Temperatures that are extremely high for this time of year are in store for us this weekend. We take a look at the weather situation.
A large storm depression will develop in the nearby Atlantic towards the weekend and will be centered near Ireland on Saturday. Our figure shows a model forecast with the air pressure distribution over Europe. The lines of equal air pressure are shown, i.e. the isobars. In the graphic, their distance is 5 hPa (hectopascals). The air pressure in the center of the storm is 956 hPa. Opposite it is a high pressure area that extends from northern Africa and the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. This reaches an air pressure of 1022 hPa.
In the northern hemisphere, high-pressure areas flow in a clockwise direction and low-pressure areas flow in the opposite direction. This creates a strong southwesterly current between the two pressure formations. It is bringing unusually warm air masses to us from the Iberian Peninsula and, over the course of the weekend, even from northern Africa. This extreme advance of warm air, together with the influence of the anticyclone, may bring rare or unprecedented temperatures in parts of southwest and central Europe in early April. The colors qualitatively show the distribution of the daily maximum values on Saturday. Red and dark red correspond to values of around 25 to 30 degrees.
The 30 degree mark could also be broken in isolated cases in Germany. However, there is a certain degree of uncertainty because over the course of the weekend the advance of warm air will once again transport Saharan dust in our direction. This could cause more cloud formation and dampen the temperature development to some extent. By the way, daily highs of 10 to 15 degrees would be normal at the beginning of April! The 30 degree mark was reached very early in 2007, although only in mid-April, on the 15th of the month in Herten in the Ruhr area.
Thursday, April 4, 2024 (publication date)