Lea Hartl

The end of the fall in Austria was the warmest on record. In September it was on average 0.7°C warmer than the long-term average, in October 2.2°C, and November is likely to be even warmer with an expected 3.8°C above average. If December is not exceptionally cold, it can be assumed that 2014 will also set a new temperature record for the year as a whole.

The WeatherBlog starts the season with an apology: He hasn't been following the Alpine weather lately because he was on a business trip to the Himalayas for a while and had neither internet access nor the leisure time to do so, has only recently returned and is drowning in emails and other work to be done. Yes, exactly, these are excuses. Since my colleague Orakel seems to have everything under control here in Germany and the WeatherBlog hasn't quite mentally returned yet, this time it's all about a different mountain region.

The WeatherBlog is back again at the end of the season and is looking at the ice saints to mark the occasion.

The Lofoten Islands are an elongated group of islands off the coast of Norway. They lie around 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, between 67 and 68 degrees latitude. Despite the high latitude, the Gulf Stream ensures a relatively mild climate, characterized by strong storms from the southwest. In winter, the cod migrate south from the Barents Sea to spawn here. The islands were settled 6000 years ago and people have lived from fishing since time immemorial.

The WeatherBlog was written a little earlier than usual due to vacation plans and appears here with a time delay, so we tend to deal with less current things. From today's perspective (Monday), the weather is looking increasingly April-like in the near future, with slightly lower temperatures (as would be expected in April) and occasional, sometimes heavier, thundery precipitation. Note: The thunderstorm season is open!

It is and remains omega-like spring. There is still powder, but it can only be found by searching and luck, as the wind and sun have been hard at work.

The widespread precipitation of the last few days makes up for the last few weeks and allows late winter powder skiing in the north too. After the snowy interlude, the sunny weather continues.

Today, the WeatherBlog is happy about the successes of modern science. As a student at an advanced stage, you occasionally ask yourself why you are actually doing what you are doing and who benefits from it. The usefulness of your own doctoral or master's thesis in particular may be questionable, but occasionally science in general achieves something cool and then you have the feeling that somehow and in general something is going right.

After a week of stable high pressure and temperatures around 20 °C, cooler, changeable north-westerly weather is on the cards for the weekend. However, it is still unclear whether there will be significant snow or just significant wind.

After changeable carnival days with mini-northern congestion, high-pressure weather increasingly prevails and provides plenty of sunshine and mild temperatures for spring fever.

From a meteorological point of view, spring begins at the beginning of March, which we, as well as various weather services, take as an opportunity to look at a few key statistical data. Otherwise: A greeting from the desert turns the snow yellow.

Although the Mammut Meron Jacket is one of the top models from the current Mammut collection made from Gore-Tex Pro, the jacket is quite simple and lightweight, as there are no frills. Of course, this does not mean that the jacket is not made to a very high standard and also looks quite stylish!