Earlier Forecast Of “A Summer From Hell” in Germany Just Isn’t Materializing. July Comes In Near Normal!

After a preliminary tabulation of data collected from its approx. 2000 stations across the country, the results of Germany’s, DWD national weather service in Offenbach show that earlier dramatic predictions of a “hellish summer” have yet to come true.  

German annual rainfall anomaly. Germany’s been getting wetter – not drier. Image: DWD. 

False alarmist predictions

In March, 2024, “experts” like biologist Mark BeneckeIs warned that climate change “was coming to a head this summer” for Germany, predicting “unprecedented heat” in 2024.

June in Germany came in near normal, and now according to the DWD, July 2024 has also been “rather variable , with consistent summer weather simply refusing to materialize.”

The brief periods of warm weather quickly got interrupted by showers and thunderstorms.

Slightly warmer than normal

The mean temperature in July 2024 (preliminary) was 18.9°C, or 0.6°C warmer than the 1991 to 2020 reference period mean of 18.3 °C. The start of the month was rather cool and autumnlike.

The peak value was recorded at the Bad Muskau station (Saxony), where it reached 34.8°C on July 10.

On July 30th, temperatures plummeted again at night and the nationwide low of 3.8 °C, recorded in Deutschneudorf-Brüderwiese (Saxony).

Few warm nights

Tropical nights (when lows do not drop below 20.0 °C) were the exception rather than the rule and only occurred in small numbers on the Upper Rhine, in Lower Bavaria, Saxony and the greater Berlin area. Earlier reports warned that German cities like Hamburg would see a sharp increase in warm tropical nights that would make sleep more difficult. So far there hasn’t been one such night in Hamburg this summer.

Average rainfall

“Experts” also warned that Germany would see more drought in the summer as climate warming progresses. But this summer so far has been wetter than normal. According to the DWD, July saw 88 liters of rain per square meter. Compared to the climate reference period from 1991 to 2020 (87 l/m²), July 2024 was practically dead-on average.

More sunshine

In terms of sunshine in July, the country saw a mean of of 237 hours in July, which was only slightly above average compared to the 1991-2020 climate reference period (226 hours). That probably helped to make the month a bit warmer than average.

Donate - choose an amount
5101520501002505001000