The so -called ice saints begin this week. Thousands of hobby gardeners should ask themselves these days: Should I dare and already plant my balcony or garden? Or should I wait for the ice saints to be over?
According to the myth, according to the ice saints, there should be no frost dangerous for agriculture. Frost temperatures in spring can cause damage to young drives and plants.
According to descriptions in the literature, the ice saints in Central Europe fall on the days from 11th to May 14th. It is the name days of Mamertus, Pankratius, Servatius and Bonifatius. At the end of this cold phase, the Cold Sophie of May 15 is finally mentioned.
The ice saints are actually celebrated today on a wrong date: “With the Gregorian date shift in 1582, the ice saints have also shifted.” However, this has not been observed in the literature. “On the other hand, if the Gregorian calendar reform is taken into account, the ice saints begin on May 19, the cold Sophie falls on May 23.”
Spring frosts occurred again and again in Central Europe for centuries, Meteoschweiz writes. From this, the weather regulation of the ice saint has developed from this. This means that on certain calendar days, a deviation from the middle annual passage of the meteorological elements can be determined.
According to Meteoschweiz, the tradition is probably from the Middle Ages. These are the name days of Mamertus, Pankratius, Servatius and Bonifatius.
-“The weather regulation, which is supposed to occur at certain maitals, cannot be confirmed with our series of measurements,” says MeteoSwweiz. But frost days could still be observed throughout May. During the measurement period from 1965 there was one to two days with floor frost in the Mittelland almost every year. In around 40 percent of the years there were more than two days with ground frost in the Mittelland in May.
In the forecast of Meteo news, there is currently no evidence of ground frost in the time span of the ice saints. The temperatures rise continuously by the end of the week.
“With a mix of spring clouds and the sun, it usually stays dry in the lowlands, along the mountains the risk of local showers increases during the day,” Meteo News. “The maximum values of 16 to 19 degrees correspond to the season well,” added the meteorologists.
A careful weekly outlook is already daring until May 18, 2025. In the morning it could be quite sunny, in the afternoon source clouds and some showers could follow. The temperatures are expected to move between 15 and 21 degrees.
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