Spring to New Year’s Eve – people in the southwest are looking forward to a record-breaking warm turn of the year. According to the forecasts of the German Weather Service (DWD), several maximum values, some of which are decades old, are likely to be exceeded. Up to 18, maybe 19 degrees are possible next Saturday in Stuttgart. This would clearly exceed the previous New Year’s Eve record of 14.4 degrees from 2017 measured in Stuttgart. 20 degrees could also be possible on the Rhine and at the foot of the Black Forest. In the night of January 1st, the weather service for Stuttgart expects about 11 degrees.
“These are temperatures that we don’t normally have in December, of course,” said DWD meteorologist Andreas Pfaffenzeller. “In some places we will definitely break the previous daily records.” The highest values measured nationwide for a New Year’s Eve are well below the most recent forecasts for the coming Saturday.
According to the DWD, it was 17 degrees warm in 1961 in Müllheim in the southern Black Forest. According to DWD weather expert Marco Puckert, the December record for the southwest can hardly be broken: Also in the Müllheim on December 16, 1989, the temperature was a whopping 24 degrees – “and our weather models just don’t show that at the moment,” he said.
The main thing is no rain, the main thing is not damp and wet – that’s what the Association of the Pyrotechnic Industry (VPI) is counting on and is looking forward to the best possible conditions for the New Year’s Eve fireworks. “One then hopes that those who are still a little undecided will focus on each firework and say, ‘Yes, we’ll buy a little more,'” said VPI Managing Director Klaus Gotzen.
According to DWD expert Puckert, one or two raindrops could fall on New Year’s Eve morning. “But after that it will be sunny and dry.” So sitting outside is a real option: Ice cream parlors such as “Venedig” in Stuttgart may not expect anything out of the ordinary, but they do expect good business at the tables outside. At most, gusts of wind could make December 31st a bit uncomfortable, but more so at higher altitudes: Strong to stormy gusts are expected, especially in the mountains – even severe gusts of wind on the Feldberg.
In the meantime, the lifts on the Swabian Alb and in the Feldberg ski area are almost at a standstill due to a lack of snow. Nevertheless, hut restaurateurs are looking forward to a well-attended turn of the year. Although nobody is currently skiing, said the chairman of the lift association, Johannes Albrecht. Instead, people migrated, the booking situation was very good. The Feldbergbahn and the Belchenbahn are open and bring hikers to the huts on the last day of the year, said Albrecht. However, firecrackers are forbidden – “we are in the middle of a nature reserve”.
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