Arctic Temps In Germany

[Yeti]

Well the cold spell is drawing to a close here tomorrow after a week of consecutive sub-0 maxima. This weekend I have been out to take a few photos near home - firstly of an extinct volcano in the Rhine Valley (Saturday) and then of Ahrweiler (Sunday), a small town about 20 minutes away with a famous wine and liqueur tradition.

The weather has been exceptionally cold - a cold front on Friday brought sub-20 uppers and that translated to a maximum of just -12.1c here and -11c in Bonn on Saturday. At night temperatures dipped below -16 although other parts of Germany saw clearer skies and even colder minima with -33 reported in one area. The cold was incredible - your nose completely freezes up and more than 10 minutes outside, even with proper winter clothing, is enough to chill you to the bone.

As for snow, Friday brought light to moderate snowfall for a while but it was proper powder snow falling at those temps, so it accumulated very quickly. Yesterday brought another 2cm so overall about 8cm here which would have been a disappointment had it not been for the extreme cold which made up for it

Here is a photo of a nearby road leading to the volcano:

Inside the crater, snow covers the lava-formed rocks:

The view towards Bonn, Cologne and Düsseldorf from the top. The shining building contains the headquarters of Deutsche Post and DHL.

The Siebengebirge, our nearest range of hills, through the vineyards. The Rhine is visible at the bottom:

The Christmas markets in Ahrweiler - a Dickensian scene!

It then starts to snow:

Icicles have formed on the market stalls:

Enjoy

[Gray-Wolf]

Spent some time in Sankt-Augustin to across the Rhine from Bonn/Koln.

Enjoyed all the areas around there but never got to do a full winter just the beginnings and ends of them.

I do remember one big snowfall and that the local weather forecaster flooded the studio with it by opening the window to show folks how deep the drift was outside it!....must have been the winter of 96' or 97' (LOL).

I also remember freezing my crate of larger on the balcony of the flats I was in....didn't do that more than once!!!

[SteveB]

Great photos, went to Christmas markets a few years back. Unfortunately when I went it was extremely mild. Would have loved to gone when it was cold & snowy.