Silvester

It's that time again, the end of the year is approaching and it's time for fireworks. As the year draws to a close and the first firecrackers go off in the valley, it's worth taking a look up there. Innsbruck has been celebrating its mountain New Year's Eve on the Nordkette since 1994.

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.

Today's "Powder" alert is more of an official PowderGuide precipitation bulletin. Greetings, time travelers! You have traveled to the year 2070 and arrived in a normal winter.

After the südstau is before the südstau, or: To those who have, shall be given. The Christmas pattern is repeating itself and a calmer phase today and tomorrow will be followed by the next stormy southerly situation on New Year's Day. The focus of the precipitation will once again be in the south-east and we are once again waiting for a report from the oracle with further details.

The new year begins as the old one ends: lots of sunshine, mild temperatures at high altitudes, cold in the valleys due to inversions and nocturnal radiation into the mostly starry sky. The flow will remain west to southwest and there is no significant precipitation in sight for the time being.

The year 2019 is still young, but already has a lot to offer in terms of snow: one alarm follows the next and winter really seems to have arrived, at least in the north-east of the Alps. The west and especially the south will have to make do with artificial snow and the remnants of the early season snowfalls for the time being.