Weather Headlines from Munich-Schwabing, Germany: Archive

15-01-1997: Munich had a spell of 24 consecutive ice-days up to the 14th January. This was the longest continuous freeze in the city since January-February 1963 when a sequence of 33 days was recorded, and only two other spells of longer duration have occurred this century: Jan-Feb 1956 (30 days), Jan-Feb 1917 (25 days), while the winter of 1940 brought an equally long 24 day spell.

01-02-1997: The exceptionally dry start to the year 1997 in Munich has become a record-breaker. With a rainfall total of just 0.8mm, January 1997 has been by far the driest January since continuous rainfall observations began in the city in 1848. The previous driest January was that of 1873 with 6.8mm, while the driest of this century was 1992 with 7.3mm. Not only that, January 1997 has also been one of the driest calendar months of any kind on record. Only two months in the history were definitely drier (October 1943, 0.0mm and April 1893, 0.3mm), while two other months were similarly dry (October 1920, 0.9mm and October 1951, 1.5mm, albeit in different parts of the city).

13-02-1997: After several weeks of calm, anticyclonic weather, a cold front sweeping in from the west brought a period of severe weather to Munich on 13th February. A squall brought soft hail and lightning, leading to a temperature drop from 10 C to 2 C within 20 minutes, accompanied by windspeeds of up to 36kn (Gale Force 8) (two-minute-mean wind) and gusts in excess of 60kn. The storms caused considerable damage across Bavaria, blowing down electricity pylons and trees and turning over several lorries on motorways.

26-02-1997: A mild westerly regime brought several days of sunny, spring-like weather to the Munich area up to the 25th February. A light Föhn helped temperatures to reach around 16 C on 23rd February. Later, on 25th, a storm-system moving rapidly across northernmost Germany brought outstandingly high temperatures, aided by strong Föhn winds of up to Beaufort Force 6. With a maximum temperature of 18.4 C, it was the warmest February day for 7 years, and the following night, minimum 10.1 C, was also the warmest February night for 7 years. On the same date in 1990, a maximum of 20.7 C was followed by a minimum around 10.8 C.

01-03-1997: With a mean temperature anomaly of over +5 C, February 1997 has been the 4th warmest February of the century in Munich, beaten only by those of 1966, 1990 and 1995. February 1997 was also a very sunny month, with 40% more sunshine than normal.

03-03-1997: On 2nd March, a SW airflow brought yet more very mild air to southern Germany. In Munich, clear skies and Föhn helped the temperature to climb to an outstanding 21.2 C, the warmest weather on record for the first week of March. The only comparable events occurring early in the second March week in recent decades were those of 9th March 1967 (21.3 C) and 8th March 1991 (21.6 C).

30-03-1997: After several weeks of unusually mild weather, the Vernal Equinox brought a typical late-season return to more wintery conditions. A cold front, accompanied by thunder, passing through around midnight on 18th-19th March heralded the onset of a cold, damp northerly spell, with frequent snow and sleet showers. A further thunderstorm and heavy snow squall took place on the afternoon of 21st March: the lightning damaged some of our electronic instruments, putting them out of action for a few days. Another plunge of cold, moist polar maritime air on 28th-29th March brought rain and then heavy sleet and snow showers, one of which was accompanied by thunder (late pm 29th).

20-04-1997: Frequent winds from a northerly direction have bought spells of wintery weather during April, with snow or sleet falling more often than at any time during the whole of the winter. Indeed the mean temperature during the first three weeks of April was considerably lower than during the same period of March. On the 20th April, light snow and sleet fell for several hours in NE winds and the midday temperature was only 0.4 C.

01-05-1997: Winds came frequently from a northerly direction during April so that the month represented a return to winter after the very mild weather of the two preceeding months. Frost, sleet and snow showers were a far more common feature than normal for the season. Remarkably, the mean temperature in April was lower than that of March: a quite rare occurrence. It is only the 8th time that this has happened over the last 216 years in the Munich area. Yet, it is becoming more and more common in recent decades. Before this century only 1896 had April colder than March, whereas this century has seen six examples: 1903, 1938, 1977 and with four in the last decade alone: 1989, 1990, 1994 and 1997. Otherwise, April 1997 was often anticyclonic so that it was both drier and sunnier than normal, and that despite the wet finish which saw heavy downpours during the early hours of the 29th and in the mid-afternoon on the 30th (the latter mixed with hail).

08-05-1997: A remarkable temperature fall was recorded in Munich on 7th May following the passage of a cold front. As an area of low pressure approached from the west, a strong Föhn was set up during the morning, leading to very clear visibilty in brisk southerly winds. By 2pm, the temperature had climbed rapidly to 24.5 C following an early morning minimum of 7.5 C. At the passage of the cold front at around 2.30pm, the station pressure was just 927mb (985mb at sea-level): one of the lowest values ever recorded in May. The wind veered to a westerly, it became overcast and the temperature began to tumble rapidly: to around 12 C by 4pm while it was still dry and, later, to just 5.3 C at just after 8pm, after the onset of post-frontal rainfall. This temperature drop of 19.2 C in just over 6 hours is certainly amongst the greatest ever recorded in such a short space of time in the Munich area.

19-05-1997: A trough moving in from the west in the early evening of 18th May brought a spell of heavy rain to the Munich area, with some thunder, bringing exactly 10 mm of rain and heralding the end of an unusually early hot spell. With four consecutive days of 27 C or higher, it was the longest spell of hot weather in May here since 1953 when a five-day-spell was recorded. Also, the minimum temperature on the 18th of 17.2 C was the highest in May since 27th May 1993 when a value of near 18 C was recorded.

01-06-1997: May 1997 was a very sunny and unusually dry month in Munich. The rainfall total of 20.5mm made it the third driest May in 150 years of records. The only drier Mays were 1870 (16.5mm) and 1992 (8.2mm). It was also a warm month, being the warmest May for 4 years.

04-06-1997: Furthermore, the first 5 months of 1997 have produced only 168mm of rain. This is the 5th driest start to any year during the 150 years of rainfall records in Munich. The only drier starts were in 1870(144mm), 1934(149mm), 1993(155mm) and 1918(166mm). Except for 1870, the summers of these years were generally quite wet, perhaps a sign of things to come! Already the night of 3rd/4th June has produced 23mm of rain, ending the prolonged dry spell.

09-06-1997: A thunderstorm with strong gusts of wind (up to 25kn) crossed over the city in the late evening of the 8th June. Many lightning strikes were observed and a total of 12.1mm of rain fell within an hour. The day before had been noticeably humid following earlier rain and some beautiful cloud formations had been visible in the afternoon and at sunset (Cb with Ac and Ci, perhaps some photos will appear on these pages when I have developed the film!

23-06-1997: Persistent light rainfall through much of the daylight hours of Sunday 22nd June brought around 10 mm of rain. More noteworthy however was the temperature: increasingly cold air flowing in from the NW during the wet spell lead to late-afternoon temperatures of just 9.4 C. The official maximum for the day of 14.8 C was in fact recorded on the following morning.

