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Wild Tyrolean Valley After Severe Winter

Musau, Austria, May 19, 2019

In April 2019 there were many fears in Central Europe that 2019 would repeat its extreme weather patterns with a drought in many parts of Germany. Luckily, in May 2019 weather turned back to normal patterns with rain and colder temperatures. Unlike other areas, there had been a lot of precipitation in the Alps during winter 2018/2019. In some places, there were tons of snow. Devastating avalanches threatened some alpine valleys. There had also been some storms which did severe damage in the mountain forest.

A trip into the Alps in May is a fascinating thing. Particularly after a period with the above-mentioned weather extremes. In the higher regions, a hike can begin in “summer” with green meadows and warm temperatures but winter isn’t very far. It is also a chance to see the power of nature. It is the time of devastating thaws when the huge mass of snow melts quickly. And there are many traces of this last winter: Nature is recovering from avalanches and in the mountain forest we see the destructive force of severe storms.

Spring happens late in the mountains. It is a short time span when life returns to the frozen world. It is time to experience both the destructive power of the elements and its incredible beauty.

The Rein valley near Musau in Tyrol offers it all. It is perfect for a trip and is easily accessible. It is one of the most impressive valleys in the Northern Alps. Steep Rock faces, a raging river, a very natural forest and high peaks of the “Allgäuer Berge” makes it an unparalleled experience.

In Musau there is both a train station but also a parking spot, “Bärenfalle” at the beginning of the hike. The first half hour of the walk is in the forest and a steep ascent. After a while, the trail reaches the first vantage points. The peaks of the mountains become visible.

Sunday, May 19, started as a sunny and slightly cloudy day. However, there was a severe weather warning in place. It was said that thunderstorms would already occur before noon. The good weather lasted longer as expected.

The trail is also a forest road which connects the village with the Musauer Alm and the Cabins, the Otto Mayr Hütte and the Füssener Hütte.

After approximately one and a half hour of walking the cosy Musauer Alm comes into sight. It is the perfect opportunity for a stop and getting some good food in a very friendly atmosphere. After the stop which was in the middle of the day, the weather still looked fine. It seemed that the weather forecast wasn’t right. But in the mountains, you need to be very attentive and conditions can change very quickly.

Behind the Musauer Alm, the trail leads higher up into the valley. Here the image changed completely. Instead of the romantic green valley, it looked more and more like a battlefield of the forces of nature. Overturned trees, the remains of an avalanche and huge fields of snow left a deep impression. One could see what the severe winter in the alps did. In some places, it changed the face of the landscape.

Then it happened. It wasn’t too long and early afternoon when the weather changed completely. Rain and thunderstorm clouds appeared quickly from the east. It was time to turn around and head back down into the valley.

Arrival Of A Thunderstorm In The Mountains.

Faster than expected the sun appeared again after a heavy rain shower and some thunder in the clouds. It was then when there was a special magic in the landscape.

It was also an opportunity to study the work of erosion near the river. Rain and tough conditions led to mudslides and other destruction.

Later in the afternoon, the sky was overcast. After the rain mist ascended from the forest. It was a completely different, more mystical air. It proved again that rainy weather is often the most interesting weather condition for dramatic pictures in the mountains.

The wet weather attracted also a special animal, which is rare to see. The black salamander.

The spectacular valley and the Musauer Alm is not far from the famous town of Füssen (with the prominent Neuschwanstein castle). On the Austrian side, Reutte and the “Lechtal-Region isn’t far. The Lechtal with the river Lech is one of Europe’s last river wilderness regions. It contains different types of forest, rich animal life and more spectacular mountain sceneries.

In some places, there was indeed severe weather on May 19. In East-Germany flooding was reported and there were heavy thunderstorms. It was also the beginning of a long rainy period with some flooding in Southern Germany. This is not unusual for May. In 1999 and 2005 there were floods which led to a lot of destruction. The events of 1999 gave reason to improve precautions against flooding for example in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Upper Bavaria.

