Translations are in beta, and some visualizations are not fully translated yet.
When was the last time we had a white Christmas?
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Especially in low-lying areas, days with snowfall are becoming rarer and snow depth is decreasing.
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This trend will worsen with increasing global warming, affecting winter tourism in Austria.
Find out when it last snowed on Christmas - and how many times since you were born. Also discover whether winters before your time were really snowier than today. With the help of your location, the nearest weather station can be quickly found. Alternatively, you can select a station on the Austria map or from the dropdown menu. By clicking on the individual Christmas trees, you will also find out how much snow was on the ground on the 24th, 25th, & 26th of December in each year.
Our graphic distinguishes between Christmases where there was continuous snow from December 24th to 26th and Christmases where there was not snow on all days. Snow cover is defined as at least 1cm of snow on the ground at the observation time. Since there are sometimes larger data gaps in the measured snow depth, only weather stations that meet our selection criteria are shown (see methodology).
How have our winters changed?
Even though we often think about snow around Christmas, the frequency of snow throughout the entire winter is also of interest. In the following graphic, the number of snow cover days per winter provides a more detailed overview of the historical snow frequency at your weather station.
Why are there often milder temperatures and less snow around Christmas?
Just before Christmas, the snow often melts again because warm air comes from the west. This sometimes brings rain with it and often makes the snow cover completely disappear. This process is typical and is called "Christmas thawing". It is one of the so-called weather rules (singularities) and occurs - depending on the region - in about 60 to 70 percent of cases.
Why are there fewer white Christmases today than in the past?
Long-term weather records show that the number of days with snow cover has decreased in many regions of Europe, including Austria and Germany. Especially in mid and low altitudes, white Christmases are becoming increasingly rare due to global warming.
Source: GeoSphere Austria
Data Source, Methodology & Inspiration
The visualizations are based on data from the GeoSphere Austria (formerly ZAMG). These are made freely available there as open data and are updated by us every night.
Methodology:
- Only weather stations that have provided complete data for snow depths at Christmas in at least 90% of the years since the beginning of the records were considered.
- For a meaningful comparison over decades, only weather stations that have been measuring snow amounts for at least four decades were considered.
- Weather stations that, for example, have been providing data on snow depth at Christmas since 1957, were considered from 1960 onwards to enable a consistent comparison of the decades.
- Snow cover days are days when at least one centimeter of snow was measured at the observation time (usually in the morning).
- In the second graph, all days between July 1 of one year and June 31 of the following year are evaluated for a winter.
Inspiration
A climate dashboard page on snow and ice, especially on white Christmases, has been planned for a long time. In August 2024, we published our first documentation on the topic „Glacier melt in Austria“.
The following projects served as inspiration for the first visualization:
“White Christmas in ...?“ by Carla Grefe-Huge, André Pätzold, Marie-Louise Timcke, David Wendler and Timm Goldbach of the interactive team of the Funke Media Group
The Climate Atlas by Luisa Neubauer, Ole Häntzschel & Christian Endt
Further sources