Summer months are the wettest and rainfall is sometimes heavy and with thunderstorms but has a shorter duration. Winters are cold all around the country and the temperatures during these cold spells are lowest in the lowlands and the valleys. The coldest weather conditions in winter usually occur with east to northeast winds bringing low temperatures from the Russian Federation and Eastern Europe. The character of the winter and summer seasons differs from year to year.  The amount of sunshine is greater than in northwest Europe but lower than in the countries around the Mediterranean. It ranges from nine to ten hours a day in July to two or three in January. Austria may be divided into three large climatic regions: the Alps, the Vienna basin and the Danube valley and the southeast part of the country including Carinthia and Styria.
 
The Alps
This region includes Tirol (Innsbruck) and the Salzburg area. The higher Alpine ski resorts are much sunnier in winter than the valleys where conditions are often foggy and cloudy with low temperatures lasting over several days. Although temperatures are lower in the mountains,  the weather conditions are warmer in calm and sunny days. The case is the opposite in the summer when clouds cover the sky in the warmer part of the day, while the valleys remain sunny. In certain alpine  valleys, those running from south to north in particular, there blows a very warm and dry wind – the Fohn. It lasts for twenty to forty days in any given  year. It is most frequent in spring when it causes the  the snow to melt quickly and in the autumn. It may cause mountain avalanches. The air becomes so dry when the Fohn blows that there is a serious risk of  fire, particularly of  wooden buildings. The source of the warm wind is south of the Alps, but it becomes warmer and drier while it passes through the mountains and reaches the northern side.