Alpen

Low pressure system Olivia brings the post-Valentine's Day powder announced by our colleague Oracle and finally puts an end to the eastern frost. After an impressive cold spell, the Atlantic slowly regains its importance.

The most interesting weather phenomenon in the Alps at the moment is the temperature. Cold feet and light frostbite among skiers are becoming luxury problems in the wake of the current cold spell.

Three major precipitation events characterized January in the Northern Alps: Andrea at the beginning of the month was followed by Fabienne around 20 January and finally Gisela a few days later. Up to three times as much precipitation fell as usual in January. With cold high Cooper, a rather dry, very frosty phase is now imminent.

A while ago, the possibility of a changeover from westerly weather to easterly cold was discussed here. As we all know, this didn't happen after all and the Atlantic has thrown one meter after another onto the north-west's measuring gauges. Now the cold from the east is making another attempt.

Last week's suspected change in the general weather situation is a thing of the past, the western slide is doing well and Fabienne is on the way. After a few fantastic winter days with freezing cold postcard weather, the next batch of powder is just in time for the weekend.

In 2011, we want to take a leaf out of the book of the ubiquitous annual reviews. As a skier, you usually think more in terms of winters and less in terms of calendar years, but if you sprinkle a few key statistical data points into the weather talk with strangers on the lift, you come across as incredibly well-educated, which rarely hurts.

The precipitation maps are becoming increasingly colorful and our colleague the oracle is living up to his name with meaningful hints. Word has got around that something interesting is about to be fabricated in the weather kitchen. So why all the excitement?

Nothing new in the west, or how Ullr sweetens our wait with lots of small snowfalls. Now that last week's dump has been digested and photographed, this week will see a punctual replenishment on the northern and western slopes of the Alps. It has already started to snow in the west and north of Switzerland and in France today and the front will also move eastwards along the northern edge of the Alps during the course of the day.

It's been hard to believe recently, but the classic westerly weather pattern is one of the most common large-scale weather patterns in Europe. The current, long-awaited snowfall clearly shows why westerly weather is so important for winter in the Alps: reasonably widespread precipitation – and not too little of it.

After the beginning of October, the time has finally come again. Snow is falling. The weather situation has changed and instead of dry and southern flavors, we are now getting our fresh, juicy air masses from the west to northwest. After the beginning of October, the time has finally come again. Snow is falling.

It is currently becoming clear how little sense the idea of "good" and "bad" weather makes. If you have too much of one, it soon becomes the other. The extremely dry November is increasing the risk of forest fires, particulate matter concentrations in the basins are reaching record levels and, unsurprisingly, almost all ski resorts without glaciers are postponing their openings. Some weather stations in the Alps will probably end November with 0.0 mm of precipitation.

The tropics are known to be the regions of the world where you can lie on white sandy beaches all year round and retreat to the shade of palm trees when the heat is on its way. If you need more specific information for your GPS, you can find them between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Occasionally, however, it can get pretty uncomfortable in the tropics, depending on the area, a hurricane, typhoon or a simple tropical storm can ruin your beach vacation. If you don't care about that sort of thing and prefer a down-to-earth drizzle, you can go swimming in the Mediterranean with peace of mind.