DWD 10-Minute Extreme Weather Guide
Daily summaries are useful for climate analysis, but they can hide when rapid weather changes occurred within a day. Ten-minute observations preserve much more of that timing.
The Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Germany’s national meteorological service, publishes 10-minute observations through its OpenData portal. The Climate Explorer DWD interface provides a reader-facing way to inspect those upstream data.
In this article, we will explore why this high-frequency data is so important and how you can use it to analyze extreme weather events across Germany.
The Problem with Daily Averages
A daily product can retain a day’s maximum temperature or total precipitation while losing the timing of a short rainfall burst, wind gust, or rapid temperature drop. Ten-minute data helps reconstruct that within-day sequence. It does not, by itself, establish that an observation caused flooding or other impacts.
Enter the DWD 10-Minute Archive
For variables offered at 10-minute resolution, participating DWD stations can provide up to six observations per hour.
That resolution can reveal the timing of rapid changes in temperature, precipitation, wind, humidity, or sunshine duration. Interpreting the meteorological cause still requires appropriate supporting observations and analysis.
Key Parameters Available at 10-Minute Resolution
When using the DWD Explorer, you can select the “10 Minutes” temporal resolution to visualize the following critical parameters:
- Air Temperature (Lufttemperatur): Shows rapid fluctuations during the selected period.
- Precipitation (Niederschlag): Shows short-interval totals that a daily accumulation cannot time precisely.
- Humidity (Dew Point & Relative Humidity): Adds near-surface moisture context.
- Sunshine Duration (Sonnenscheindauer): Documents sunshine within each reporting interval where available.
Case Study: Tracking a Winter Cold Spell in Lower Saxony
Let us look at a practical example of how you can use the Climate Explorer to analyze extreme weather variability in Germany.
Step 1: Identify the Period of Interest Suppose you are researching the rapid temperature swings that occurred across northwest Germany in February 2026, when the region experienced a sharp transition from sub-zero frost to near-spring warmth within the same month.
Step 2: Select the Station Navigate to the DWD Explorer dashboard and use the “Find Station” dropdown menu. Select the station Großenkneten (00044) in Lower Saxony.
Step 3: Set the Date Range Set the date range to 30 Jan 2026 – 28 Feb 2026 and ensure the Time Resolution toggle is set to 10 Minutes.
Step 4: Visualize the Data In the validated source files, the minimum 10-minute air temperature was −8.8°C and the maximum was 18.6°C. The largest 10-minute precipitation total was 1.3 mm. These values describe the observed series; they do not determine precipitation type or event impacts.
Step 5: Export the Findings If you need to incorporate this data into a broader analysis, switch to the Data tab on the dashboard and export the raw 10-minute observations directly into a CSV file for analysis in R or an Excel spreadsheet.
Conclusion
The DWD 10-minute archive preserves within-day timing that daily summaries cannot show. This makes it useful for examining rapid changes, provided users retain the station, variable, units, quality flags, and time convention needed for interpretation.
The DWD Explorer provides a visual route into the archive, while DWD remains the authoritative data source.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the DWD 10-minute resolution dataset?
The DWD (Deutscher Wetterdienst) provides an open-data archive of meteorological observations recorded every 10 minutes from automated weather stations across Germany. This high-frequency data captures rapid weather changes, such as sudden wind gusts, temperature drops during frontal passages, and intense bursts of precipitation.
Why is 10-minute weather data better than daily averages?
Daily summaries preserve daily values but can hide when rapid changes occurred. Ten-minute observations show the within-day timing of reported temperature, precipitation, and other available variables; impacts and causes require additional evidence.
Is DWD historical weather data free to use?
Yes. DWD publishes historical observations through its OpenData portal under its documented terms of use. Climate Explorer visualizes the upstream data without replacing DWD as the source.
What parameters can I analyze at a 10-minute resolution?
Depending on station and product availability, the DWD Explorer can display 10-minute air temperature, precipitation, humidity, dew point, and sunshine duration.
Can I download the 10-minute weather data for Germany?
Yes. After selecting a station and date range, switch to the data table view and export the available 10-minute observations as CSV for further analysis.
Data Annex
Data current as of 18 July 2026. The worked example uses the DWD 10-minute air-temperature and precipitation products for Großenkneten from 30 January through 28 February 2026. Values below were recalculated from the official recent-product ZIP files; invalid temperature placeholders below −50°C were excluded.
Station and dataset metadata
| Station | Provider station ID | Latitude | Longitude | Elevation | Resolution | Analysis period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Großenkneten | 00044 |
52.9336° N | 8.2370° E | 44 m | 10 minutes | 30 Jan–28 Feb 2026 |
Worked-example observation summary
| Metric | Value | Observation time (UTC) |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum 10-minute air temperature | −8.8°C | 15 Feb 2026, 02:30 |
| Maximum 10-minute air temperature | 18.6°C | 27 Feb 2026, 14:40 |
| Maximum 10-minute precipitation total | 1.3 mm | 23 Feb 2026, 17:20 |
| Valid air-temperature observations | 4,320 | Full analysis period |
The provider station ID is retained because it is the reproducible key used by DWD. No verified WIGOS mapping was needed for this worked example.
Data Sources
- DWD 10-minute air-temperature archive: Official Großenkneten temperature observations.
- DWD 10-minute precipitation archive: Official Großenkneten precipitation observations.