Bergwetter

White mountains guard blooming flowers in green valleys, those who forget their sunscreen will regret it and early birds catch the firn.

After about 50 cm in the east instead of the expected (and therefore not alarmed) 20 cm, there are now up to 30-40 cm more. As the accumulation in the east – as so often... see today – can also be criminally underestimated, it could also occasionally reach 60 cm. But I'm not convinced?

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.

While the north-western Alps are drowning in snow, there is no sign of winter in the lowlands. January temperatures are often around 5 degrees above the long-term average and it has only seriously snowed above around 600 meters so far. There doesn't seem to be an end in sight to the wet and mild westerly slide - or is there?

Winds of hurricane force are when speeds of 64 knots are reached. That is just under 120 km/h or level 12 on the Beaufort scale. Wind forces in Beaufort are specified using phenomenological criteria. Level 11 (hurricane-like storm) prevails, for example, when there is severe damage to forests and houses and you can hardly walk. Level 12 (hurricane) is then a little more severe.

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.

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.

In Austria and Switzerland, this year's November will go down in history as the November with the least precipitation since measurements began. Temperatures were well above average at higher altitudes, but a little too cold for the time of year in the high fog basins.