01-07-1997: June 1997 was a near average month in most respects. It was slightly warmer and cloudier than normal; the first half of the month being markedly better than the second half. It was a very rainy June, with rain falling on more than two-thirds of the days and with 14 consecutive raindays up to the end of the month. The total of 21 raindays is the highest in any calendar month for 6 years. Yet, there were no very wet days and hence the total rainfall for the month was actually slightly below normal, with heavy thunderstorms generally avoiding the city.

07-07-1997: A thunderstorm with a few direct forked lightning strikes passed over Munich city centre on Friday afternoon, 4th July, albeit with little accompanying rain. This heralded a weekend of awful weather, during which it rained non-stop through most of Saturday, yielding almost 28mm: the wettest day of the year so far. The daytime temperatures were almost 10 C below normal for July. Sunday and Monday continued damp, cloudy and cool.

21-07-1997: Following a short spell of warm, sultry weather over the weekend, a heavy thunderstorm passed over Munich between 5pm and 6pm on 14th July, bringing strong gusts of wind (up to 23kn in 2-minute averages) and very heavy rain. 17 mm fell within about half-an-hour at the Schwabing station, with a further 11 mm falling in the late evening in a second storm. A new wave of thunderstorms passed over the city during the early hours of Friday 18th July, depositing about 19mm of rain and heralding a very wet weekend due to a depression situated to the east, resulting in northerly winds damming up moisture against the northern edge of the Alps. Persistent rain fell throughout Saturday, with some showers on Sunday afternoon, yielding a further 32mm. Hence, the 3-day balance: 51.6mm; wet but actually not all that exceptional.

05-08-1997: July 1997 was a poor summer month in Munich. A warm last few days ensured that the temperature anomaly recovered to only 0.5 C below normal. Similarly, little rain fell after the downpours of the third week, so that the final total was only 14% above normal. Nevertheless, it was the wettest July for 4 years. It was also a very cloudy July, with a 17% sunshine deficit - the dullest July since the late 1980s at least. Furthermore, there was a conspicuous lack of any hot spells: the highest maximum of only 26.4 C and the highest minimum of only 16.4 C both being exceptionally low for July.

27-08-1997: A very heavy thunderstorm struck Munich in the early evening of 26th August. The storm developed almost in-situ over Upper Bavaria and lasted for about 90 minutes with further periods of rain later in the evening. Bursts of extremely heavy rain occurred with strong winds, frequent lightning and very dark skies. About 23 mm of rain fell during the main storm, with 32.8 mm in total: the wettest day of 1997 so far.

01-09-1997: August 1997 was a very fine summer month, more than making up for the poor July. It was the sunniest August for 5 years and the air was often much clearer than is usually the case in a central European summer. It was a very warm August, albeit not as warm as 1994 or the record hot August of 1992. What was especially unusual about this August was the complete absence of any hot days (unlike in other parts of Germany), despite having a large total of 18 'summer days' (maximum 25 C or above): the highest total in August for 5 years. Due to the heavy rainstorms in the final week, August was only slightly drier than normal. However, there were only 11 raindays, the lowest total for 6 years.

01-09-1997: Summer 1997 as a whole was slightly warmer than normal (by about +0.6 C) having been saved by the fine August. Rainfall and sunshine were both almost exactly normal.

13-09-1997: The night of the 3rd/4th September produced a minimum of 17.2 C, the warmest September night in Munich since 18th September 1987 when a value of 19.0 C was recorded. Meanwhile, with a maximum of 26.5 C, the 5th was the warmest September day in Munich for 4 years. This value was beaten again a week later, when Föhn conditions set in for the first time since June, lifting temperatures to 27.4 C. The warm weather was very short-lived however. 24 hours later, rain and cold air was spreading down from the NW with temperatures of just 11 C in mid-afternoon.

01-10-1997: September 1997 was an exceptionally fine month in Munich. With only 4 raindays giving a total of 16.5 mm, it was the driest September here since 1969 when 13.2 mm was recorded at Munich-Riem. The only other drier September during the whole century was 1959 in which only 3.7 mm was recorded. Even more extreme was the sunshine total in September 1997. With 304.4 hours of bright or partial sunshine (electronically measured) there was a 40% excess over climate normal, certainly one of the sunniest Septembers in recorded history, although a lack of useful statistics in this area makes an exact statement difficult. Certainly one has to go back as far as September 1959 (147% of normal on a standard sunshine recorder) to find anything remotely equivalent. Only 4 days in the whole month were cloudy for more than half of the day. It was also a warm month, the warmest September for 6 years.

11-10-1997: October 1997, too, started in record fashion. The minimum on the 1st October of 15.5 C was the highest in October for at least 18 years (since measurements at Munich-Schwabing began)! Amazingly, this value was beaten twice again on two consecutive nights just over a week later! On the 9th, the minimum was 15.8 C, while that on the 10th was an incredible 16.7 C, certainly one of the warmest October nights of the century. The 9th, with a maximum of 24.0 C, was about the third warmest October day during the last 10 years.

29-10-1997: Following the very mild start to the month, October became unusually cold. Munich's first snow of the winter fell on the morning of 27th, leading to a brief snowcover in the city's suburbs. The day remained very cold and with a maximum of just 1.8 C it was the coldest October day here for 6 years. The following night had an exceptionally penetrating frost for so early in the winter. The temperature fell below -3 C even in the city centre, while strong breezes continued throughout the night, reaching hourly mean speeds of around 10kn giving reported windchills of -18 C. During the next day, the maximum temperature was only 2.2 C despite nearly 10 hours of sunshine: the wind was now reaching 2-minute mean speeds of 20kn. The next night was less windy and consequently still colder again, the minimum of -4.0 C being the lowest in October in Munich for at least 18 years (and probably more). The last comparable October freeze was in 1973 when Munich-Riem had a minimum of -4.9 C, albeit on the outskirts of the city where it is colder anyway.

02-11-1997: As a whole, October 1997 was close to average. The very mild, wet first half was closely balanced by the very dry and cold second half. Nevertheless, it was the coldest October for 5 years. Despite the sunny end, however, it was a rather cloudy October with a 14% sunshine deficit.

07-11-1997: On 6th November a remarkably strong Föhn caused temperatures in Munich to rise to sensational levels. Following a cold early morning start (4.6 C), the temperature soared rapidly to reach a maximum of 22.6 C, the highest in Munich for at least 29 years. The Bavarian Weather Office city station some 2km north-west of here reported an even higher maximum of 23.7 C, making it quite probably the warmest November day on record. Certainly, one has to go back to 1st November 1968, when Munich-Riem reported a then-record maximum of 22.6 C, to find anything equivalent. Other exceptional November warm spells of almost this level occurred in 1970 and 1994.

