Weekend rain to dampen much of Germany while snow coats ski resorts

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

March 3,2016; 10:00PM,EST

 

 

The unsettled weather pattern that has dominated Germany so far this year will continue into this weekend, but some changes are on the horizon.
The arrival of a storm will cause rain to push slowly across western Germany on Friday.
After dampening Düsseldorf, Cologne and Saarbrücken starting in the morning, the rain will spread to Stuttgart and Frankfurt in the afternoon.

High temperatures will range from 5-7 C (41-44 F) in the lower elevations on Friday. However, enough cold air will be present in the higher terrain for snow to fall and create slick travel.
Flooding is not expected to be a concern; however, travel may be slower at times on Friday during the heaviest rainfall.
Additional showers will follow across Germany this weekend. Showers are most likely to be most numerous in central and southern areas on Saturday and then northern Germany on Sunday.
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Dry weather will hold from Dresden to Leipzig and Berlin on Friday and Saturday before showers threaten to dampen outdoor plans on Sunday.
Colder air filtering into the backside of the storm will allow snow to persist into this weekend, mainly in the higher elevations.
Snow falling during the first half of the weekend in the Black Forest and Bavarian Alps will total 10-20 cm (4-8 inches). Travel will become treacherous, but the snow will be a boon for ski resorts.
Snow will also return to the central German Uplands on Saturday. While the potential for minor accumulations and slick travel will mainly be in the higher terrain during the day, plunging temperatures at night may allow the snow to coat lower elevations.
Mostly rain will dampen the Rhine River Valley, including Mannheim and northward to Frankfurt.
More communities from Baden-Württemberg to the Ore Mountains will experience a changeover to a bit of snow on Saturday night. Untreated surfaces may become slippery in Stuttgart and Ulm, as well as in the Bohemian Forest. Bridges and overpasses would be the first to turn icy.
While mostly rain is expected, it is not out of the question for wet snowflakes to be seen in Nuremberg and Munich later Saturday night into early Sunday morning.
As the rain showers focus on northern Germany on Sunday, showers may be heavy enough to cause wet snow to fall and leave a slushy coating around Hamburg and Hanover.
The departure of the storm will give way to an area of high pressure early next week, which will bring welcomed dry and seasonable weather to Germany.
The strength of this high pressure will determine if it can remain anchored over Germany, supplying dry weather for the duration of the week, or if a storm from the west brings more unsettled weather at the middle of the week.
Content contributed by AccuWeather Meteorologist Eric Leister.