Freezing drizzle and black ice risk in Saxony, Digi Mart USA News (Germany): While heavy rain falls in the south and foehn winds gather near the Alps, eastern Germany remains stuck in cold gray weather. Beneath a stubborn layer of low fog, fine drizzle can freeze on asphalt from the Ore Mountains to the Lusatia region.
The German Weather Service (DWD) warns in its Tuesday morning weather bulletin that isolated slippery conditions from freezing drizzle or wet snow are possible in the same region. During the night toward Wednesday, ice may form again in the Ore Mountains.
The DWD forecasts light frost of -1 to -3 degrees Celsius in Saxony, with slippery conditions mainly in cold mountain valleys, and 0 to -3 degrees in Berlin and Brandenburg. Fog with visibility in places below 150 meters is also expected.
No severe weather warning has been issued.
Temperatures show how cold the air in the east has become. Under persistent fog, Lusatia barely rose above 3 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, while temperatures from southern Baden to the Alpine foothills reached up to 12 degrees.
Freezing drizzle does not require a winter storm. It forms from flat low-level fog trapped beneath an inversion layer.
When the cloud is only slightly below zero, few ice crystals form, and the tiny droplets remain supercooled liquid before falling as fine drizzle. When they strike roads, bridges or car windows with frost, they freeze immediately into a glassy film.
Because the layer is so thin, the road often appears merely wet.
Drivers and pedestrians traveling in the east in the morning should drive slowly, especially on bridges, through wooded areas and in low-lying hollows, keep greater distances and allow extra time. Caution is also advised on sidewalks and stairs.
On Wednesday, rain moves from the southwest into the center of the country, while the northeast and southeast remain largely dry. Where fog persists in the eastern half, temperatures stay around 3 degrees Celsius, while foehn winds bring up to 17 degrees in the southwest and along the Alps.
In the Ore Mountains, wind strengthens, with gusts of up to 70 km/h possible on the Fichtelberg. During the night toward Thursday, temperatures in the northeast fall to 0 degrees in places, and daytime highs there reach only about 4 degrees.
From Friday, cooler air spreads across the country, with daytime highs of 5 to 9 degrees Celsius. During the night toward Saturday, light frost down to -3 degrees is widely expected, and frost and icy slippery conditions may return in many areas.
