Südstau

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 play continues and artistic director Ullr wants to extend the season of the extremely successful play "Märzwinter". The little man from the street, who is always asked about this in TV interviews, doesn't think it's so great, but we're looking forward to a little compensation for the miserable start to the powder season.

The meteorological winter (December, January, February) has been over since Monday. In Austria, it went down in the statistics as the second warmest winter in recorded history at 2.7° above the long-term average, and in Germany it was also 3.4° warmer than the average. In Austria, only 2006/07 was warmer, 2013/14 was just as warm. This means that five of the 10 warmest winters in the 250-year measurement history have occurred in the last 10 years. Nevertheless, and because the weather is known to not always stick to the calendar, it was, is and will be relatively wintry, at least in the mountains. We take a closer look at this below.

Most people have already seen it: The maps are getting more colorful, the crowds more massive, the ski internet is going crazy. It's southern traffic jam time.

The Mediterranean lows that have been so frequent in recent winters have been rare so far this season. Low pressure system Virginie ends the west/northwest trend, at least in the (very) short term, and the south-east can be happy.

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.

Live from the Valais, I can tell you that Alarm 8 was actually very nice. Three days of powder and, surprisingly, three days of sunshine later, it's now alarm nine, which is valid until Monday, when alarm 10 should appear.

Just a few days ago, the Alps were still in a mild, westerly flow. There was precipitation, but unfortunately not in the right state of aggregation for the most part. What has changed?

And once again, the pattern of winter can be seen in the maps: because it was mostly only really colorful in the Southern Alps. And here only from the Maritime Alps to Monte Rosa in the west of Italy. Apparently, Ullr has taken a liking to the Signorinas del Neve and always wants to go back. And for all lovers of the southern lifestyle between espresso and deep powder, there's yet another reason to go there, because it's thumping: And once again in the magical meter range! This time, snow should fall from the Maritime Alps to the Dolomites, but the jackpot, as so often this year, is to be found in Piedmont.

I'd like to welcome everyone to the 5th matchday of the Südstaubundesliga and hope you're looking forward to exciting matches with the Saturday powder as much as I am. Because just in time for the weekend, as with the Bundesliga, the Südstau is starting again and alarming amounts are coming from southwestern Piedmont via Monte Rosa and Ticino to Adamello and the French southwest. This time the models don't show anything further east and there are probably no positive surprises in terms of the track (after the poor Dolomites were very disappointed last week), because it's the same areas as always in the south that are getting snow this winter.

The last alarm for a while, Ullr thinks, and sends us the next pack of Pow in the Alps, just in time for the carnival vacations. Ullr seems to have a soft spot for carnival fans and sends snow to the south and southwest. And in all likelihood, there will be a lot of it by Tuesday. This alert is only valid until Sunday, but I'll try to give you an idea of the total amounts.

True to the motto "when it's on, it's on", Ullr is reflecting on its performance last week and sending supplies south just in time for the weekend. The whole thing starts today and will be finished on Friday morning. It won't be a proper dump but a fun replenishment on the soft base.