01-12-1997: November 1997 was another unusually dry month, already the 4th of the year following January, May and September. The rain total of just 17mm makes it the driest November since at least 1978 (when Munich-Riem recorded 17.6mm). It was also a very sunny month with a 31% excess of sunshine: the sunniest November for at least 10 years, despite frequent cloud towards the end of the month.

13-12-1997: Unusually wet and mild weather, brought by an active low pressure system tracking across northern Germany, heralding a major change in the weather situation to very cold conditions, brought prolonged rainfall to Munich on 11th-12th December. 29.8 mm fell within 24 hours, almost 80% of the normal total for the whole month.

07-01-1998: The Christmas holiday period was the mildest for 14 years in Germany in general. Here, the maximum on 25th of 13.5 C is the highest in December for 3 years and yet, remarkably, was recorded around midnight! January 1998 has started similarly mild and windy. In the early hours of 5th, 2-minute-mean wind speeds peaked at 31 kn, roughly Beaufort Force 7.

07-01-1998: December 1997 received just over twice the normal rainfall and was the wettest December in Munich for 9 years. Nevertheless, this wasn't enough to prevent the year 1997 as a whole from becoming the driest year in Munich for over 20 years. Although the 17% rainfall deficit is not exceptional, one has to go back to at least 1976 or 1972 to find drier years, both of which had spells of severe drought or longer-term rainfall deficits during their summers. 1997 was unusual in that the summer (normally our wettest time of year) wasn't especially dry, whereas several exceptional dry spells occurred at other times of the year. The year 1997 was also sunnier and warmer than normal, the temperature anomaly of +1.1 C being the highest for 3 years, continuing a long period of abnormal warmth which started in the late 1980s. During the last 10 years, only 1996 was colder than normal.

01-02-1998: Thanks to the exceptional first half of the month, January 1998 was milder and sunnier than normal. Strong westerly winds during the first fortnight produceda temperature anomaly of around +7 C with over twice the normal sunshine. However, much colder and very dull weather later in the month substantially reduced the mean anomalies to more usual levels.

01-03-1998: After a very cold start (the 1st was the coldest February day for 7 years!), February soon became exceptionally mild and remarkably sunny for much of the rest of the month. The mean anomaly of +5.1 C, actually the same as last February (1997), places it amongst the mildest 5 Februaries of the century. Nevertheless, very mild Februaries are becoming very common in recent years: those of 1990 and 1995 were even warmer than this year. However, no air frost was recorded at all during the last 19 days of last month. Furthermore, in terms of sunshine, February 1998 vastly exceeds even the remarkable February of 1990. The 206 hours of sunshine measured at the institute (albeit with a very sensitive instrument) may even be the highest February total of the century, and certainly has no parallels since observations have been collected here (since 1980). February 1998 was also very dry, although some spells of rain during the last week prevented any more records from falling.

05-03-1998: A very strong sub-tropical airflow covered Germany on 4th March, bringing severe gales in places and exceptionally high temperatures. Düsseldorf reported 17 C at midnight on 3rd/4th with mean windspeeds of around Force 7. Here in Munich, the maximum of 21.3 C was the warmest day ever recorded here during the first week of March, just beating the 21.2 C recorded on 2nd March last year! The strongest winds coincided exactly with the highest temperatures of the afternoon with 2-minute-mean speeds of 26kn.

24-03-1998: Continuous moderate snow fell through most of the daytime on 23rd March accompanied by temperatures moslty just below -1 C. About 8-10 cms of snow settled in the suburbs, roughly 4 cms in the city centre: the heaviest snowfall of an otherwise unusually mild and largely snow-free winter.

01-04-1998: March 1998 was a fairly normal month, representing a late return to winter after the exceptional mildness of the preceeding months. The middle section of the month was predominantly cold, cloudy and rainy, but very fine and warm weather during the final week helped boost sunshine and temperature means to slightly above normal. There were two days on which the maximum temperature exceeded 20 C (the 4th and 31st). This is the first time since 1968 that a March has produced two 20-C-plus days in separate warm spells!

14-04-1998: After a fair start, the Easter holiday period of 1998 brought atrocious weather. Easter Sunday was mainly cloudy and cold, with hail and sleet showers. On the evening of Easter Monday, heavy snow fell for a few hours, dumping 15 cms: the heaviest snowfall of the winter and the heaviest in April for at least 12 years. The next day, however, the snowcover melted rapidly.

01-05-1998: In spite of a mid-month cold spell which delivered the heaviest snowfall of the winter (15 cms), April 1998 was the mildest April here for 5 years. In particular, the lowest daily maximum (6.4 C on 12th) was the highest in any April since at least the mid 1980s. It was an unsettled month, with the highest number of raindays for 7 years. However, much of this rain was light, so that the month's total was still below normal.

15-06-1998: The first half of June 1998 has provided some extremely contrasting weather. A short heatwave around 5th-7th brought a maximum of 32.3 C for the 6th: the earliest 32C+ day recorded in the city for at least 60 years. (It was also the highest June temperature as a whole since 14th June 1980 when 33.2 C was recorded at this station, just days after its installation, and 34.5 C was registered at Munich-Riem.) Just a few days later, a classic northerly Stau situation brought very low temperatures and continuous rain giving about 45mm in some 36 hours. The maximum temperature on the 12th was just 11.1 C: only 6 June days have been colder during the last 10 years. The minimum temperature on the night of 13th/14th June was also the lowest recorded during the middle third of any June for 7 years. As a result, the dramatic temperature drop of -25.8 C within a week is the greatest such sub-7-day drop at any time of year for at least 13 years. During this time the -25C drop barrier has only been exceeded once: -25.5 (21.6 to -3.9 C) in April 1986. TABLE of greatest weekly temperature drops.

22-06-1998: The minimum temperature on the night of 21st-22nd June was 21.8 C - one of the warmest June nights on record in Munich. This was caused by the rare combination of a very warm sub-tropical airmass coupled with a steady westerly wind which pushed almost parallel, but also slightly against, the main axis of the Alps. This led to a funnelling effect, whereby the airflow is accelerated across the plains immediately north of the Alps, inducing a forced sinking of the airmass and hence an additional adiabatic warming effect, simultaneously preventing the usual nighttime cooled boundary layer from forming. The same type of effect also occurred earlier in the year to produce the record daytime warmth on 4th March.

01-07-1998: In spite of being rather unsettled with frequent rainfall, including a spell of prolonged cold damm-effect rain, June 1998 was the warmest June in Munich for at least 22 years. The Junes of 1976 and 1970 were similarly warm (anomalies of +1.5 C and +1.7 C respectively, although exact comparison is difficult), while one must go back to the exceptionally hot June of 1950 (anomaly +3.5 C) to find one which was definitely warmer than this year.

