Lea Hartl

Long awaited and now almost here: a real change in the weather with plummeting temperatures and snow in many valleys is just around the corner. Over the next few days, it will be deep winter again in the Alps

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are the buzzwords of the moment in many areas and have been for the last few years. Corresponding techniques are also increasingly being used in snow and avalanche research. What exactly is AI, what are its concrete applications and what are the benefits?

If it were in any way promising, the WeatherBlog would go on strike. But unfortunately, as we all know, you can't negotiate with the weather and so we remain trapped in the dry boredom of the concrete high, which is slowly but surely becoming a depressing monotony. On the crystal ball horizon there are signs, albeit still uncertain, of a late frost.

The unclouded sunshine is history. Not because winter is making a sustained comeback, but because dust is being stirred up in the Sahara. In keeping with the current drought, we are being supplied with real desert air. A small disturbance is also moving through the north-east today and it is raining or snowing a little, but there are still no significant changes in sight.

An end to the high pressure phase is not in sight. The Omega High will merely shift a little, so that the flow will turn to a more southerly direction over the next few days. This will make it warmer and slightly foehn-like, at least in the west.

The Alpine region lies under a large-scale high-pressure bridge that stretches from the Azores to the Baltic Sea. With a generally flat pressure distribution, a low pressure system in south-eastern Europe is holding back and dampening temperatures. The calm, mostly sunny weather is expected to continue until the weekend.

The weather will remain windy and generally mixed for a few more days. From the weekend onwards, high pressure will increasingly prevail and, in keeping with the meteorological start of spring (March 1), the coming week looks very sunny and mild.

ISPO, an interesting but also very exhausting trade fair, has been moved from its usual date in January to the autumn. Nevertheless, we endeavour to provide an overview of market innovations at the usual time! As we were unable to scrutinise the material ourselves at ISPO, the information is based on press releases from the manufacturers, not all of which are sent out by any means. So: No guarantee for completeness!

February develops a "Febrile" character and brings us a few days of mild, very spring-like weather before it becomes more unsettled and cooler again towards the weekend. Deep winter cold is not in sight, the snow hopes are focused on "mountain winter" due to westerly weather.

Everyone should have noticed by now: It's snowing. As predicted by the oracle, the amount of fresh snow in the Nordstau so far is impressive. The 48-hour difference in fresh snowfall on the Seegrube is over one meter and there is likely to be more to come today. Other reservoir locations have been similarly richly endowed. Almost the entire northern Alps have a 4-meter forecast for today.

Sun in the west, cold and snow in the east - this is roughly how the current and future weather situation in Europe can be summarized. At the moment, this means snow chaos in Athens and drought in the Western Alps, among other things. The dividing line between cool "summer" and picture-book winter will move closer to us again over the next few days and, as is so often the case, there is cause for cautious hope. But beware: those who hope may be disappointed!

PG partner Evoc not only produces the well-known backpacks, but also a wealth of practical luggage in which you can transport your 7 (or 70) things around. From bike and ski bags to photo bags and toiletry bags, everything is included. Today we are focussing on the Evoc Gear Backpack.