Sheep's Cold and Ice Saints (weather conditions) in Germany

[charisma]

In a story I am writing (which takes place in Weimar era Germany), I want to set a scene outdoors in May or June. I've been looking at the weather singularities - Schafskälte (sheep's cold) and Eisheiligen (ice saints). Unfortunately, most of the information I am finding is in German and my language translation skills are still not very good

Comments

[gelbes_gilatier]

Usually, Eisheilige comes around in the middle of May and Schafskälte at the beginning or in the middle of June. There's no exact telling when it'll happen (this year, for example, both came on pretty early in the year). Temperatures can drop pretty far and pretty fast. ATM we have Schafskälte and the temperatures dropped from 25 °C in one day to as low as 10°C (and in some regions there even was ground frost) in just one night. It began in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday and is still enduring, approximately until Monday. Both usually affect all areas in Germany, with the North Eastern regions usually a little colder than the South West. Wiesbaden would probably have the same conditions as the town I'm living in (Erfurt, Thuringia) so it could grow pretty cold. I'd recommend you to check a few weather sites because like I said we have Schafskälte right now.

[solo]

Eisheilige are 12-15 May 'officially' - the weather conditions are considered to hit those saints' days (Pancratius, Servatius, Boniface, Sophie) more often than not. My parents always said not to put any plants outside until 15 May ('cold Sophie / kalte Sophie') was over because before then you couldn't count on overnight temperatures remaining above zero. This was in the Rhineland.

Obviously, as gelbes_gilatier said, it's not the same every year, and it can be earlier or later.

[silversolitaire]

The weather conditions can be pretty funky around that time. Sometimes the weather changes within a matter of days. One day it's a comfortable 25°C (77°F), then over night it starts raining and the temperature drops to 10°C (50°C). It's probably not a prerequisite but I find that the temperature change often goes along with rain. Even during summer it tends to cool off quite a bit during rain, but not quite like it does in May/June. Then you get up in the morning and there's hoarfrost covering the lawn, often a thin layer of fog is hovering across the fields and your breath steams up in the chilly morning air. The car windows might be covered with a thin layer of ice too, but unlike winter you can just wipe it off. All of that won't last past 9 or 10 when the first rays of sunlight hit the ground. One thing that's always impressed me as a child was how the hoarfrost and dew would collect in the strings of spiderweb going from flower to flower. It looked a bit like a circus tent, I thought... haha

[charisma]

Can I get the poem in both the original German and the translation? It would be nice to include part of it in the original language in my story.

Thank you!

[silversolitaire]

Sure thing... I need to ask my mother later ^^;. I only remember it very rudimentarily and Google isn't being helpful X3. I'll get back to you!

Btw, it's 50°F, of course... ^^;

[lyorn]

It's probably not a prerequisite but I find that the temperature change often goes along with rain.

Rain's riding in with the air from the sea, and as the sea is still seriously cold in early summer...

[lyorn]

Both affect all of Germany