Föhn

For the coming weekend, there are warnings of a Föhn storm on the main Alpine ridge and the areas north of it - including Saharan dust. Almost every skier is familiar with foehn or foehn-like effects on the mountain. Especially those who like to stay in areas on the main Alpine ridge. But what does the downdraft do to the snow cover?

Wow. It looks like Ullr is going to get its act together and let winter begin in early March. At least in the northwest (with over a meter from the last two alarms) and now also in the south - well, at least parts of the south. And as I've just come from climbing in Ticino, I can tell you: it's sorely needed there too.

At the meteorological start of spring, it's getting wintry on the southern slopes of the Alps. The rapid change of mild, partly foehn-like weather on the front of the trough, followed by the fronts last night and today during the course of the day, is causing a turbulent PowderAlert with interesting amounts of fresh snow, but also strong storms.

We take a look at where January 2017 ranks in the climate statistics and then consider the current situation and further developments in February: a long phase of cold, dry weather is followed by mild, foehn-like conditions in the north and fairly widespread precipitation in the parched south. It remains to be seen whether this change will last or whether we will soon return to familiar patterns.

The Alps are on the edge of a Western European trough in a strong southerly current. While it snows on the southern slopes of the Alps, at least at high altitudes, the Föhn dominates in the north. How does the Föhn work again? And what's next for the weather?

The next few days will bring changeable, mild, often foehn-like weather in the north. In the south, it will be cloudy and wet, possibly with late base-building for the alpine touring season. Also: On the occasion of World Weather Day, the WMO warns us to face the challenges of the future.

The Tambora volcano is located on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa. In April 1815, Tambora erupted, with far-reaching consequences not only for the surrounding area, but for the whole world. The WeatherBlog recently read a book about it.

Last weekend was interesting in terms of weather and regrettable in terms of skiing. After heavy rain during the night, temperatures of around 20 degrees were measured in many places during the day on Sunday. The leader in Austria was Pottschach (Lower Austria) with 23.2° - a new national record for February. What was going on?

Low pressure system Ruzica disturbed the carnival revelers in the German carnival strongholds on Rose Monday. Low Susanna then put the finishing touches to the whole thing last night. Together with a strong föhn wind, the carnival in the Alps was also blown away by the wind.

We are currently under the influence of a Mediterranean low whose frontal southerly flow is causing foehn winds in the northern Alps. The low is now slowly ending its rather long stay over the Iberian Peninsula and moving eastwards. The Föhn should be over here by Thursday and the unusually rainy days in the Sahara(!) will also come to an end. The precipitation already present on the southern slopes of the Alps will spread to the north, where it will be supported by a cold front from the NW.

The current weather is a good opportunity to take a closer look at the sun and its radiation. As we know, it is not only responsible for sunburn and the general living conditions on our planet, but also does one or two things to the snow.

While our colleague Orakel oracles and discusses the exciting future, this week's WeatherBlog deals with the boring past, which has recently been characterized by hurricanes, rain and cancelled freeride and Alpine World Cup events.