09-07-1998: An unusually cold outbreak of polar maritime air from the NW brought near record low July temperatures to the city of Munich on the 8th July. A heavy shower at around 11am local time helped temperatures plummet to just 8.0 C. Earlier, during the night, another shower had brought an even lower value of just 7.5 C. These are the lowest readings in July at the station since 3rd July 1984 when a temperature of 7.4 C was reached at 10.12 am under very similar circumstances. Curiously the coldest conditions in mid-summer here almost always occur during showers in polar maritime airmasses, rather than during cold clear nights as during the rest of the year.

22-07-1998: A short but very intense heatwave brought outstandingly high temperatures to Munich on 20th-21st July 1998. On 20th, a maximum of 33.6 C was recorded, the highest for 3 years and the highest during the second dekad of July (11th-20th) since 1984. At the DWD-Station on the Dachauerstrasse a maximum of 34.4 C was registered. That station is in a more open situation and can receive more localised heating from the tarred street surfaces than we can (due to greater shade levels from local buildings). The following night minimum of 21.0 C was also the highest in July for 3 years. An even higher maximum was anticipated on 21st, but the necessary Föhn effect disappeared during the morning because the large-scale circulation became too weak to maintain it. Nevertheless, the temperature still reached 32.6 C, which is probably one of the highest ever temperatures recorded in Munich without Föhn support. Thunderstorms descended on the city during the evening with strong wind gusts and considerable lightning.

01-08-1998: July 1998 was an unsettled month: the cloudiest and the rainiest (in terms of number of raindays) July of the decade. Nevertheless, it was slightly warmer than normal, thanks especially to a short heatwave which brought the highest temperatures seen at the station for 3 years.

13-08-1998: The first half of August has produced much dry and sunny weather, culminating in an intense heatwave between 8th and 12th. On 11th, the maximum of 33.6 C equalled the value set during the short July heatwave and came close to beating this station's August record of 34.1 C set in 1992. The maximum of 33.8 C on the 12th came even closer. Meanwhile, the night minimum on the 11th/12th, 20.9 C, was also just 0.3 C short of the August record, being the highest in August since 1994. Other stations nearby recorded even higher maxima on 12th. Values included 34.8 C at Munich-Dachauerstrasse (DWD) and a phenominal 37.0 C at the military airfield near Fürstenfeldbrück, some 15km west of the city. In both cases, extra heating from tarmac surfaces exposed to the sun probably increased the local maxima.

25-08-1998: Very strong winds and heavy showers brought an unusually early taste of Autumn to Munich on 24th August. As a deep low tracked (minimum pressure around 988mb) across northern Germany, mean windspeeds here rose to a peak of 24kn in mid-morning (rare in August) before a cold front arrived which lead to a temperature drop of more than 6 degC within an hour to just 12.5 degC in mid-afternoon.

17-09-1998: An unusually strong cyclonic weather regime over central Europe brought several days of cold, windy and damp weather to Munich around the middle of September. Prolonged rainfall on 12th yielded a daily total of 24mm, the highest in September for 8 years. Strong winds were also frequent on several days with mean windspeeds peaking at 22kn on 15th. Daytime temperatures barely exceeded 10 C on occasion and a heavy shower on the evening of 16th was accompanied by some hail.

01-10-1998: September was an unsettled, cyclonic month with frequent rainfall, especially during the first half of the month. As a result, it was the wettest September for 8 years, despite the largely dry weather later on. It was also somewhat cloudier and colder than normal, but nowhere near as bad as in 1996.

01-11-1998: Gales and torrential rain caused widespread havoc throughout Germany on 28th October. In Munich, winds peaked during the evening, causing considerable minor damage. Munich-Airport recorded a gust of 113 km/h (61 kn), while Garching recorded a peak 1-minute-mean wind speed of 57 kn at 50m above the ground (Force 11). Note that this was a warm-sector storm, in which the airmass is relatively stably stratified, so that the wind speed increases sharply with height. Here in the city centre, hourly mean speeds peaked at 23 kn, while the highest 2-minute-mean was 30 kn (we have no gust recorder). This is strong, but there have been gales with higher values here during the last decade, notably those of 9th Dec 1993 (44 kn 2-min peak) and 26th-27th Feb 1990, when our equipement broke down after the hourly mean at 10m had exceeded 40kn and a 2-min-mean had reached 51kn! Even at 2m above the ground, Severe Gale Force 9 was recorded on that day.

Equally exceptional was the temperature which climbed from just 5.3 C around midday on 27th to a peak of 18.2 C in the late evening of 28th, with clear skies in the early evening. The Alps were very clearly visible through the day too: a classic case of Föhn-Sturm. At 0200 CET, it was still 18.1 C, but then fell steadily during the rain spell to just 3.3 C at 1700 CET, and some sleet was noted, mixed within the rain. Indeed, on the evening of 30th a heavy squall brought hail showers followed by about 30 minutes of snowfall, enough to cover cars and grassy surfaces for a while.

Heavy persistent rain arrived after midnight and continuing until the late afternoon of 29th. The final total of 46.1 mm made it the the wettest October day in Munich for at least 50 years, and indeed it was the wettest day in any month since 3rd June 1992 (46.8 mm). The month as a whole was the wettest October since 1981, and the dullest since 1993.

30-11-1998: A spell of northerly and then easterly winds brought an exceptionally early spell of severe cold to Munich, and indeed to much of central and eastern Europe, during the second half of November. Here in the city, snow fell on 6 days leaving a thin snow cover for nearly two weeks, while 6 ice days in a row were recorded. The cold was especially severe around the weekend of 21st-22nd November. The maximum of -4.4 C on 21st was the lowest in November for 5 years, while the minimum of -9.3 C on 22nd is the lowest on record at this station in November, beating the previous record of -8.6 C set in 1988.

01-12-1998: As a whole, November was the coldest for 5 years and, with more than twice the normal rainfall, it was the wettest since 1992.

10-12-1998: A northerly spell starting around 4th December brought heavy snowfalls to much of Germany, especially to parts of Bavaria. In Munich, snow fell on 5 consecutive days resulting in a 15-20 cm snow cover in the city: one of the greatest snowfalls here during the otherwise snow-poor 1990s. Severe frosts followed on the 8th-9th December. While the city heat-island effect prevented the minimum here from falling below -8 C, minima near -15 C were recorded at Garching and at Munich Airport. Other extremes further afield were a 30 cm snowcover at Ulm on the 10th and a minimum of -22.9 C at Oberstdorf in the Allgaeuer Alps early on the 9th. Milder air arrived during the 10th, accompanied by further prolonged snowfalls. A slight thaw set in in the city, but temperatures continued below freezing in the rural surroundings. Severe disruptions to flights in and out of Munich Airport occurred.

04-01-1999: The Christmas and New Year period 1998-99 brought plenty of fine, mild weather to Munich and especially the Bavarian Alps. The outstanding maximum of 14.3 C on the 27th was the highest in December for 5 years. Around the turn of the year a strong and persistent inversion resulted in a cold surface layer with temperatures near or below freezing on the plains, while much milder conditions could be found on hills, even as little as 200m higher up. In the Alps, strong Föhn winds were blowing.

