While slopes hold:

Drought problems are slowly building up

The first flowers have no problem with the drought: snowdrops store water in their bulbs. But arable farmers would like more rain.(Bild: P. Huber)

Three quarters less precipitation, in some cases more than 90 percent missing. In Upper Austria, even a few drops of rain on Monday couldn't really stem the drought. And it looks set to stay that way. So far, the consequences have been limited, but now the problems will quickly pile up.

"A lot of rainfall is not in the cards, even in the medium term" - meteorologist Alexander Ohms from GeoSphere Austria dashes the hopes of farmers that the expected ten liters of rain per square meter will arrive at the weekend. It looks more like two to three liters.

Fertilizer and seeds need water
"Now it's about time," says Helmut Feitzlmayr, Head of the Crop Production Department at the Chamber of Agriculture, sending a "friendly reminder" to Peter. This February, he almost completely forgot about precipitation in Upper Austria. "Not much has happened yet because it was cold most of the time and evaporation was low," says Feitzlmayr, but the next three weeks will be important: fertilizer is being applied and needs water. The same goes for the first seed, otherwise the grains will lie in the soil and not germinate. For wheat, sandy soils are already problematic, and the meadows also need water to build up substance. Otherwise, dry soil also has advantages: Tractors can easily drive out to spread fertilizer and seed.

Nothing has happened yet. But rain is urgently needed over the next three weeks. Just ten millimeters is enough.

Helmut Feitzlmayr, Pflanzenbau Landwirtschaftskammer OÖ

There have already been several forest and field fires
However, it is already so dry in the forests that it is becoming dangerous: There have already been fires in Hirschbach, St. Pankraz, St. Nikola and Waldburg. Günther Schwabegger from the Upper Austrian Fire Prevention Agency warns people to be extremely careful: "A discarded cigarette butt or a hot vehicle parked on dry grass is enough."

Frost at night preserves slopes
The fact that there was no more fresh snow this year is hardly a problem for the slopes in Upper Austria: "The machine-made snow is designed to last the season even without fresh snow. As it was and is always cold at night, it is sure to last until the end of the season," says Gerald Paschinger from Hochficht. However, skiing is only really enjoyable in the morning if there was frost during the night; the snow quickly becomes deep towards midday when temperatures are higher.