May 23, 2019July 24, 2019 by Waldmeister Categories: natural wonders, Seasons, Severe Weather, Spring, Travel Tip, Uncategorized, Wind, WindstormTags: Allgäu, Füssen, Lechtal, Musau, Musauer Alm, Reintal, Reutte, Severe Weather, Storm, Winter

Ein Wasserfall im Himmel: Gewitter im Mai und Fallstreifen

Mai ist oft die Zeit kurzlebiger Gewitter und kühlerer Regentage in Mitteleuropa. Seit einigen Jahren jedoch treten auch vermehrt Extremwettersituationen mit Sturzfluten und sogar Tornados auf. 2018 war besonders ungewöhnlich, da es bereits im April neue Temperaturrekorde gegeben hat. Es war in vielen Regionen zu trocken und ist es immer noch. Eine großes Problem ist der Umstand, dass langanhaltender Regen immer mehr fehlt. Dieser Landregen gerade im Mai ist normalerweise typisch für unser Wetter. Auch wenn er für Touristen wenig erfreulich ist, so ist er doch für die Natur und die Landwirtschaft lebenswichtig. Das hat sich geändert. Wie es die Klimaforscher vorhergesagt haben, kommt es stattdessen wenn zu Schauern und Gewittern mit kurzzeitigen Sturzfluten.

Ich erinnere mich noch, dass der Mai kein sonderlich warmer Monat war, als ich noch jünger war. In manchen Jahren lag sogar in den Alpen noch viel Schnee. In der Mitte des Monats war es oft kalt. Doch dieses Jahr war der ganze Mai eher wie Mittsommer statt wie ein Frühlingsmonat.

In Süddeutschland endete die trockene Periode im Mai, als vermehrt Schauer und Gewitter auftraten.

Das erste Gewitter in meiner Umgebung, dem Ammersee in Oberbayern entwickelte sich am 12. Mai.

Dieses Gewitter war sehr beeindruckend, denn die tiefstehende Sonne beleuchtete die Wolken und den Regen von unten. Der Mai ist genau für solche Aufnahmen von Gewittern, da das Licht günstiger als im Hochsommer ist. Ebenso ist die Luft oft klarer als im Juli. Zudem ist das durch die Lichtbedingungen eine gute Zeit, Niederschlagsstreifen unter den Schauerwolken zu fotografieren. Diese Fallstreifen lassen manchmal sehr interessante Muster entstehen.

An den folgenden Tagen kam es zu weiteren Gewittern. Die Wetterdienste hatten eine harte Zeit im Mai. Einige Male wurde warmes, stabiles Wetter vorher gesagt. Doch immer wieder kam es anders. An Pfingsten, dem 20. und 21. Mai, sollte es warm und trocken werden, aber es folgten weitere Schauer und Gewitter. Insbesondere der 20. Mai sollte eigentlich warm und trocken sein. Stattdessen war es ein dunkler Tag, wo es durch einen heftigen Gewittersturm sogar zu einer Sturzflut in einem kleinen Ort zwischen Murnau und Garmisch-Partenkirchen kam. Bereits am 18. Mai musste ein Open-Air Event in Fürstenfeldbruck in der Nähe von München wegen eines Unwetter abgesagt werden.

Hier sieht man nun, was am 20. Mai, einem Sonntag, geschah: Am Nachmittag war der Himmel voller dunkler Wolken und es regnete. Im Bild sieht man den Hohen Peissenberg im Hintergrund, an dem Nebelfetzen hochzogen. Im Süden war ein Gewitter zu sehen, das zu der besagten Überflutung führte. Erst am Abend beruhigte sich das Wetter.

Der 21. Mai begann mit Nebel. Eine tief hängende Schicht hing zwischen den Bergen und dem davor liegenden Land. Durch die starke Sonne lichtete sich der Nebel rasch und der Himmel wurde klar:
Die Luft war immer noch feucht und die Sonne heiß – perfekte Bedingungen für die Entwicklung weiterer Gewitter. Am Nachmittag bewegte sich eine starke Gewitterzelle Richtung Ammersee. Dieses Gewitter erwies sich wegen der Fallstreifen und einem Regenbogen als sehr interessantes Motiv.