04-01-1999: As a whole, it was the sunniest December of the decade. Meanwhile, the whole year 1998 was characterised as mild and sunny, yet having more raindays than any other year this decade, despite the total rainfall being almost exactly normal.

09-01-1999: A run of exceptionally mild SW winds has brought outstandingly high temperatures to many parts of Europe during the first week of January. In Munich, 13 C was exceeded on 3 consecutive days for only the second time in the station's 20 year history in January. Meanwhile, the maximum of 14.7 C on 6th is the highest January reading for 5 years. As the mild spell came to an end on the 7th-8th, a cold front brought prolonged rainfall overnight. The 12.9mm of rain attributable to the 8th was in fact the largest January one day total for at least 10 years.

25-01-1999: Around the third week of January, a remarkable quasi-stable weather regime, with high pressure close by to the south and very mild air streaming over northern Germany, brought an outstanding sequence of ten consecutive days with almost unbroken sunshine in Munich. However, the closeness of the high pressure centre resulted in very light winds and, hence, to strong radiation cooling at night, despite the warmth of the airmasses at higher levels. This 'inversion weather' lead typically to a persistent fog layer in the Danube valley, with temperatures mainly just below freezing, while further south, the hills in the Fore-Alpine regions were enjoying very mild weather and glorious sunshine. The boundary between fog and sun cut sharply through the north of Munich on several days, so that Garching, for example, had little sunshine during this period, while the centre and south of the city enjoyed the aforementioned sunshine excesses. By the 24th January, Munich-Schwabing had had nearly twice as much sunshine during the month as normal for the time of year.

01-02-1999: A depression moving down across Germany from the NW brought considerable sleet and snow to much of southern Germany on 28th. In Munich the temperatures were just above freezing so that much of this precipitation melted on the ground. But with much colder air arriving from the north-east, a light cover of some 3 cms was eventually produced during the early hours of the 29th. The weekend of 30th-31st brought the coldest weather of the winter so far with maxima below -5 C on both days and further light snowfalls. Close to the Alps much heavier snowfalls occurred, thanks to the Stau-effect against the mountains. Near Füssen where I was staying, three days of snowfall had eventually produced a 60cm cover, some 10 times the total fall in Munich. The morning of the 1st February saw the lowest temperatures: -18 C at Munich-Airport, -16 C in Garching and even here in the city centre -11.2 C was reached.

01-02-1999: In spite of the cold last few days, January was the mildest for 5 years and with a sunshine excess of 76% above climate normal, it was the sunniest January of the decade, and certainly one of the sunniest of the century, although the latter is hard to compare.

08-02-1999: A sharp cold front moving down from the north-west, in association with a very deep depression over Scandinavia, brought an 90-minute snowstorm over Munich starting around 5.45pm on Friday evening, 5th February. Accompanied by strong winds, the blowing snow rapidly deposited some 6-7 cms of snow on the ground and even larger roads were temporarily covered, resulting in many road accidents. Further snow fell on the Saturday, although a slight thaw over the weekend has reduced snow depths in the city to around 5 cms on undisturbed surfaces.

12-02-1999: A small depression moving in from France on 9th February produced several hours of continuous snowfall, increasing snowdepths in the city to around 15cms. With a midday temperature of -4 C, it was also cold enough for this snow to remain frozen even on larger main roads, resulting in considerable disruption to traffic. This was the heaviest and most penetrating snowfall in Munich for at least 5 years. The following days remained very cold, with a severe night frost on the 11th-12th. The minimum in the city centre was -11.2 C, the same as the value recorded 11 days earlier.

18-02-1999: A cold front moving down from the north brought a very severe hour-long snowstorm to Munich around midday on 17th February. The storm also affected much of Bavaria during its progression. It was accompanied by thunder, lightning and strong winds. About 8cms of new snow was deposited in the city, while the temperature dropped some 5 C within a matter of minutes after the onset of the storm. Traffic chaos ensued and many road accidents occured. Winds were strongest just before the arrival of the storm: 2-min-mean windspeeds (at 10m height) peaked at 24kn here.

24-02-1999: Somewhat milder, but very rainy weather followed, making for a miserable weekend around 19th-21st. Snowmelt and some 35mm of rain in 4 days has resulted in considerable amounts of standing water, with floods elsewhere and extreme snow depths in the northern Alps. A further cold front with thunder, lightning and heavy snowfall crossed Munich around 8am on Monday 22nd. One lightning bolt struck within 200 yards of my flat, judging by the minimal sound delay. Yet another spell of heavy snowfall in the late afternoon of 23rd February led to more traffic chaos with black ice forming on many roads.

01-03-1999: February 1999 was an awful month in Munich: the wettest February for 9 years, the cloudiest of the decade and the coldest for 3 years. Snow fell on around half of all the days making it certainly the snowiest calendar month of the decade. The temperature rose above 6 C only on the last 3 days of the month.

26-03-1999: Only 2 days after sleet fell on a cold, wet morning, a classic Föhn situation brought beautiful spring-conditions to Munich on 25th March. Largely clear skies and blustery southerly winds helped lift temperatures to 20.0 C; making this the third March in a row during which the 20 C mark has been reached. This feat was last achieved in 1989-91, yet 20 C was not reached in any other intervening March in the years 1983-88 or 1992-96.

08-04-1999: Frequent heavy showers through the afternoon of Easter Sunday, 4th April, brought a rainfall total of 15.3mm for the day, ending a spell of largely dry weather that had set in during the last week of March. This was the wettest April day in Munich since 12th April 1994, when 20.7mm fell during a 2-day Alpenstau.
Back to 1999, just three days later, an active cold front passing on 7th April gave us nearly the same amount again, this time 14.8 mm.

17-04-1999: Postfrontal precipitation bands gave Munich an unpleasant awakening on the morning of 16th April: namely a 2 cm snowcover. Further snow and sleet fell during the day whose maximum temperature was just 2.0 C, the coldest April day here for 3 years. The 16.7mm of equivalent rainfall, already the third very wet day of the month, was the highest daily rainfall total in April since 1994.

25-04-1999: The first summer thunderstorm of the season passed just to the south of Munich on the evening of Friday 23rd April following a mild, sunny day. No rain reached the city centre however. The following evening did bring heavy showers to the city, but without thunder in this case.

01-05-1999: April 1999 was a mild and rather wet month: the wettest for 5 years and had the highest number of raindays in any April since 1990.

13-05-1999: A quasi-stationary zonal frontal band brought prolonged spells of rain to the Munich area on 11th-12th May, accompanied by unusually mild temperatures (for such a rainfall event). The 2-day 45mm rain-total is the highest in May for 8 years.

