Bavaria has a lot to offer - lots of panoramic views, culture, hospitality, many types of beer, the Alps, lots of forest, even more lakes, lots of snow in winter and, thanks to its geographical location, a very varied weather and wind system. Föhn, easterly winds, low-pressure systems and thermals - who knows what's going on? Right, the locals! Because without the right background information, you'll have a lot of "tailor-made trips" and need a few years to get the hang of it. Even we, who grew up here, sometimes stand by the lake and wonder why there is no breeze despite the perfect forecast.
A friend lived in Munich for over two years and was out on the water maybe five times: "There's never any wind here". Now he lives in Hamburg again. It's his own fault! A few days ago, I met a guy called Isac on the Eisbach who has been living in Munich for ten months and hasn't been windsurfing once because he simply didn't know when and where to go. And even today I still meet people who claim to have been to Walchensee ten times but haven't been on the water once and now prefer to go climbing. They can't see the wood for the trees.
You can find out all about these lakes in our big spot guide "Surfing in Bavaria" (PDF download at the end of the article):
- Ammersee (6 spots) - Pilsensee - Altmühlsee - Brombachsee (3 spots) - Bodensee (2 spots) - Chiemsee (3 spots) - Forggensee - Hopfensee - Kochelsee (3 spots) - Mandicho See (2 spots) - Starnberger See (3 spots) - Tegernsee (3 spots) - Walchensee (4 spots) - Wörthsee
The fact is that with a little background knowledge, the right websites and a few kilometres on the speedometer, you're sure to get out on the water every few days, sometimes five days in a row depending on the weather. There are four weather systems that are relevant for surfing in Bavaria, which I have summarised for you with the kind support of the Windinfo.eu would like to introduce.
Surfing in Bavaria - general information
Here are's some useful information about the wind south of the white sausage equator:
Wind systems
West wind: This only occurs in front of approaching low-pressure areas and the associated fronts. These normally move from west to east. Cold fronts usually have a stronger effect than warm fronts. The cold air masses push under the warm air that is still present, which gives an additional boost near the front line. When the rain comes, the wind stops, except in the case of powerful storm lows. The winds usually blow from the south-west and turn to the west or north-west with the front. Westerly winds are relatively easy to interpret with the usual forecasts.
Hairdryer: This is a nice side effect of low pressure areas passing south of the Alps. However, only the lakes in and directly on the Alps benefit from this, such as the southern shore of Lake Constance, Lake Kochelsee or Lake Tegernsee. On a few really good days, the wind also reaches as far as Lake Starnberg or Lake Ammer. The ideal combination here is a strong, pulling high in the east and a low over northern Italy. The two systems mesh like cogwheels and shovel warm air masses from the south over the Alps. Strong southerly winds, fine weather and summery temperatures, even in winter, are the result. We were already at Kochelsee on New Year's morning with 26 degrees, 8 Bft. and snow on the shore. As the Föhn is a real bitch and you never know when and where it will break through, the wind chase sometimes goes unrewarded.
On Weatheralarm.at you can find a foehn forecast for the next few days. If the curve rises above 4 hPa, there's a good chance of catching a good Föhn at Lake Kochel or Lake Tegernsee. Then it's time to get up early, click on the webcam and get in the car when it starts to curl, because the foehn usually only blows until around 9.00 am.
East wind: A guest that in recent years was almost only to be found in April/May and September/October, but then gladly longer and stronger! This also requires a stable high. Because easterly winds usually bring nice weather, we then also have a good chance of normal or even stronger thermals at Walchensee!
Thermals: The thermals actually work all year round, can be really strong in spring and autumn, with strong temperature differences between day and night with 5-6 wind forces and always blowing from NE-N. In midsummer, when the nights are also warm, it is usually somewhat weaker with only 3-4 Bft. The greatest possible temperature differences between day and night (April/May), a high position of the sun (longer sunshine for the southern slopes) and a light basic wind from NW to NE make the thermals perfect. Pure westerly or easterly winds don't really do any harm, but they do change the spread of the thermals at Walchensee. Föhn winds kill the thermals as they blow in the opposite direction from the south.
Weather information: You can get forecasts from Windfinder , Wind guru and Muchoviento . You can find weather information, a weather chat and even daily wind forecasts for the best spot on www.windinfo.eu . Webcams are also available from Windinfo or Addicted-Sports.
Surfing in Bavaria - Webcams:
You can use the archive function to compare the weather conditions of the last few days and their development over the course of the day (provided they had similar forecasts). An example: Today is Saturday, 10:00 a.m. and you're hoping for fair-weather thermals at Walchensee. A current image from the webcam shows a light southerly wind instead of the hoped-for thermals from the north, despite the blue sky. Now just scroll back in the date and compare the situation with the last few days. The Thursday before that had great thermals in the afternoon and showed a very similar picture at 10:00, at 10:10 there was no wind and at 10:30 a light northerly wind set in. So just wait until 10.30am and compare the pictures, because the weather should develop in a similar way. If you still see a southerly wind at 10.30 am, you can probably save yourself the journey today. If the camera image develops like on the windy Thursday, jump in the car and off to the "Walchi".
