More Thunder And Rain in North-East Germany

Same procedure like every day: the day began with a wonderful summer morning. The sun was shining invitingly and moderate temperates invited for a hike into the Grumsin-region, which has become a world heritage because of its forests. Close to the forest is an open landscape with meadows and some fields. Old trails lead through this thinly populated area in Brandenburg, North of Berlin. It was not long after noon when the sky again darkened and a big shower with some thunder approached quickly. Luckily I had reached the geo-park station about the Ice Age and the geological history of this part of the country when the rain came again. It’s an excellent exhibition in Groß-Ziethen, which is also the meeting point for tours into the impressing world heritage. Soon later the sky cleared for some hours but again the air was still humid. The intense sun fell onto the wet ground and steam could be seen rising over the street.

As in Berlin lot’s of fans were arriving for public viewing of the world championship finale a new thunderstorm approached in the early evening hours.

Gate of the Ice-Age-Parc in Groß-Ziethen, Brandenburg

Steaming street after the shower has passed

“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.