Weather conditions in winter 2018/19
After a very warm and rather dry October and November 2018, the ski touring season only started in many areas towards the middle of December. Only around All Saints' Day was there a heavy snowfall event on the highest mountains in the south. Further down, 700 liters per square meter of rain fell from the sky in just a few days in the south of Italy and on the Carnic ridge! This resulted in flooding in Carinthia.
From the beginning of January, the current turned persistently to the north and in around 15 days, well over 5 meters of fresh snow fell on the mountains in some areas. In Austria, there were two deaths from roof avalanches and in the northern Alps there were also deaths from suffocation in deep powder snow. The main focus was from the Innsbruck Nordkette to the east over the Wilder Kaiser and as far as Upper Austria. To the west towards the Arlberg, the amount of snow was still considerable, but no longer as extreme. In Hochfilzen at the eastern end of Tyrol, there was a 15-day snowfall total of 451 cm at 960m above sea level! In the inner Alpine regions in the west, winter 2017/18 was wetter than 2018/19. The second half of January was characterized by excellent winter sports conditions. After settling very quickly within a few days - as is usual for heavy snowfall - a stable and very, very thick layer of old snow remained.
At the beginning of February, the south finally received the long-awaited heavy snowfall. The conditions were then quite okay there too. In mid-February, an omega high-pressure system finally arrived with sunshine and extremely dry air. Towards the end of this dry period, penitential snowfall of over 10 cm could be observed in some areas of the Alps. Normally you only see this in the Alps with heights of two or three centimetres. Please note: Penitential snow is not to be confused with summer snow!
March and the first half of April brought mostly average weather and fresh snow conditions. In mid-April, there was another special weather situation: an eastern thaw that brought up to 60 cm of fresh snow in the Stubai, Ötztal and Zillertal Alps. The Easter vacations were characterized by perfect ski touring conditions and good firn.
At the end of April, the general weather situation changed permanently. May was characterized by much too cold temperatures and regular and abundant fresh snow in the higher elevations of the Northern Alps. It was not until Ascension Day (30.05.) that winter finally gave up. The snow depths at the higher stations in the Northern Alps were in the record range for May and just as often recorded new absolute record snow depths.