Es fiel auf, dass dieses Jahr die Gewitter oft in ungewöhnliche Richtungen zogen. Manchmal kamen sie aus Südosten und bewegten sich nach Südwesten oder sie zogen von Norden nach Süden. Meistens ziehen die Wettersysteme in Europa eigentlich von West nach Ost. Eine ungewöhnliche Konstellation von Drucksystemen war die Grund für diese Entwicklungen und auch für die lange Trockenheit. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt ahnte allerdings noch niemand, welche Dimensionen diese Anomalie 2018 annehmen würde.

Das Gewitter am 21. Mai kam für einige Zeit näher, stoppte dann aber scheinbar. Ein Grund dafür ist, dass der See das lokale Wetter beeinflusst.

In so einem Fall ist es immer gut, schon im Voraus ein paar gute Aussichtspunkte zu kennen. Das machte es leichter, die Wetterentwicklungen zu verfolgen.

Eine höhere Position in der Landschaft war besonders hilfreich, den Regenbogen zu entdecken, der sich während des Gewitters entwickelte.

Anfangs war dieser Regenbogen kaum zu sehen, wurde dann aber stärker.

Das Besondere an diesem Tag war aber die Entwicklung im oberen Teil der Gewitterwolke.

Es waren nicht nur die üblichen Fallstreifen unter der Wolke zu sehen, sondern es war ganz klar zu erkennen, dass der Regen auch aus den oberen Etagen in der Wolke fiel.

Es war tatsächlich ein Wasserfall im Himmel.

Das unbeständige Wetter dauerte an. Das Titelbild dieses Beitrages wurde ein paar Tage später, am 24. Mai, aufgenommen

In der Mitte Deutschland folgten im Mai weitere dramatische Ereignisse mit enormen Hagelmengen und Überflutungen an einigen Orten.

May 30, 2018October 3, 2018 by Waldmeister Categories: German Version (Deutsch), UncategorizedTags: Fall Stripes, Severe Weather, Thunderstorm

A Waterfall In The Sky: Thunderstorms In May And Fallstripes

May is often a time in the year of short-lived thunderstorms and some cooler rainy days in Middle Europe. However, since some years there is also more severe weather with flash floods and even tornados in May. 2018 had been particularly unusual with new temperature records in April. It was too dry in many areas and it still is. A big problem is that it seems that steady rain is missing more and more. Long lasting rain was a common weather pattern every year which wasn’t very amusing for tourists but important for nature and farming. That changed. As predicted by climate change researchers we have more showers and thunderstorm with extreme flooding now.

When I was younger I remember May not as a very warm month. In some years there was still a lot of snow in the mountains. Often it was very cold in the middle of the month. But this year it was more like midsummer rather than spring.

In Southern Germany, the dry period ended to a certain extent and more and more showers and thunderstorms happened.

The first thunderstorm in my area close to lake Ammersee in Upper Bavaria developed on early evening May 12.

It was very impressing because of the late sun which illuminated the clouds and rain at a low angle. May is a good time for taking pictures of thunderstorms because often the light is better as in July and the air is often more clear. Furthermore, it is a good time to photograph fall stripes of rain which look like curtains and can create very interesting patterns.

The following days more thunderstorms occurred. Weather forecasters had a tough time during May. A couple of time stable, warm weather was predicted. But weather doesn’t behave like it was supposed to be. On Pentecost, May20+21, it should have been warm and dry but there were thunderstorms and showers. May 20 indeed was a surprise, because that “summer day” was more or less a dark day with a heavy thunderstorm and flooding in a village between Murnau and Garmisch Partenkirchen. Already on May 18 an open-air event had to be cancelled due to a thunderstorm in Fürstenfeldbruck, a city not far from Munich.

This is what Sunday, May 20, happened: In the afternoon the sky was loaded with dark clouds and rain. There were also shrouds of mist surrounding the Hohen Peissenberg, which can be seen in the background. Some lightning could be seen in the South. In the evening the weather calmed down.

Morning, May 21, began with a misty sky. There was a low hanging layer of mist between the mountains an the lower areas. The mist soon disappeared and the sky became clear:
The air was still humid and the sun was hot. Perfect conditions for the development of further thunderstorms. In the late afternoon, a thunderstorm cell moved towards lake Ammersee. It was very interesting to follow this thunderstorm since there were fascinating patterns of fall stripes. Furthermore, there was also a rainbow.

