DWD warns of severe thunderstorms: Severe weather with hail and heavy rain on Friday

In addition to the gale-force gusts, the DWD expects localized heavy rain between 15 and 25 liters per square meter within one hour. "Punktuell sei auch extrem heftiger Starkregen mit Mengen bis 50 l/qm in kurzer Zeit nicht völlig ausgeschlossen, so der DWD." In individual cases, up to 40 liters of rain in a short time are likely. Hail may also occur locally.

In Hesse as well, thunderstorms, heavy rain and storms are moving in on Friday. The basis is very moist air reaching the region from the southwest, explained Tim Gotsch. "Die Ausgangslage ist sehr feuchte Luft, die uns jetzt noch einmal aus Südwesten erreicht." In principle, all of Hesse could be affected, but where exactly thunderstorm cells develop can only be determined at very short notice.

In Berlin and Brandenburg, according to the DWD, numerous showers and partly severe thunderstorms will move in from the southwest starting at noon. "Dabei sind lokal Starkregen mit bis zu 30 Litern pro Quadratmeter in kurzer Zeit, Hagel und schwere Sturmböen mit bis zu 100 Kilometern pro Stunde möglich." In addition, especially in the northern half of Brandenburg extending into the Berlin area, a fresh west to northwesterly wind with wind gusts will blow at times.

Damage in the Southern Palatinate

The severe weather already hit the Southern Palatinate on Thursday evening, particularly Bad Bergzabern and the Wörth area. "Dort sind einige Bäume umgestürzt und Äste abgebrochen. Dadurch wurden mehrere Autos beschädigt", police reported. Six roads had to be briefly closed. Police estimate that the severe weather caused a total of 10,000 euros in damage.

In addition, a man on the A65 near Kandel slid into a guardrail with his car due to aquaplaning and was slightly injured. During the night to Saturday, the thunderstorms will slowly move eastward according to the weather experts, but locally there may continue to be heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Tim Gotsch explained that the trees were already weakened by the ongoing drought. "Die Bäume sind ja durch die Trockenheit schon ein bisschen geschwächt." When gale-force gusts then move through, that can easily bring down an entire tree. In addition, water runs off on the surface when the soil is dried out. "Wenn der Boden ausgetrocknet ist und da kommt Starkregen drauf, dann läuft das Wasser oberflächlich ab und kann gar nicht richtig einsickern."

Weather calming down over the weekend

On Saturday, the sun will break through again in many places. In the mountainous regions, however, isolated showers are still possible. Temperatures will reach 22 to 27 degrees Celsius. On Sunday as well, it will remain predominantly dry. The maximum values will then be between 18 degrees in the mountainous regions and 25 degrees on the Rhine.

"Das Wochenende wird insgesamt ruhiger", said Gotsch. "Es wird angenehmer, auch die Nächte werden Stück für Stück kühler." The local rain, however, will not sustainably help against the current drought according to the meteorologists' assessment. The meteorologists had already warned on Tuesday and Wednesday of dangerous severe weather, which, however, did not turn out as severe as expected.