Lea Hartl

Question from Tobi: A meteorologist, who is one of the more forecast-minded types, once told me that the stable weather conditions, i.e. good for a long time or bad for a long time (it's always a question of perspective, of course), have increased significantly. This is also in line with my personal perception, although you can be very wrong. Are there any empirical findings on this or what do you think about the trend?

Every year, we wish for reliable announcements that the winter will be great, preferably including a great forecast for the long weekend when the ski trip is already booked. Every year there is no such thing. This week's WeatherBlog deals with the following question from PG reader Benny_Supernova: If you now combine that (last week's polar vortex topic) with a 65% chance of an upcoming "El Nino" in the Northern Hemisphere winter, what does that add up to? Another "hammer winter" in the Northern Alps (e.g. Innsbruck, where my best skiing buddy lives)?

The WeatherBlog has been asked to explain why winter is "broken". We could go on for a while about what exactly "broken" means - broken in comparison to climatological averages or only in my subjective perception? Broken in general or just on my local mountain? And anyway, meteorologically speaking, it's only been winter for 3 days, so how are you supposed to know if something is broken? But we're not like that ...

The Countdown 110 is a lightweight, versatile ski for powder tours and much more...

The onion principle is now familiar to everyone and has become an integral part of the world of outdoor clothing. Fleece is often used as a mid-layer, the insulating layer, as it is warming, lightweight and quick-drying. Today we are introducing you to the Innomiata jacket from Mammut, a particularly warm mid-layer.

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.