Plus 118 percent

Austria’s rainfall record broken in September

Rain in Upper Austria(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger/Daniel Scharinger)

September 2024 will go down as the wettest September in Austrian measurement history. According to Geosphere Austria, more than twice as much rain fell as in an average month at this time of year. Flooding and mudslides were the result.

The heavy rain in the middle of the month set new September records at more than 80 weather stations in Austria. Around 447 millimetres fell in St. Pölten. After a week-long heatwave, the second week of September brought a sharp drop in cold air. An area of low pressure moved from Italy across Austria to Eastern Europe.

"Most of Austria saw widespread rainfall of 100 to 200 millimetres, in parts of Lower Austria, Vienna and Upper Austria even 250 to just over 400 millimetres in places," Geosphere Austria reported on Tuesday. Particularly in the north and east, the amounts within five days were three to four times as high as in an average September.

Here you can see a graphic of the precipitation in September.

The month now goes down as the wettest in Austrian history since 1858, followed by September 1899.

Unusual amounts of snow
The cold snap also brought snow to many valleys. "In Styria, for example, there was five centimetres of snow at the Hall weather station near Admont (Liezen district) at 637 meters above sea level on 13 September. Snow below 1,000 meters above sea level occurs on average every five years in Austria in September," said climatologist Alexander Orlik from Geosphere Austria.

Here you can see a post from Geosphere Austria.

New records were also set on the mountains. As only the beginning of the month was hot, an "average to slightly above-average monthly mean temperature" was recorded for the whole of September. "September 2020 was 0.7 degrees above the average for the 1991 to 2020 climate period in Austria's lowlands and 0.1 percent below in the summit regions."