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Plume from forest fires in Canada reaches the Sonnblick Observatory    Images: Photographs of fires and ash clouds in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in May/June 2025. Source: Conair Aerial Fire Fighting Captain D. Josland. The annual forest fire season in Canada has unfortunately already begun and the effects are being felt as far away as Europe. As a result, the…

Due to the low rainfall in the 2021/2022 winter season, there was significantly less snow on the Sonnblick. In the summer of the previous year there was still enough snow for the winter season to start with a sufficient old snow cover. From January the snow depth increased only slowly. As a result, the Sonnblick was the winter season with the least amount of snow since records began. March,…

Time to look back at the snow depth development of the past winter. On May 28, 2021, the previous maximum of 585cm total snow depth could be measured at the measuring point. This measuring point is about 300m away from the observatory and is measuring since 2012. The previous maximum heights were 566cm on May 28th, 2015 and 560cm on May 30th, 2019. From the graphic you can clearly see that the…