Thunderstorms take a break: Sunday brings weather for excursions

The first week of the holidays was marked by oppressive heat and heavy thunderstorms. On Friday afternoon it happened again: dark storm clouds gathered in the sky over the southern half of the country and spoiled the fun of swimming. In the Kirchdorf district, the sirens blared from 2:20 p.m.

• Also read: Storm front moved across Upper Austria in the afternoon

The Micheldorf fire brigade was called out several times to pump out flooded cellars. Security measures were also taken due to the risk of flooding. Within an hour, more than 33 litres of rain per square metre had fallen in the Traunviertel market town.

Due to the heavy rain, there were more than 20 operations in the region, but in the other parts of the country they were limited this time: In Gosau, a street was under water, and in Gmunden, a building was in danger of being flooded.

Large hailstones

The extent of the damage is likely to be significantly less than on Wednesday, when the state fire brigade command registered more than 324 operations.

The number of calls out in Upper Austria dropped noticeably again on Friday at around 4 p.m. The center of the storm cell was already over the Mostviertel. In Rosenau am Sonntagberg (Amstetten district), hailstones with a diameter of five centimeters were measured. The Lower Austrian fire brigades were much more in demand yesterday, with 270 calls out. Districts in the west of the state were particularly affected by thunderstorms, hail and storms, reported Klaus Stebal from the state fire brigade command. A “hundredth of emergency personnel” were called out, including in the Waldviertel.

• Read more: What to do if you are caught in a thunderstorm outdoors

Around 5 p.m., around 180 fire departments were called out. Stebal spoke of 270 operations, particularly in the districts of Amstetten, Melk and Scheibbs. The storm front brought heavy rain and hail and moved towards the central area. In the market town of Wang (Scheibbs district), roofs were also destroyed by hail, as was the case in Ertl (Amstetten district), according to Wolfgang Zarl from the district fire department command. He spoke of hailstones measuring four to five centimetres in size. There was also heavy rain and massive lightning.

According to the district fire department command, the Amstetten area alarm center (BAZ) has increased its staff due to numerous emergency calls. Kematen, Waidhofen ad Ybbs and Ertl were among those affected by the storm. Emergency services were called out across the entire district. Cellars and buildings – including a bank branch – had to be pumped out, trees removed from streets and blockages in streams cleared.

There were also fire service operations in the Waldviertel due to severe weather. The helpers were deployed in Groß-Siegharts and Dietmanns (Waidhofen ad Thaya district), in Allentsteig and Göpfrtz ad Wild (Zwettl district) and in Heidenreichstein (Gmünd district).

No storms this weekend

The good news: Geosphere meteorologists are not expecting any severe storms this weekend. Instead, the weekend will start relatively cool – with highs between 21 and 25 degrees and clouds that will become increasingly dense over the course of Saturday. “The weather will be much calmer than in recent days, but is still Saturday not yet one hundred percent stable,” says Maximilian Stärz. Rain showers are possible in the south, and they cannot be ruled out in the lowlands either.

At the Sunday the clouds will make way for the sun again – and the conditions will be stable. Only those who want to use Sunday for a hike in the mountains should exercise caution. “In the Alps, isolated light rain showers cannot be completely ruled out later,” was the cautious forecast from Geosphere Austria yesterday.

For the Start of the week The heat is expected to pick up again. Temperatures could rise to 33 degrees again – which also increases the risk of severe weather.