Thunderstorm warning for Upper Austria: hail and gusts of wind up to 80 km/h

2023-06-21 11:02:00

The focus of the thunderstorms will move over Upper Austria in the late afternoon hours, says meteorologist Christian Resch from Geosphere Austria. According to his assessment, the Salzkammergut is particularly affected. “We are currently watching the weather very closely. The thunderstorm cells formed in Bavaria this morning and are moving from Salzburg in the direction of Upper Austria and here in particular the region from the foothills of the Alps to the Pyhrn region. But the problem is: The shifting of the thunderstorm lines or individual supercells can within just a few hours,” says Resch.

Hailstones up to five centimeters

The risk of severe weather is particularly due to the prevailing unstable stratified air. “The ground-level humidity is quite high, resulting in an energetic atmosphere that has the potential for violent storms with heavy rain, hail and squalls,” says Resch. The volunteer fire brigades are already on the alert, as large-scale flooding of buildings as well as green and arable land can occur in the affected areas. Regional impairments in road and rail traffic are also to be expected. “The hailstones can reach a size of up to five centimeters, the gusts of wind reach peaks of around 80 km/h or more,” says meteorologist Resch.

“Of course, we are closely monitoring the weather conditions. I can only advise everyone to secure everything in the garden or on the balcony so that no objects can be thrown through the air. The windows should also remain closed. But the fire brigades are always prepared for emergencies,” says Markus Voglhuber from the Upper Austrian fire brigade command.

Heavy thunderstorms are again to be expected in the course of the day tomorrow, Thursday, with temperatures reaching between 32 and 36 degrees Celsius tomorrow. “Tomorrow it will again depend very much on how the thunderstorms will move. We observe what is happening every two hours, it is difficult to make a clear forecast here due to the unstable air layers,” says Resch.

Cold front over the weekend

An easing of the weather situation is not in sight until the weekend, “since a cold front is moving through our country. We only mean by ‘cold front’ temperatures between 21 and 26 degrees,” says the meteorologist. Summer heat is expected again at the beginning of next week.

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