Magdeburg Christmas Market: how cold and wet are the evenings?
Magdeburg Christmas Market (from the Monday after the Sunday of the Dead to 30 December): over 35 seasons from 1991 to 2025, 26% of market evenings (17:00–21:00) had frost, 18% were wet (≥ 0.5 mm) and 6% had snowfall; at least one snowy evening came in 27 of 35 seasons. Source: ERA5 reanalysis (Copernicus).
26%evenings with frost
18%wet evenings (≥ 0.5 mm)
6%evenings with snowfall
27 / 35seasons with a snowy evening
2.8 °Caverage evening temperature
Climate, not a forecast: these are statistics of past weather, not a forecast for the next edition.
Evenings by week of the season
| Week | Frost | Wet | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20% | 14% | 3.6 °C |
| 2 | 24% | 18% | 2.9 °C |
| 3 | 25% | 20% | 2.7 °C |
| 4 | 27% | 20% | 2.7 °C |
| 5 | 31% | 20% | 2.3 °C |
Seasons
| Year | Dates | Frost | Wet | Snowfall | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 24 November – 30 December | 5 / 37 | 5 / 37 | 0 / 37 | 3.9 °C |
| 2024 | 25 November – 30 December | 2 / 36 | 8 / 36 | 0 / 36 | 4.8 °C |
| 2023 | 27 November – 30 December | 7 / 34 | 15 / 34 | 3 / 34 | 4.0 °C |
| 2022 | 21 November – 30 December | 14 / 40 | 10 / 40 | 2 / 40 | 2.3 °C |
| 2021 | 22 November – 30 December | 9 / 39 | 5 / 39 | 2 / 39 | 2.9 °C |
| 2020 | 23 November – 30 December | 1 / 38 | 8 / 38 | 0 / 38 | 4.0 °C |
| 2019 | 25 November – 30 December | 1 / 36 | 7 / 36 | 1 / 36 | 4.9 °C |
| 2018 | 26 November – 30 December | 4 / 35 | 8 / 35 | 1 / 35 | 4.6 °C |
| 2017 | 27 November – 30 December | 3 / 34 | 5 / 34 | 3 / 34 | 3.5 °C |
| 2016 | 21 November – 30 December | 12 / 40 | 3 / 40 | 0 / 40 | 3.3 °C |
| 2015 | 23 November – 30 December | 1 / 38 | 3 / 38 | 0 / 38 | 7.0 °C |
| 2014 | 24 November – 30 December | 9 / 37 | 9 / 37 | 0 / 37 | 3.2 °C |
| 2013 | 25 November – 30 December | 4 / 36 | 5 / 36 | 2 / 36 | 4.6 °C |
| 2012 | 26 November – 30 December | 11 / 35 | 5 / 35 | 3 / 35 | 2.1 °C |
| 2011 | 21 November – 30 December | 1 / 40 | 6 / 40 | 1 / 40 | 5.0 °C |
| 2010 | 22 November – 30 December | 33 / 39 | 8 / 39 | 9 / 39 | −3.3 °C |
| 2009 | 23 November – 30 December | 12 / 38 | 13 / 38 | 2 / 38 | 2.5 °C |
| 2008 | 24 November – 30 December | 8 / 37 | 2 / 37 | 2 / 37 | 2.2 °C |
| 2007 | 26 November – 30 December | 9 / 35 | 7 / 35 | 1 / 35 | 2.6 °C |
| 2006 | 27 November – 30 December | 2 / 34 | 5 / 34 | 0 / 34 | 6.1 °C |
| 2005 | 21 November – 30 December | 14 / 40 | 6 / 40 | 4 / 40 | 1.5 °C |
| 2004 | 22 November – 30 December | 9 / 39 | 4 / 39 | 3 / 39 | 2.7 °C |
| 2003 | 24 November – 30 December | 7 / 37 | 4 / 37 | 2 / 37 | 3.6 °C |
| 2002 | 25 November – 30 December | 17 / 36 | 8 / 36 | 2 / 36 | 0.2 °C |
| 2001 | 26 November – 30 December | 13 / 35 | 9 / 35 | 5 / 35 | 1.1 °C |
| 2000 | 27 November – 30 December | 10 / 34 | 7 / 34 | 4 / 34 | 4.2 °C |
| 1999 | 22 November – 30 December | 8 / 39 | 9 / 39 | 1 / 39 | 3.7 °C |
| 1998 | 23 November – 30 December | 19 / 38 | 4 / 38 | 3 / 38 | 0.9 °C |
| 1997 | 24 November – 30 December | 9 / 37 | 8 / 37 | 4 / 37 | 2.4 °C |
| 1996 | 25 November – 30 December | 20 / 36 | 9 / 36 | 6 / 36 | −1.5 °C |
| 1995 | 27 November – 30 December | 28 / 34 | 2 / 34 | 2 / 34 | −1.8 °C |
| 1994 | 21 November – 30 December | 5 / 40 | 6 / 40 | 0 / 40 | 4.9 °C |
| 1993 | 22 November – 30 December | 12 / 39 | 14 / 39 | 5 / 39 | 2.0 °C |
| 1992 | 23 November – 30 December | 9 / 38 | 7 / 38 | 3 / 38 | 2.5 °C |
| 1991 | 25 November – 30 December | 8 / 36 | 6 / 36 | 2 / 36 | 2.1 °C |
How to read these numbers
- Season window: from the Monday after the Sunday of the Dead to 30 December, as described in Wikipedia (de): Weihnachtsmarkt; we applied this rule to every season 1991–2025 as a climate window — past opening dates were not checked year by year.
- ERA5 is a reanalysis on a 0.25° grid (about 25 km): it counts slightly more light-rain days than nearby weather stations (by about 5–7 percentage points) and gives daytime highs about 1–2.5 °C below station readings, so real hot days were hotter than shown here.
„Magdeburger Weihnachtsmarkt hat seine Ursprünge in einer spätmittelalterlichen Verkaufsmesse auf dem Domplatz. Heute findet er alljährlich vom Montag nach Totensonntag bis zum 30. Dezember“ — Wikipedia (de): Weihnachtsmarkt
Dates and sources
Coordinates: 52.132, 11.639; ERA5 cell centred at 52.25, 11.75 (average ground height of the cell 78 m).