24-05-1999: Just 36 hours after a Föhn airflow brought the first temperature reading of over 25 C of the summer to Munich (19th May), an exceptionally severe spell of prolonged rainfall set in. A shallow area of low pressure just to the east, combined with unusually moist airmasses, caused a strong Stau-effect rainfall in southern Germany. On the 21st May alone, 72.2mm of rain fell. This is the wettest day at any time of year in Munich since 1st August 1991 (83.2mm) and seems to have been the wettest day in May since a similar type of event dumped an incredible 240mm in 2 days at the end of May 1940 (90mm on 30th May and 151mm on 31st May at Munich-Sternwarte, probably the greatest Stau-rainfall event of the century here). The total rainfall of the 20th-22nd May 1999 event was 93.9mm, falling in about 60 hours.

31-05-1999: Troughs spanning the western seaboard of Europe helped push very warm mediterranean air northwards into Germany, bringing a very warm and sunny end to the month. In Munich, the maximum of 29.1 C on 30th May was the highest May temperature here for 6 years, while the following night also brought the highest May minimum temperature, 17.4 C, for 6 years.

01-06-1999: May 1999 was a warm and exceptionally wet month: the warmest since 1993 and the wettest on record at this station. Comparing with other local stations, one has to go back to at least 1971, if not 1964, to find a May that was definitely wetter. Although much of the month was rather cloudy, the very sunny final week helped the month exactly reach its expected sunshine total.

03-06-1999: A band of severe thunderstorms crossed Germany from west to east on the evening of 2nd June to end the heatwave. In Munich, heavy rain and much lightning was observed. During the early phase of the storms, winds gusting to gale-force or above caused widespread damage, 2-minute-mean windspeeds peaking at 24kn. The temperature dropped some 10 degC within half-an-hour.

01-07-1999: June 1999 was a mixed month, in most respects very close to a climate normal. Hot weather during the first few days was balanced by cool weather later in the month. Rainfall was slightly below normal, the first drier than normal month of 1999, and that by only a mere 14%.

12-07-1999: A short but intense heatwave brought sweltering conditions to Munich during the first week of July. Maxima exceeded 30 C on 3 days in a row, although the highest reading here, 32.7 C, did not beat those recorded during the two short heatwaves of July and August 1998. The heatwave was followed by much cooler, very cloudy weather, with frequent rainfall. This was caused by a near-stationary trough over south-central Europe, held in place by a high-pressure-bridge further north, while the northern half of Germany, and neighbouring regions, are basking in very warm sunshine and clear skies. In the 4 days starting 8th July, Munich had little more than 2 hours of bright or partial sunshine.

20-07-1999: Severe thunderstorms crossed the southern half of Munich on the early evening of 19th July, following a hot and sultry day, bringing lightning, strong gusts and torrential downpours. The storms were even more severe to the south of Munich where flash floods occurred in some areas. At Wolfratshausen, 74mm of rain fell within an hour. The storms did not affect northern areas of the city. Here, only brief rain showers were recorded.

02-08-1999: July 1999 was predominantly a dry and sunny month. Very cloudy and rainy weather around the second week were more than compensated for by the very hot and sunny start to the month and the very sunny and bone dry final week. As a whole, it was the driest July for 7 years. Although it has been a very warm July in central and northern Germany (Berlin had its fourth warmest of the century), the mean temperature here was exactly normal. Nevertheless, it was the warmest July for 4 years; the previous three being all colder than normal.

12-08-1999: Conditions for observing the total eclipse of the sun, whose path of totality crossed over Munich around 10:38 UTC on 11th August, were far from ideal. Although the feared frontal trough was still further west at that time (ruining any hopes of seeing the corona directly for watchers in Stuttgart), widespread development of shower clouds in the very unstable airmasses ahead of this system (a polar maritime airmass had already been introduced the previous day) led to typically about 7 oktas cloud cover in the Munich area, likening attempts to find the best place for observing the totality phase to a lottery. As it turned out, the southern half of the city had somehwat more fortune, with broken cloud at totality. The city centre saw the start of totality but was then soaked in a heavy rain shower. The largest congregation, at the Olympiapark, were disappointed by clouds blocking the sun during the critical moments. I travelled to a small hill out to the east of the city, saw various stages of partial eclipse from time to time and had to wait in hope as a heavy shower descended some 20 minutes before totality. Luckily, a brief break in the clouds allowed me to see the corona for some ten seconds. Equally spectacular was the local darkness with the red-orange coloured shower clouds in the distance on the horizon. During totality, nature seemed to stand still: birds stopped singing and the wind died down to an almost complete calm.

01-09-1999: August 1999 was a typical, if unspectacular, late summer month in Munich. Spells of warm and sunny weather early and later in the month were balanced by rather cloudy and cool weather in the middle fortnight. As a whole the month was slightly cloudier and cooler than normal. There was less thunder activity than average so that the month had a small (20%) rainfall deficit. The summer as a whole (JJA) was the driest for 5 years. The rainfall total of 265mm just beats those of other recent dry summers, 1996 (268mm) and 1998 (281mm), while 1994 (237mm) was significantly drier. On the other hand, summers can be very wet here, as in 1995 (435mm) and 1993 (455mm).

01-09-1999: September 1999 was an exceptionally warm month. With a temperature anomaly of +3.4 C, mean 18.1 C, it was the warmest September on record at this station, just beating 1987. Indeed, it was one of warmest Septembers during the last 200 years. This century only 1961 may have been warmer. It was a dry month, although a wet final week brought the total rainfall up to 75% of normal.

24-11-1999: October 1999 was a largely dry month with temperatures near to or just above normal. A mid-month cold spell brought the Autumn's first frosts (-1.0 C here on the 18th), but the month ended very mild, with close to 20 C on 30th. After a fine start to November (up to 20.8 C and clear skies on 1st-2nd), very cloudy and increasingly cold weather has dominated. No sunshine at all was recorded during the 10 day spell ending 16th November. Very cold winter weather then set in. 21st November saw a minimum close to -8 C (on the outskirts of the city) followed by a day maximum of about -4 C. Very heavy snow fell on the 22nd-23rd to a depth of 30cm, the heaviest snowfall in Munich since March 1988.

03-01-2000: A short pre-Christmas cold spell brought a max. of -4.3 C on 22nd and a minimum of -10.5 C the following night. The violent storms of 26th reached Munich in the early afternoon but were not as severe here as further west, especially France. An hourly mean windspeed of 28kn and a peak two-minute mean speed of 38kn were recorded on our roof at 30m height. These readings are amongst the highest of the decade, but are not as high as during the record storms of late February 1990.

01-02-2000: January 2000 was predominantly dry, anticyclonic and rather cold, albeit not as extreme as in January 1997. The month was unexceptional, apart from a short but severe cold spell from 23rd to 27th. A cold front introduced very cold air from the north-east on the Sunday evening 23rd, such that the temperature dropped quickly from 0 C at 16h to -8 C by midnight. The weather which followed was the coldest since the Christmas and New Year period 1996-97, notable being maxima below -7 C two days in a row, despite unbroken sunshine, and the minimum of -14.4 C on 26th. The month ended windy and much milder.