It was remarkable that this year in May the thunderstorms were often moving in unusual directions. Sometimes there were moving from South-East to South-West or from North to South. Mostly weather systems are moving from West to East. An unusual constellation of pressure systems in Europe was one reason for the long dry period and the further development.

The thunderstorm on May 21 was coming closer for some time but then stopped. Perhaps the huge lake had an influence. It happens often that lakes are influencing local weather.

In this case, it was again good to know some viewpoints in the area before. It made it easier to follow the weather pattern.

The higher position was particularly helpful to see the rainbow which developed during the thunderstorm.

The rainbow was barely visible for some time but then intensified.

However the most special thing was the development in the upper part of the thunderstorm-cloud.

There were not only fall stripes below the cloud but in this case, it was clearly visible that rain came from the upper levels.

It was indeed like a “waterfall” in the sky.

The unstable weather continued.The title picture was taken a few days later, May 24.

There were further dramatic events in the middle of Germany with flooding. There was also a tremendous portion of hail in some places.

May 28, 2018July 9, 2018 by Waldmeister Categories: Climate Change, Seasons, Spring, Stormchasing, Thunderstorm, UncategorizedTags: Fall Stripes, Severe Weather, Thunderstorm

September 13, 2017, Storm Sebastian

Germany was hit on September 13, 2017 by a deadly windstorm. “Sebastian”. The storm did a lot of damage in Northern Germany and killed three people. Also Southern Germany was affected by the storm. In Upper Bavaria the alps could be seen very clearly. T

his was similar like the “Foehn-Effect” but not necessarily the same like the “Foehn-Effect”. The “Foehn” is a dry wind similar to the “Santa-Ana” wind, the “Foehn-Effect” on the East side of the Scottish Highlands or The “Chinook”. It occurs when moist air is rising on one side of the mountains and turns into warm downslope winds on the other side. Often it is the southern side of the alps where rain clouds are climbing.

Then it can become suddenly very warm in the valleys and the countryside adjacent to the mountains on the northern side. It could be also vice versa and then you have warm weather for example in the Tessin and a lot of rain on the Northern side of the alps.

The “Foehn-Effect” can be dramatic in itself. With temperatures climbing very fast there is a sudden danger of avalanches in the alps in the winter. Also, the “Foehn” is held responsible for health and mental problems. Sometimes when the traffic for example in Munich feels crazy, drivers doing weird things the “Foehn” is said to be the culprit.

In this situation, it was basically that the windstorm came from the Southwest. In Southern-Germany there wasn’t so much rain but there was no dust thus the Alps appeared closer as they are. The next day the weather calmed down but in some areas, there were still train delays due to Sebastian.

The windstorm was predicted but it is still a challenge for weather-services to predict the exact path of a storm. On a much minor scale, it was a bit like with “Irma” which took a slightly different path of destruction. It will be a task for the future to develop even more detailed systems for weather-warnings to prevent tragic incidents as it happened due to this windstorm.

The extreme weather events in 2017 raised again the question if the weather is becoming more extreme and yes, it seems true to a certain extent. It will be especially difficult also in the future to do precise nowcasts of storms like this one. Therefore it is important that people take precautions when severe weather events like “Sebastian” are announced. One important rule is to not go into the woods.

If possible driving should be reduced and people should be on alert when driving on rural roads with a lot of trees on both sides. Usually, windstorms in Europe do not destroy whole buildings so unlike the hurricanes people are safe when staying at home. “Sebastian” was the first windstorm of autumn 2017 and likely more storm systems will follow in Europe.

Storms happen between October and December but there is also often this “Foehn-Effect” in Bavaria or a longer lasting high-pressure system in Middle Europe. When this happens people speak of a “Golden October” due to the colors of the leaves. The “Foehn-Effect” is a chance for photographers in the alpine regions to take spectacular pictures but need sometimes a bit of experience due to the light conditions.

There is often a very bright light during daytime and in the evening the days quickly become shorter. Upper Bavaria, for example, offers many excellent viewpoints like the Hohen Peissenberg where there is an exceptional sight of the Alps.

September 19, 2017April 26, 2018 by Waldmeister Categories: Autumn, Seasons, Severe Weather, WindstormTags: Severe Weather