Alpen

The PowderGuide weather service is taking a summer break with tomorrow's forecast for May 16, 2019. After the winter has stepped on the gas again in late spring (last PowderAlert on May 3rd!), we are slowly but surely heading into summer. The PG team is taking a breather and is secretly already looking forward to the first snowflakes in the fall when things get going again.

The last of its kind. Confucius says: "Powder in May, passes quickly." For all those who want to read the last official PowderGuide Alarm with pathos, pining and kitsch and think back to a pretty good season (or want to take themselves back to the Christmas TV program of the late 80s), here is the soundtrack to the Alarm. PowderGuide goes multimedia!

With yesterday's cold front, winter has returned, at least at higher altitudes, and the Sahara-dusty Föhn period has come to an end. Today's Saturday will start relatively friendly but cool, at least in the east, and the next front will approach from the northwest towards the evening, bringing the next wave of precipitation on Sunday night.

Spring is progressing rapidly, but has to pause for breath: Cool air of polar origin is reaching the Alps from the north-east and it is getting fresh again with snowfall limits in some of the higher valleys. Maybe it's better to wait a few more days with the summer tires!

A strong low pressure system is approaching the Alpine region from the west and a southerly flow is developing in front of the trough with Föhn on the northern slopes of the Alps and increasing accumulating precipitation in the south. Today, Wednesday, it is already snowing heavily in the west, while in the east it is still mostly dry, at least in the north, with a strong Föhn wind.

A large-scale weather situation of the "anticyclonic north" type brings sunshine (therefore anticyclonic) with relatively cool temperatures (because of the northerly flow). Good conditions to make the most of the little fresh snow of the last few days with the best touring weather!

It's the beginning of spring again! This time in the astronomical sense, meaning that the sun is vertical above the equator today and day and night are the same length everywhere. The weather is sticking to the calendar and ensuring sunny mountain weather and - hopefully - firn fun

Ullr heralds the second round of the late winter retreat battles and this time sends us useful amounts of precipitation. Unfortunately, it no longer has the power to keep it cold throughout and only higher up does the powder survive the warming.

It's going to be a turbulent week - the PowderAlert has already announced it. One front chases the next, all bringing precipitation, initially with relatively cool temperatures.

The interplay of windy, warmer, colder, sunny and wet continues. Embedded in a strong westerly current, new disturbances are constantly reaching the Alps. Small changes in the direction of flow on both sides of the Alps sometimes lead to foehn, then again to accumulating precipitation.

The meteorological winter is coming to an end (the skiing winter is still a long way off, of course!) and with it, the permanent high that has dominated the Alpine weather for what feels like half an eternity is slowly coming to an end.

Today's somewhat changeable weather - changeable in the sense of "there are a few clouds" - is only short-lived. Dorit, last week's high, is moving away to the east, but high Erika is already waiting in the wings.