Nordstau

Accumulated precipitation, also known as orographic precipitation or precipitation on a slope, occurs when air masses hit an obstacle and are lifted by it. The air becomes colder the higher it rises and when it reaches a certain level, the water vapor it contains condenses. Small droplets or ice crystals form, which precipitate as soon as they have reached the required size.

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.

After the last congestion has passed and the coreshots are being repaired, Ullr comes up with the idea of giving our rather dry northerly flow a bit more pep than the models have seen in the last few days and creates a small active boundary disturbance that brings us powder. So this much less sad alert comes as quite a surprise. Less sad because we have a base. At least below the tree line.

I dust off my electronic parchment, sharpen my wit and am pleased to present you with the first alarm of the meteorological winter. Ullr has seen sense and we are finally switching from late October to winter. Oh wait, wrong... There was more snow in the northern Alps at the end of October.

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.

After sweating it out on the bike last weekend at just under 2000 m and 15 degrees, Ullr now suddenly decides to take over the sceptre of the seasons from the sun god Ra and we hurtle from high summer into high winter. The first dump is coming up.

The WeatherBlog is back again at the end of the season and is looking at the ice saints to mark the occasion.

The widespread precipitation of the last few days makes up for the last few weeks and allows late winter powder skiing in the north too. After the snowy interlude, the sunny weather continues.

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 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.

A strong Azores high will bring a northerly flow to the Alpine region. This will bring wintry temperatures and precipitation. Where exactly the latter will end up is still somewhat uncertain.

PG-Conditions reporter KarlNickel asks: "I assume (the forecasting uncertainty) is mainly due to the large amount of data and parameters that are difficult to calculate? I would be interested to know ... whether it will be possible to make reliable 7-day forecasts in about 10 years' time."