01-03-2000: February 2000 was an unsettled month dominated by mild westerly winds, with a complete absence of significant cold weather and little snowfall. Although not quite as mild as in 1995, 1997 or 1998, February was nearly 4 C warmer than normal, continuing a sequence of extreme late-winter-mildness events since the early 1990s. The maximum temperature on the sunny 28th of 18.7 C, which would be more appropriate for May, was the highest in February for 10 years. Rainfall was estimated to be somewhat above normal, but not unusually so.

01-04-2000: March 2000 was another mild month with a complete absence of significant cold spells. The most predominant feature of the month was its wetness, rainfall estimated to be around twice the climate normal. Unusually, there were two spells of prolonged Stau-effect rainfall, one in mid-month, and one towards the end. It was thus the wettest March since at least 1992. Munich-Stadt (Official DWD Station, Dachauerstrasse) reports rainfall 188% and sunshine 87% of normal.

01-05-2000: April 2000 was a very mild month, the mean temperature of 11.2 degC was 2.5 degC above normal making it equal with 1993 as the joint warmest Aprils over the last 30 years. One would have to go back to at least 1966 or even 1961 to find a warmer April. Although some short cold snaps occurred early in the month, April will be remembered for the outstanding summerlike warmth during the last 10 days, during which 26.9 degC was reached on 28th with the aid of a Föhn effect, the warmest April day for 4 years. Apart from prolonged rainfall around the 5th, the month was predominantly dry while sunshine was above normal, thanks to the fine weather later in the month. Munich-Stadt (DWD) reports rainfall 47% and sunshine anomaly 125% of normal.

01-06-2000: The first half of May 2000 was exceptionally warm and mostly sunny. Up to the 17th, the temperature anomaly was +5.0 C. However, the rest of the month was rather cool and unsettled so that the final anomaly was only +2.2 degC, making it the warmest May since only 1993. Some severe thunderstorms occurred earlier in the month which included a severe hailstorm west of the city on the 3rd and an exceptional downpour on the evening of the 17th, yielding 97.9mm at Munich-Stadt, of which 68mm fell within an hour. this was probably the heaviest one-day fall in the city since mid-July 1989 when thunderstorms deposited around 140mm on the city centre. As a result of the many thundery outbreaks, May 2000 was extremely wet with 217mm (197%) falling at Munich-Stadt, making it amongst the wettest Mays on record.

23-06-2000: The Spring of 2000 as a whole (MAM) has had an almost unprecedented warmth with a mean temperature anomaly of nearly 2 degC above normal. Although an exact comparison with earlier records is difficult (due to the increasing urbanisation), it appears to have been the warmest Spring for at least 100 years and possibly since the year 1811, which incidentally was followed by a very warm summer. June has started very warm. 30.0 degC was reached as maximum with Föhn support in the late morning of the 11th June, while the mean temperature anomaly was +4.2 degC up to the 12th. Another heatwave around 20th-22nd June, the longest days of the year, brought 3 consecutive maxima above 30 C, the highest being 31.4 C: actually modest in comparison with the 37 C and more recorded in parts of eastern Germany at this time.

01-07-2000: Despite some cooler weather towards the end of the month, June 2000 was an exceptionally warm, very dry and sunny month. The mean temperature of 18.9 C would be more typical for July. The mean temperature anomaly of +2.8 C makes it the third month in a row with an anomaly exceeding +2 C. It appears to have been the warmest June for exactly 50 years, the anomaly in June 1950 being about +3.5 C. June 2000 was the driest June since 1996 and one of the sunniest on record with an excess of sunshine of almost 50%. Historical statistics tend to show that a very warm Spring and early Summer is often followed by much cooler, unsettled and rainy weather in July and August. Certainly it seems unlikely that the current prolonged warmth could continue much longer.

01-08-2000: After a warm start, July has indeed turned much colder and unsettled. The prolonged cold spell starting in the second week brought 10 consecutive days with maxima below 20 C: the longest such spell in any July for at least 20 years. On two days in a row, the temperature failed to reach even 14 C, while on 4 nights the minima were below 10 C, the highest July total since 1996 (5 nights). Up to the 18th July, the mean temperature anomaly was -2.5 C. Despite some near normal temperatures later in the month, July 2000 as a whole was the coldest July here since 1980 with a final anomaly of -2.1 C. The drop in mean temperature from June to July of -1.7 C is a rare event and is the greatest for 70 years (in 1930 the drop was -2.2 C at Munich-Riem). Rainfall was above normal at about 120% of average, but especially notable was the 25 days with measureable rainfall: probably one of the highest July totals on record. It was alos a cloudy month with only 80% of normal sunshine, the dullest July for more than a decade.

01-09-2000: In surprising contrast to the miserable July, August 2000 was a mostly warm and sunny month. Indeed, with a mean temperature of 20.1 degC, it was the warmest August since 1994 and the sunniest since 1997. Although it was a largely dry month, exceptionally heavy rainstorms on the morning of 6th (68mm, of which 58mm fell in 6 hours) and again on the evening of 31st (around 40mm), plus a number of other thundery downpours, ensured that August's rain total was well above normal (136%), making it the wettest August for more than 10 years.

01-10-2000: September 2000 was a still wetter month, although, as in August, most of the rain total fell on just a few very wet days. In particular, prolonged rainfall on 20th-21st accounted for 66mm in 24 hours resulting in a month's total of 151mm (176%) recorded at Munich-Stadt. It was thus the wettest September since 1984. September was slightly cloudier than normal, yet thanks also to a warm and sunny end, it was slightly warmer than normal overall.

01-11-2000: October 2000 was a generally mild month, the warmest October for 5 years in fact. The month started exceptionally cloudy and rather cold and wet, however. There was no sun whatsoever during the first week, while persistent rain fell on 6th-7th with sleet recorded above about 700m altitude to the south of the city. A strong Föhn effect briefly on the 15th helped the temperature soar to 24.7 C, the highest in October for 11 years. October was a very cloudy month with less than half the normal sunshine hours, making it the cloudiest since 1974 in all probability. Rainfall was also significantly above normal (175%), albeit not as wet as October 1998.

01-12-2000: November 2000 was a very mild month, the warmest since 1994, dominated by winds from the south-westerly quarter. As a result, Munich often lay protected by the Alps, such that rainfall was below normal in spite of very cyclonic conditions further north-westwards and sunshine was well above normal. There was a complete absense of cold weather: the lowest maximum of 4.5 C was the highest on record for the station in November.

04-01-2001: December 2000 was a largely mild and dry month, with frequent prolonged spells of Föhn, especially during the first half of the month which had a temperature anomaly of around +5 C. The Maximum on the 12th of 15.8 C was the highest in December since 1993. The month was also almost snowless, apart from a light covering during the last few days. As a whole, it was the mildest December since 1994.
The Year 2000 was an exceptionally warm year, with a mean anomaly of +1.3 C, the highest since the record year of 1994. There was also an 8% surplus of sunshine, possibly the sunniest year since 1990 . Yet, the year was very wet, with 120% of normal rainfall. At the DWD-station, Muenchen-Stadt, the total of 1189mm was the highest recorded at Munich's official station (formerly at Munich-Riem) since 1944.

