As is well known, there will be a green Christmas again this year in the flat and hilly regions, at least as far as Christmas Eve is concerned. Just in time for Christmas Day, a little white surprise is announced for the north and northeast.
In the meantime, a white Christmas has become rare. In the past few years it was mostly too mild, and this year the thaw set in punctually on Christmas Eve. So on December 24th Klagenfurt is the only state capital to offer a blanket of snow. One day late, however, this time the north of the country will get a real snow gift on Saturday (Christmas Day)!
The weather this year at Christmas is really exciting. Tomorrow there will be an air mass boundary across Central Europe, separating ice-cold polar air (blue arrow) north and mild Mediterranean air (red arrow) south of it. Austria is still fully on the warm side today, on Saturday the air mass limit will move a little south.
You can see that in the course of the temperatures from Saturday morning to Saturday evening. In Upper and Lower Austria, as well as in Vienna and Northern Burgenland, the maximum values (+2 to +6 degrees) are reached in the morning, then it cools down from the Czech Republic. Permafrost can be expected in the afternoon and evening.
As the front advances, the snowfall line gradually sinks down to the lower altitudes. Most of the snow with 5-10 cm (occasionally a little more) falls in the Upper Mühlviertel and Waldviertel as well as in the northern Weinviertel. In Vienna, too, there are snowflakes in the afternoon and evening, but there is hardly enough for a blanket of snow.
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