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To me it seems that there is a lot less precipitation when temperatures go below -5°C (23°F).
Is there any evidence for that? Could this be a local phenomenon (I live in Germany)? What could be the cause for this?
I tried searching for charts that show precipitation over temperature, but all I could find were charts that showed precipitation over months of year which is not quite the same.
In most of Western Europe, precipitation comes from westerly winds formed over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream current that flows from the Caribbean to Western Europe. That is a warm current, so these winds would be warmer and make your area warmer. Besides, as they come from a warm ocean they are moist and carry water vapor and make clouds. Low temperatures are usually caused by easterly/northerly winds originating in Siberia, these are cold and come from land. Cold winds cannot carry moisture and on top of that they travel over land rather than the ocean and are dry. So in most cases in European winter, relative warmth and precipitation go hand-in-hand.
I am in the US, my guess would be related to the vapor capacity of warm air. Warmer air carries more moisture, when it is forced upwared in elevation the temperature drops allowing more moisture to precipitate out. This is even more noticeable if your in an orographic (moutaninous/Hilly) terrain. I am not familiar with the geology/geography of your area, however, I would like to vist some day.
I am sure there are more details to my answer, that I just am not "advanced" enough to know now. Here is a link to a PDF that has some explanations. If your not a technical person, dont let the math formulas scare you. There is other information.
http://web.sahra.arizona.edu/education2/fossww/PCL/WaterVapor.pdf
Cheers!
