High winter

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As midwinter , even midwinter is called in meteorology the core phase of the winter , generally the period from early January to mid- February , especially the second half of January.

These six weeks , meteorologically / climatologically mostly 1 January to 15 February as part of the winter meteorological season , are generally the coldest phase of winter, and also of the whole year . It follows the early winter , which typically ends with a Christmas thaw in Europe , and turns into the late winter . Characteristic for middle latitudes is a permanent frost period (several ice days ), which is why this is also referred to as “high winter” conditions. Conversely, in the case of a specific winter, one speaks of the "high winter phase" in which permafrost prevails. In historical times, this has expanded up to 4 months in middle latitudes (most recently in Europe around winter 1962/63 from mid-November to early March). However, permafrost throughout the middle of winter is quite unusual in Central Europe; the average number of ice days (maximum daily temperature below zero) is 23 for Berlin, 18.5 for Vienna, 22.5 for Bern, 39 for Munich and 39 for Lugano south of the Alps only 0.8 / year. For example, Davos / Switzerland recorded 64 frost days, i.e. a full two months, at 1,600 meters.

The high winter (abbreviated Wh) was determined in the 1940s by Hermann Flohn in the interval 15. – 26. January as one of the typical singularities of Europe more specifically defined, statistical evaluations of more recent times give 17. – 20. January, locally also for example January 4th – 9th. Called Jan. Compared to the astronomical position of the sun , the middle of winter - like the entire meteorological year and the phenological (normal) year - is shifted back by about a month, the normal minimum in the second half of January is four weeks after winter solstice . In the first half of February, a second cold peak (as a high pressure situation ) often appears in Central European weather patterns , which Flohn as late winter  (Ws) on the 3rd - 12th. February, which overlaps with the more general concept of high and late winter. Other authors have made finer subdivisions, such as a first and second high winter , for example in the intervals between December 27 and December 15. January resp. January 16–4. February, or first, second and third high winter in the intervals 4. – 9., 13./14. resp. 17th to 20th January. However, subdivisions of the meteorological seasons that are too fine-grained have not caught on; they are mostly too local or, with occurrence frequencies around 50%, are not significant enough.

Windbuchen on the Schauinsland 2005

The action centers that characterize European weather events are the winter characteristics of the Russian high , the location of the Azores high on the Atlantic and the existence of a Greenland high . Then there is an influx of arctic polar air from north to northeast. Such high-winter conditions are mostly long-term stable large-scale weather conditions (annual change in weather values ​​is not very pronounced). If the penetration of polar cold air fails, mild high winters prevail, which are generally Atlantic , and are typical of winter storms . Mixed situations, i.e. penetration of moist Atlantic air and continental cold air , lead to snowy high winters.

In folk traditions, the Rauhnächte (December 21/22 to January 5/6) mark the beginning of midwinter, Candlemas , February 2, or Valentine's Day , February 14, as the end of the lottery .

Midwinter also plays a role in tourism; it is - including the Christmas holidays - the classic high season for winter tourism . The semester break (the middle weeks of February) in Austria was originally introduced as an energy break, also in order to extend the high season that ended in mid-February .

Like the whole concept of the four seasons, midwinter is typical for the middle latitudes ( midwinter is also used in New Zealand meteorology), against the tropics concepts of rainy and dry seasons replace this model, against the arctic circle the two seasons of Polar summer and polar winter .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Midwinter . In: Lexicon , wetter.net
  2. ↑ a b Hochwinter ( Memento of the original from November 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Wetterlexikon , Top-Wetter.de @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.top-wetter.de
  3. ↑ a b Hochwinter / hochwinterlich ( Memento of the original from November 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Wetterlexikon , wetter.tv @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / at.wetter.tv
  4. ↑ a b Hochwinter ( Memento of the original from September 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Wetterlexikon , wetter-suedtirol.net @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wetter-suedtirol.net
  5. ↑ H. Flohn, P. Hess: Large weather singularities in the annual weather pattern of Central Europe (= statistical-synoptic investigations 2). In: Meteorological and Hydrological Service of the German Democratic Republic: Meteorologische Rundschau 2, 1949, pp. 258–263.
  6. ↑ Peter bite Olli: probability and statistical characteristics of the weather usually cases in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin. Dissertation, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, 1991.
  7. ↑ e.g. in Meteorologische Rundschau 7, 1954, ( limited preview in the Google book search)
  8. ↑ See Göttingen Singularities , Göttingen weather station.
  9. ↑ Cf. for example Bruno Abegg: Climate Change and Tourism: Climate Impact Research Using the Example of Winter Tourism in the Swiss Alps. Final report within the framework of the national research program "Climate Change and Natural Disasters" NRP 31, vdf Hochschulverlag AG, 1996, ISBN 978-3728123-725 ;
    Institute for Tourist Spatial Planning - ITR, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Department of Water - Atmosphere - Environment, Institute for Meteorology - BOKU-Met, Research & Data Competence: Effects of climate change on future travel behavior in Austrian tourism. Report on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economy, Family and Youth, Tulln an der Donau, December 2009 ( pdf, .boku.ac.at );
    Franz Prettenthaler: Climate change as a challenge for Styrian tourism - focus on winter tourism. InTeReg short analysis No. 04-2009, Johanneum Research, Graz 2009, ISSN  1810-6307 ( pdf, linder-gruber.at ); and similar work.
  10. ↑ See Andrew Lorrey, Jim Salinger, and James Renwick, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA): The Centennial Issue of the Island Climate Update: Progress and success resulting from a multi-model ensemble forecast. undated