East, Berlin, May 17, 2014

Last week a low pressure system with lots of rain led to a terrible flood in South-East Europa affecting mostly Serbia and Bosnia. Even there weren’t any extreme weather patterns in Middle-Europe on Saturday, May 17, the effects of the huge weather system over Europe could be seen in Berlin. Unlike most of the time when winds come from West or the Northwest this day dark clouds could be seen approaching from East /North-East.  Berlin is situated in between the continental climate zone and the more humid atlantic climate. Clouds travel most of the time from the west towards the east. This time the clouds and the rain approached from the East, coming from Poland. The clouds on the pictures and the time-lapse film led to an interesting effect when they got illuminated from beneath after 6.00 pm. It was still dry most of the time on Saturday in Berlin. On Sunday it was raining for most of the day.

An interesting thing happened after the rain ceased on Sunday afternoon. Very deep hanging clouds followed the rain and in the late afternoon the upper part of the famous “Fernsehturm” disappeared in the mist.