Alpen

The alarm comes with a massive line of thunderstorms and will bring some powder to the Alps again. This time with less densely packed warm and cold air masses, which made things quite complicated last week: Saturday the west lost out on the powder roulette table and the north won, Sunday it was the other way around.

The current PowderAlert is a rollercoaster of emotions. Fresh snow: great, finally! Especially in the Western Alps, where hardly anyone can remember such a dry winter. But the snow line bounces back and forth with every front. Will the meagre base in the mid-altitudes be washed away for good? In any case, the fresh snow is good for the glaciers and maybe there will be a ski touring spring in the high mountains after all?

The next few days will be relatively sunny in the north with "normal", more or less seasonal temperatures. In the south, it will remain rather mixed with the influence of low pressure. There will also be some snow in the southwest (see current PowderAlert). It will become more uncertain towards the weekend; according to the current model opinion, the current will turn to the north on Saturday.

With double-digit temperatures and plenty of sunshine, February now feels a lot like spring. Only there's usually more snow in spring... The next few days will finally see some movement in the weather. Large amounts of snow are not in sight, but it will at least be wetter again and the chances of a small refresh are increasing.

After a few turbulent days with lots of fresh snow, the sun is back for the time being. The view of the general weather situation - currently and in the crystal ball - is not very wintry and the WeatherBlog is a little bored.

Temperatures remain wintry for the time being. There is fresh snow here and there in not very abundant quantities. Overall, the snow conditions still leave a lot to be desired, although the snow quality is often relatively good at the moment thanks to the low temperatures. The wind could have a say in this over the next few days, but the situation will remain more or less as it is, at least until the weekend.

After a long break, the PowderOracle has brought us good news. Maybe there will even be another alarm at the weekend? Thanks to a strong north-westerly current, the next few days will be pretty wintry and at least the north will gradually get a base layer in mid-altitudes too! Also: New glacier study with predictably bad news for the ice in the Alps.

As every year, the SLF Winter Report provides a comprehensive review of the past snow and avalanche season in the Swiss Alps. The weather conditions and the development of the snow cover are presented in detail. Avalanche accidents in the 21/22 season are listed in tabular form, and some selected accidents are analysed in more detail.

This could be a great season if there is already so much snow in October. Oh wait.... The amount of CRs on PowderGuide makes the sad situation clear. Below 2220m there is virtually nothing and above that we are at 30-60% of the long-term average.

The air that currently surrounds us was over the Azores just a few days ago. You can feel connected to distant parts of the world, imagine you can smell the sea and ponder the beauty in the complexity of atmospheric movement as you glide down into the valley on Alpine artificial snow bands. You don't have to, of course, but the WeatherBlog tries to adopt a relaxed attitude in view of the turn of the year and not fret about the weather.

North America was hit by incredibly cold temperatures over the holidays, while we in the German-speaking Alpine region experienced another very mild and green Christmas. We discuss the causes and effects, and also take a look at the outlook for the coming weeks. Can winter finally begin?

An air mass boundary is keeping us busy today. The cold air of the last few days is slowly giving way to warmer air masses from the south. This will lead to dangerous black ice on the roads on the northern edge of the Alps. Apart from that, the borderline weather situation will initially bring some precipitation in the north and then a change to foehn-like, milder weather.