Again numerous fire brigade operations after thunderstorm in Upper Austria

It was around 6:30 p.m. when the sky in the Innviertel darkened threateningly from the west: A line of thunderstorms had brewed in the warm, humid air over Bavaria, which – as predicted by Geosphere Austria (formerly ZAMG) – moved across the state from the early evening hours.

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The experts had warned of heavy rain, hail and gusts of wind. Ultimately, it was mainly the heavy rainfall in the region that caused Upper Austria’s fire brigades to be called out dozens of times within a matter of hours. The first severe weather alarm of the day was received by the state warning center at 6:46 p.m.: A cellar in Gilgenberg am Weilhart (Braunau district) had been flooded. Similar alarms followed quickly: the main task was to clear local flooding and clear traffic routes.

Thunderstorm warning until midnight

The fire service was prepared: the state warning center had been given more staff in advance of the storm in order to be able to handle a higher number of emergency calls. “We have experienced much worse. So far we can say that the storms have fortunately not been as tragic as predicted,” said Martin Burger from the state fire service command (LFK) at around 9 p.m., drawing up a preliminary assessment. By this time, around 50 fire services had been called out to around 60 operations.

There were to be more. “In total, 115 fire departments with 1,700 personnel were deployed on 91 missions,” the LFK announced at around 10:10 p.m. The state warning center assumed that the consequences of the storm would be dealt with until late into the night. The districts of Braunau, Vöcklabruck, Gmunden, Wels-Land and Linz-Land were particularly affected. The Mühlviertel was spared for the time being (as of 10:15 p.m.). The orange severe weather warning from Geosphere Austria was still in effect until midnight.

• Also read: Weather warning: Heavy thunderstorms expected again on Saturday

In Kematen am Innbach (Grieskirchen district), the fire brigade was called to a fire on a farm, and in Haag am Hausruck, the comrades had to go out during the storm because of a burning tree. In both cases, lightning could have been the cause. This could not be confirmed at the moment.

The amount of rain varied considerably from region to region, as current measurement data shows: in Wels-Laahen, for example, around 25 litres of precipitation per square metre fell within a short period of time, while in Krenglbach, around 5 kilometres away, it was only a good 5 litres. Heavy rainfall was also measured in Gmunden (28.3 litres), Ebensee (27.4 litres) and Waldneukirchen (27.2 litres).

Floods near Graz

Heavy thunderstorms with persistent heavy rain caused flooding in the greater Graz-Nord area and in the northern part of the Graz-Umgebung district early on Saturday evening. The rain caused a large mudslide in the vicinity of the A9 just after the Übelbach junction, which diverted the southbound lane. A short time later, the northbound lane was closed due to the persistent heavy rain. Dramatic scenes also took place in Deutschfeistritz (Graz-Umgbeung district), as videos currently circulating on social media show:

It remains unstable

The weather will continue to be unstable on Sunday. The first showers will pass through in the morning, and cumulus clouds will form more frequently during the day. Heavy showers and thunderstorms are possible everywhere. A yellow severe weather warning is in effect again from 12 noon, before a cold front reaches us on Monday.

• The weather forecast for your region: nachrichten.at/weather

This article was last updated at 22:16.