Alpen

After the last real north jam, the powder slats are in and everyone is keen for a repeat, but before everyone goes "all in" like a poker game and pushes their powder chips into the Alps, it should be said that some will lose: The sticking point is the snow line, as it varies greatly from west to east.

The WeatherBlog joins the long list of annual reviews. It has been clear for some time that 2014 will go down in history as a very warm year. In Austria, there has not been a year with a higher average annual temperature since measurements began in 1768, and 2014 will most likely be the warmest year worldwide since 1880 (Austrian monks started measuring weather data earlier than many others).

Over the past few days, the weather in the Alpine region has been dominated by a strong westerly current produced by a low over northern Europe and a high in the south. The high in the south was strong enough to steer most of the disturbances north of the Alps. It was warm and sunny in Austria and Bavaria, while it poured down in northern Germany, which is at least a little less summery.

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 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.

Anyone traveling to a tourist region in Austria for biking can hardly avoid Saalbach-Hinterglemm. The valley in Salzburg has been a fixture on the Alpine bike scene for years. We took a look to see whether the Bike Circus Saalbach Hinterglemm still lives up to its good reputation.

After weeks of television weather forecasters rejoicing and finding warm temperatures 10 degrees above average and sunshine "totally great", the heat is finally over and we are rejoicing because Ullr is not leaving the field to summer without a sound, but is at least giving it a serious fight back.

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

The southern winter won't be really boring for Ullr, but he's turning the screws so that snow is also coming to the north and especially the west.

PowderGuide über-user Tobi asks: how do such pronounced southern winters or, last winter, northern winters come about? I'm aware that there is a certain tendency to preserve the snow. But the fact that it always turns out to be as extreme as this winter is astonishing.

The northern congestion was short-lived and we fall back into a south-westerly situation that is quite impressive: While there are warnings of heavy snowfall and high to very high avalanche danger on the southern slopes of the Alps, the north can expect a mild foehn.

There is fresh snow in the north. After all. Unfortunately, the whole thing has been canceled out in the last two days, but there should still be enough for an alert in the northwestern Alpine arc by Monday evening. The snow line fits everywhere. Only the amounts are not at all euphoria-inducing.