April 2023 In Central Europe Cooler And Wetter Than Normal…Like The 1960s

Germany April 2023 was the wettest in 15 years, 1.5°C cooler than mean

Symbol photo by P. Gosselin

According to the preliminary data gathered from the German DWD National Weather Service’s 2000 surface stations, April ,2023, was the first to be wetter than normal in 15 years. Over the past decade and a half before 2023, April had been always too dry.

According to DWD spokesman Uwe Kirsche,  “For the first time in 15 years, an April in Germany was too wet again.” The rainy April helps to further relieve a drought situation that had plagued the country over the recent years.

1.5°C cooler than normal

The mean temperature in April, 2023, in Germany was  7.5 degrees Celsius. Compared to the current internationally valid 1991 to 2020 reference period, April thus ended up being 1.5 degrees Celsius too cool.

Cool phases dominated the first and last week of April at times – with icy nights at the beginning of the month. Carlsfeld in the Erzgebirge Mountains recorded the lowest temperature in Germany on the 5th with -8.8 °C. The temperature dropped to -4.8 °C from the 21st to the 23rd.

The temperature peaks were reported by Nienburg in Lower Saxony and Jena in Thuringia on the 22nd with 24.6 °C each. Thus, for the first time since 2008, there was not a single summer-like day with a reading of over 25 °C in Germany in April.

Wetter than normal

According to preliminary calculations by the DWD, 64 liters per square meter (l/m²) fell in April, thus making the month 40 percent wetter than the 1991 – 2020 reference period (45 l/m²). The highest monthly amounts (200 l/m²) were recorded in the Bavarian Alps, while the Baltic Sea region remained very dry with less than 20 l/m² in some areas.

Drought conditions subside

On the balance, the DWD noted a further recovery of soil moisture nationwide. Up to the 24th of April, it was within the range of the seasonal average values compared to the average of the period 1991-2020 in parts of the mountains and from the Baltic Sea to the northern center, otherwise it was widely above. See the current DWD report of May 2,, 2023.

With about 150 hours, sunshine in April was well below its mean value of 183 hours seen for the 1991 – 2020 reference period.

Like the 1960s

In terms of temperature and precipitation, April 2023 in Germany was similar to the Aprils of the older and colder 1961-1990 reference period, which saw a mean temperature of only 7.4°C and mean precipitation of 58 liters per square meter.

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