Oktoberfest 2018: Damaging windstorm possible late on Sunday

The start of Oktoberfest 2018 is upon us, and big changes in the weather are expected for the opening days of festivities.

With an estimated 6.9 million liters of beer served each year and an annual visitor count around 7 million, Oktoberfest is the largest, most celebrated folk festival for brewing in the world.

Hot and dry weather prevailed in the days leading up to the famous German festival, which takes place in Munich each year from late September into early October.

A blast of much cooler air spread over Germany on Saturday, causing temperatures to fall to the lowest levels in more than two weeks.

The temperature reached just 18 C (64 F) on Saturday, making the day noticeably cooler than Friday when the temperature peaked at 28 C (83 F). The normal high temperature in Munich during late September is 18 C (64-65 F).

While Saturday luckily turned out largely dry in the Munich area, the threat of rain and wind will return again on Sunday night.

A potent storm system arriving from the British Isles will bring increasingly wet and blustery weather on Sunday evening and early on Sunday night. The potential exists for this storm to grow strong enough to become named.

While the heaviest rainfall will remain north of Munich through the daylight hours on Sunday, a burst of rain and potentially damaging wind is expected early on Sunday night.

"The threat for damaging winds for Munich region won’t come until Sunday evening, potentially with gusts over 110 km/h (70 mph)," warned AccuWeather Meteorologist Tyler Roys.

Roys also pointed out that since leaves are still fully on the trees, wind damage could be exacerbated.

Anyone outdoors or in tents will want to take shelter in sturdy buildings. Wind gusts could be strong enough to collapse tents. Some trees may be downed, leading to power outages across southern Germany.

Not only will residents across southern Germany feel the effects of this storm, strong wind will blast into southern Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Austria through the rest of Sunday night, leading to the risk of more widespread wind damage, power outages and travel delays.

In the wake of this fast-moving storm system, Monday will turn out to be largely dry and cooler with periods of sunshine. A gusty wind will cause it to feel cooler, so folks with outdoor plans may want to grab a jacket.

Similar to recent bursts of cooler air, the cool air on Monday will be short lived as well. High pressure building across central Europe will lead to a dry week with conditions turning more comfortable by the middle of the week.

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