01-02-2001: January 2001 was a fairly typical winter month, with alternating mild and cold spells, but no real extremes. The first week was mild and was following by a very wet weekend with persistent rain, sleet and eventually snow on 6th-8th. This rainfall ensured that the month's total was slightly above normal, even though little precipitation fell afterwards. Mid-month was settled and frosty, milder weather returned later such that the mean temperature for the month was slightly above normal.. Sunshine was well above normal at around 135%, the third very sunny month in a row.

01-04-2001: After a mild, but otherwise near normal February, March 2001 was a highly unsettled, cyclonic month with frequent rain. With more than twice the normal rainfall, it was the wettest March since 1988 and the dullest since even longer, with around 65% of normal sunshine only. Nevertheless, it was yet another mild month, the mildest March for 4 years. However, the northernmost third of Germany had a cold and snowy March, as the boundary between cold and warm airmasses frequently lay across the country.

02-05-2001: April 2001 was a rather cold and frequently cloudy month. The middle of the month was especially wintery (as is common in April here) with bitter cold and frequent snow showers. A thin snow cover occurred as late as the weekend of 21-22 April with day maxima near just 3 C, helping to make it the coldest April for 4 years. Yet, an exceptional turnaround at the end of the month, with Föhn, helped bring the first summer day on the 30th with a maximum of 25.9 C. The average date for the first summer day of the year in Munich (maximum 25 C or higher) is 21st May. During the last 20 years, this statistic has ranged from 22nd April (1996 and 2000) to 30th June (1988).

01-06-2001: May 2001 was a very sunny and remarkably warm month. 5 days early and late in the month had maxima above 27 C, while the mean temperature of 16.6 C (+2.9 C) was the highest on record here, and quite probably the warmest May since 1917 in Munich! There were exceptionally warm nights late in the month with a new record minimum for May of 18.1 C on the 29th, while the temperature remained continually above 15 C for 5 nights in a row, a rare occurence in May. Sunshine was 40% above normal, making this the sunniest May since 1992. Rainfall was above normal due to two exceptionally severe thunderstorms: on 5th (33.3mm with hailstorms in the south of the city) and 31st (32.1mm during a chain of at least 8 thunderstorms which crossed the city one after the other during the afternoon in which severe hailstorms were also reported)

01-07-2001: June 2001 was a month of very contrasting halves. The first half (up to 19th in fact) was exceptionally wet and very cool, while the last 12 days were largely dry and much warmer. 183 mm of rain fell during the first 19 days of the month, but only 8 mm during the remaining 12 days, such that the 200 mm threshold wasn't reached. Nevertheless, it was the wettest June in the Munich area since 1979. The mean temperature was only slightly below normal, but this was the first cooler than normal June since 1995. Indeed, June was colder than May: the first such occurrence since 1969, while the drop in mean temperature of -0.8 degC between May and June was the highest since 1923 when Munich suffered its coldest June on record.

01-08-2001: July 2001 was a very dry and sunny month and was the warmest July here for 6 years, although the mean temperature was only slightly above normal. The final two weeks of the month were especially fine with almost unbroken sunshine, very little rain and, follwing rather cold weather mid-month, increasingly high temperatures which peaked at 31.9 C on 31st. The following night had a minimum of 20.7 C, the warmest night here for 3 years (strictly speaking counts to 1st August). July will however chiefly be remembered for the 2 very severe thunderstorms which crossed Munich. The first on 7th July was a severe squall line which arrived very rapidly from the west with rain, hail and storm-force gusts, causing considerable damage and capsizing some yachts sailing on local lakes resulting in some loss of life. The second on 15th was far more localised and crossed the city centre bringing again hail and storm-force gusts, blowing down some trees and causing more damage.

01-09-2001: August 2001 was a warm and sunny month, but also quite wet due to several downpours, especially early in the month. The late July heatwave came to an end on 3rd August with a night minimum of 21.9 C, the highest on record for August for at least 20 years. In the late afternoon, exceptionally heavy torrential rainstorms with strong winds swept across the city, causing some damage. It was the warmest August for 7 years and the sunniest for 4 years. Summer 2001 as a whole was the sunniest summer for at least 12 years.

01-10-2001: September 2001 was a very poor month, being exceptionally cloudy, wet and very cool. The mean temperature of 12.3 C was 2.4 C below normal, the coldest September for 5 years, while the temperature exceeded 20 C on only two days. Around 153mm of rain fell on as many as 25 raindays, an exceptionally high number. It appears to have been the wettest September since 1984 (although September 2000 was also nearly as wet). Sunshine amounts were exceptionally low, only 44% of normal sunshine was recorded, making it certainly one of the cloudiest Septembers on record.

01-11-2001: In complete contrast, October 2001 was an outstandingly fine month, breaking historical records across many parts of the country. The mean temperature in the city was 14.5 C, 4.3 C above normal - probably the warmest October in recorded history. Equally extraordinary was the fact that October 2001 was more than 2 C warmer than September! October had never been warmer than September in Munich before in over 200 years of records. This October's highest maximum of 26.3 C on 2nd was the highest since at least 1977. At the DWD station in the north of the city, the maximum of 27.8 C was reported to have been the highest since 1923. The maximum exceeded 20 C on 9 days and even exceeded 23 C on the last day of the month. Sunshine was well above normal (the anomaly of +41% making it the sunniest October for at least 12 years) and it was a largely dry month, although a few wet days later in the month pushed up the total to over 80% of normal.

01-12-2001: Yet again, in strong contrast to October, November 2001 was a very wet and cloudy month. The last third of the month was notably wet, while the rainfall total of nearly 110mm was the highest in November since 1992. There were no temperature extremes during the month (partly due to the very cloudy conditions), but the month was predominantly rather cold, with the first slight snowcover of the winter in mid-month. It was subjectively a very dull November (following the record fine October). Sunshine totals were however only around 10% below normal. The drop in mean temperature between October and November was outstandingly large at -11.3 C. This is the greatest such drop since 1921 when a drop from 11.0 C to -1.2 C was recorded at Munich-Riem, noting that November 1921 was the coldest November of the century in Munich.

04-01-2002: December 2001 was the coldest December for 5 years. Although snow fell on a number of days, Munich largely avoided the very heavy snowfalls which affected some central parts of the country around the Christmas period. The month began rather mild, but the second week became cold and an intense cold pool crossed over southern Bavaria just before mid-month during a short easterly spell. This brought exceptional cold on the 14th, whose maximum of -10.0 C and minimum of -15.4 C were the lowest readings since Christmas 1996. Thereafter, the weather remained unsettled, alternating between frost, light snowfall and brief thaws.