Germany cannot calm down. Severe storms will also hit the country on Thursday. This time the south is particularly affected. Thunderstorms and extreme heavy rain come in three stages. Read everything important in the weather ticker.
Thursday, May 23, 2024, 6:45 a.m.: The German Weather Service is also warning of severe storms with thunderstorms and extreme heavy rain for Thursday. According to advance warnings, the south of Germany is particularly affected in around 70 districts. The special thing is that the storms do not occur at the same time, but rather hit different regions from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. at night. This is the severe weather schedule:
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Showers and sometimes severe thunderstorms occur repeatedly, especially in the Black Forest area, which are accompanied by heavy rain in places of up to 40 l/sqm per hour. Amounts of between 30 and 50 l/sqm are expected in some areas over several hours. Other side effects of the thunderstorms include wind gusts or stormy gusts of up to 70 km/h as well as small-grain hail. These circles are particularly affected:
12 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Starting from the edge of the Alps and moving northwestward, showery, sometimes thundery rain occurs. Heavy rain of between 30 and 60 liters per square meter is likely in some areas in just a few hours. However, extremely heavy rain with up to 80 liters per square meter is also possible in some places.
In isolated cases, severe thunderstorms can be accompanied by heavy rain of up to 40 liters per square meter per hour. Additional side effects include wind gusts or stormy gusts of up to 70 km/h as well as small-grain hail.
This time these circles are affected:
5 p.m. to 2 a.m.: The exact same warning applies as before from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., but now for the following districts.
7.50 p.m.: After the severe thunderstorms in the north and east of Germany, the German Weather Service has lifted the severe weather warnings. The showers and thunderstorms should gradually subside on Thursday night. There may still be heavy rain in some areas and, in some places, storm-like amounts of heavy rain.
4.42 p.m.: The German Weather Service is also warning of a red alert in four regions in Schleswig-Holstein. These districts are affected:
4:26 p.m.: The German Weather Service (DWD) warns of a severe thunderstorm with heavy rain and hail. Some districts in the north and east of Germany are affected. In these nine districts, the DWD warns with a red alert:
Wednesday, May 22nd, 3:00 p.m.: Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland have been spared further severe storms and new floods. Meanwhile, possible compulsory insurance for natural hazards is being discussed, among other things. After Saarland promised financial aid to those affected on Tuesday, work is also underway in Rhineland-Palatinate. First, however, the specific damage pattern must be recorded, the Interior Ministry in Mainz announced on Wednesday. To this end, the supervisory authority ADD approached the affected districts and cities on Tuesday.
The heavy rain predicted for parts of Rhineland-Palatinate failed to materialize on Tuesday and Wednesday night. As the state police headquarters in Saarbrücken announced, there were no more storm-related operations on Wednesday night. This time there were similar events in other parts of Germany, especially in the Bavarian Upper Palatinate, where cellars were full and streets were flooded on Tuesday evening.
9:13 p.m.: After heavy rain, masses of water in the municipality of Kastl in Upper Palatinate caused cars to cross the streets and trapped people in their houses. No one was injured, said a spokesman for the Amberg Integrated Control Center on Tuesday evening. Those stuck have already been freed. The Lauterach river overflowed its banks in the center of the town.
The cars that were swept away by the floods were washed up on a bridge, the spokesman said. There they ensured that the water accumulated additionally.
8.47 p.m.: The German Weather Service declared a red warning level for parts of Bavaria on Tuesday evening due to heavy rain. The warning is valid until 10 p.m. The following districts are affected:
8:23 p.m.: Heavy rains in Upper Franconia have caused full basements and flooded streets. Bamberg and the surrounding area were particularly affected, said a spokesman for the police in Upper Franconia on Tuesday evening. There were several dozen weather-related operations in the region. There were also some traffic accidents due to the weather, the spokesman said. Nobody was seriously injured. In addition to the main focus in Bamberg, the rains also caused problems in Hof, Coburg and Bayreuth, it was said. The rain is apparently subsiding at the moment, but the situation is not dramatic.
7.46 p.m.: The warning map from the German Weather Service (DWD) shows a belt of thunderstorms across Germany. From the west of North Rhine-Westphalia to the southeast of Bavaria, the DWD is warning of severe thunderstorms until Wednesday night. Small-grain hail and gusts of around 75 km/h are also possible. This can lead to heavy rain with up to 40l/sqm. The DWD warns of possible floods, landslides and full cellars and underpasses. There is also a risk of lightning strikes.
5:56 p.m.: On Tuesday afternoon, the German Weather Service (DWD) is warning of severe thunderstorms in 16 Bavarian districts. There can be heavy rain with rainfall amounts between 25l/m² and 40 l/m². The DWD also warns of hail and strong gusts of wind with speeds of around 60 km/h.
The following districts are affected:
3:39 p.m.: The German Weather Service has lifted the severe warnings in nine districts in North Rhine-Westphalia. However, strong thunderstorms are still being warned. Severe thunderstorms are still possible into the night.
2:41 p.m.: The German Weather Service (DWD) warns of a severe thunderstorm with heavy rain and hail in parts of North Rhine-Westphalia on Tuesday afternoon. These are possible until Wednesday night. There can be rainfall amounts of around 40 l/m², and heavy gusts of up to 90 km/h can also be expected. The DWD has therefore issued a red alert in nine districts.
The following districts are affected:
11.36 a.m.: After the heavy thunderstorms and rain over Pentecost, the affected regions can breathe a sigh of relief from Wednesday. But the danger has not been completely averted: the storm front is only shifting to the north, as the German Weather Service (DWD) announced on Tuesday.
The DWD had again announced severe weather with thunderstorms and heavy, sometimes long-lasting rain for Tuesday. The danger of floods, landslides and full basements had not yet been averted. The affected area stretched from Eastern Bavaria via Hesse to North Rhine-Westphalia. Another focus of precipitation was in Saarland as well as in Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg.
The north and northeast were still left out on Tuesday, as meteorologist Marco Manitta reported. “There is only a risk of severe weather here on Wednesday due to thunderstorms and heavy rain, while the rest of the country can breathe a sigh of relief.” What happens next? “Unfortunately, the potential for severe weather will remain elevated over the next few days. A longer period of dry weather is not in sight.”
According to the forecast, on Wednesday the focus of heavy rain and thunderstorms will be from Schleswig-Holstein to Western Pomerania and the Uckermark. Storms with 30 to 50 liters of rain per square meter are possible again in a short period of time.
On Thursday, the DWD expects local heavy or continuous rain in the Western Pomerania area with amounts of between 20 and 40 liters per square meter in several hours. On Friday the front will shift slightly to the south again. The focus will then probably be in North Rhine-Westphalia and the north of Rhineland-Palatinate. On Saturday, the DWD believes locally severe thunderstorms with heavy rain are likely, especially in the northern half.
8.14 a.m.: The next severe thunderstorms are coming – and they’ll go right across Germany. As the German Weather Service (DWD) reports, there is a “rapidly increasing thunderstorm activity in a strip from southeast and eastern Bavaria via Hesse to northern Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia” early on Tuesday afternoon (2 p.m.).
These are accompanied by heavy rain, small-grain hail and gusts of wind. Larger hail and squalls are also possible locally.
According to the DWD, what initially appears to be individual thunderstorms will “grow into a larger precipitation complex with integrated thunderstorms” that will be active until Wednesday night. Between 20 and 50 liters of rain will fall per square meter over a period of 6 to 12 hours. Up to 80 liters of rain are possible locally. The severe weather warning is valid until 2 a.m. Wednesday morning.
You can read more about the current weather situation on the next pages.