Weather - Squalls and rain - rising water levels in Thuringia
Storm and rain instead of calm Christmas weather: the storm depression "Zoltan" is sweeping through Thuringia with strong gusts and showers. The stormy weather already led to restrictions on Thursday. The egapark in Thuringia remained closed. According to the Erfurt public utility company, visitor safety comes first. The closure also affected the Winter Illuminations and the GenussPark Christmas market on the grounds. In Bad Frankenhausen, the evening Christmas carol singing was moved from the market square to the lower church at short notice.
The city of Gera closed the municipal cemeteries on Thursday due to the weather. The closure is initially valid until Friday morning, but could be extended depending on the weather, according to the city administration.
According to the German Weather Service (DWD), heavy showers or thunderstorms with sleet are moving through the state. There will be squalls, some of which could reach speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour in the mountains. From Friday night until Sunday, there will again be heavy and prolonged rainfall. According to the DWD, the precipitation is expected to ease gradually from the west from Monday.
According to the Thuringian Flood Information Center, it is very likely that the first flood warning levels will be reached at many gauges in large parts of the Free State by Christmas Eve due to the predicted rainfall. According to the State Office for the Environment, Mining and Nature Conservation, rainfall of 15 to 20 liters per square meter is expected in the Thuringian Basin and between 50 and 80 liters per square meter in the low mountain ranges of the Thuringian Forest, the Thuringian Slate Mountains and the southern Harz Mountains.
Soils throughout the state are already heavily saturated with water, meaning that precipitation drains away very quickly and directly. If the precipitation forecast is confirmed, significant water level rises are expected in the Werra, Main, Unstrut, Ilm and Saale river basins, it said. This will lead to the guideline value for the start of the reporting period and very probably also the reporting levels being exceeded at a large number of gauging stations. As the weather calms down over the Christmas holidays, the flood situation will also ease.
Flood information
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The storm brought squalls with strong winds, causing disruptions and closed attractions in Thuringia. The public utility company in Erfurt prioritized visitor safety during the rain. Heavy showers and thunderstorms could lead to flooding in Thuringia, with some places potentially reaching the first flood warning levels by Christmas Eve. Local authorities in Gera closed cemeteries due to the weather, which also posed a flood risk. The weather service predicted prolonged rainfall and high gusts, increasing the water level in major river basins across the region.
Source: www.stern.de
