The sight triggers wintry feelings in the middle of summer: A locally limited storm covered the city center of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, on Friday with a 30 centimeter high layer of hail. At first glance, the streets look as if they are under a thick blanket of snow.
The technical operations services then actually moved up with snow plows to clear the streets, as a city spokeswoman said. Within minutes, leaves and hail clogged the drainage shafts and water flowed into underground car parks, basements and residential buildings.
Use in August: With the snow plow against hail.
(Photo: Schulz/dpa)
Around 250 members of the professional fire brigade and all departments of the volunteer fire brigade were deployed on around 100 missions. The level of the Echaz rose by 1.50 meters in five minutes and briefly burst its banks in the Betzingen district.
Heat thunderstorms with hail are generally not unusual in summer, they form as the heat increases. When the air warms up in summer, it also contains more moisture – thunderstorms form. So far this is a normal phenomenon. What is changing as a result of climate change: As temperatures rise around the world, such storms will become more frequent – and they can be increasingly violent.