Another day, another extreme weather warning for Sulzburg. Why do I read these things?

The weather app on my phone occasionally gives me alerts about unusual weather expected in my area. They are generated by the German meteorological service, so they have a feel of authority to them.

What they don’t have is me taking them seriously. To me this app cries wolf. Maybe it is my Canadian perspective on weather.

Thursday afternoon there were two warnings on my phone. The first was for extreme low temperatures overnight.

I first saw that warning a couple of weeks ago. That night the overnight temperature was expected to be 5 Celsisus. I have difficulty thinking of that as extreme cold. Cool maybe, but what do you expect in November.

This time though the forecast was for even colder weather. There was a risk of frost, and the temperature could dip to -1 (30F).

This is an extreme low? at that temperature I wouldn’t bother with hat or gloves. But maybe that is because, as a Canadian, I expect to see -30 range temperatures regularly, though admittedly not before December.

The second warning was for snow and or ice: widespread icy surfaces.” Frankly, I don’t believe it. There is a chance of an overnight shower – but the predicted low temperature is four. Not enough for snow or ice.

Maybe the warning was issued for a large area and covers some of the higher mountains in the area. It certainly doesn’t have me scrambling for winter gear.

I can only surmise that this area of Germany has never had a Canadian-style winter. Minus one does seem like an extreme to someone who has never experiences minus 40.

Just don’t expect me to take it seriously. Would you?