Image: HERBERT PFARRHOFER (APA)
January and February were almost always too mild, Geosphere Austria (formerly ZAMG) informed on Thursday. The development of many plants therefore started much earlier than in an average year. For example, forsythia and dirndls are already blooming in many places at lower altitudes.
The flowering of the apricot has already begun, as in the Wachau, in the Vienna area and in northern Burgenland around the Leithagebirge. “This means that the development of the plants is currently about a week ahead of the average for the last 30 years (mean 1991-2020, note) and more than two weeks ahead of the average for the period 1961 to 1990, which was not so badly affected by global warming was,” said Helfried Scheifinger of Geosphere.
20 degrees on Saturday
The next few days will also be like spring: Friday and Saturday will bring plenty of sunshine and maximum temperatures between twelve and 17 degrees, with a foehn in the west occasionally up to 20 degrees, the Geosphere predicted.
Phenology defines the seasons via the development status of certain “indicator plants”. Early spring still prevails at higher altitudes, which begins with the flowering of the snowdrops. Dirndl and Sal-Weide are also in bloom. Coltsfoot, Hepatica and Spring Snowflake follow. In the lower elevations, the first spring has begun with the forsythia blossom, and green leaf tips can be seen on horse chestnuts. Sloe and sycamore are in bloom and the larch unfolds its needles. Full spring, the third and last phase of spring, is only just beginning: It is heralded with the beginning of flowering of apple and lilac and ends with the raspberry blossom.
Interested parties can collect their observations of nature with Geosphere’s free “Nature Calendar” app. In doing so, you support research projects, for example studies of how plants and animals react to climate change. Over 118,000 observations have been entered since the app was launched.
Source: Nachrichten
