Weiße Weihnachten

Many people dream of a white Christmas. In our SnowChase Xmas Special, we take a closer look: Where does it snow under the Christmas tree, where does it stay green and where is it at least sugared?

North America was hit by incredibly cold temperatures over the holidays, while we in the German-speaking Alpine region experienced another very mild and green Christmas. We discuss the causes and effects, and also take a look at the outlook for the coming weeks. Can winter finally begin?

As was already foreseeable last week, a powerful area of high pressure is currently building up over Central Europe. The high pressure will accompany us until further notice and unfortunately there is no snow in sight. The high pressure is blocking the current over the Atlantic and deflecting the frontal zone to the north, so that it is a long way off for us and does not affect our weather in a wintry way.

Good news for the Northern Alps! The Christmas thaw is still raging at the moment, but from Thursday evening it will get colder from the north with snow down to low altitudes. Presumably, a Christmas alarm will go out in the northern congested areas. We are eagerly awaiting a message from the oracle!

High pressure determines the weather in the Alpine region. A high pressure system is currently arching over Central Europe with a simultaneous low pressure influence in the south. Over the next few days, the high will flatten out and the large-scale flow will become more zonal. If the whole thing were a little further south, we would have "western Alpine weather", but as the frontal zone is quite far to the north, we will remain under high pressure for the time being.

We're not dealing with the Grinch at the moment, who is making life difficult for our freeriders with his nasty behavior, but with warmth and rain up to 2400m. The weather is generally not very wintry at the moment. But Ullr is approaching to save the birth of another god and to give the red-clad guy from the Coca Cola ad a proper appearance with a sledge, at least in the Alps. How noble our favorite god is.

At the moment, some people are probably wondering about the weather, which doesn't seem to fit in with the dream of a White Christmas. For example, the WeatherBlog received the following question: "Hi, can you explain when this warm and sunny bastard weather will disappear? And what does it have to do with climate change if it gets 2 degrees warmer overall? Why is it not -2 degrees in December instead of -5 degrees as it used to be, but +15 degrees for weeks on end? What does global warming have to do with the fact that in recent years we have often had a tendency towards a persistent mild south-westerly flow...?"

Question from Tobi: A meteorologist, who is one of the more forecast-minded types, once told me that the stable weather conditions, i.e. good for a long time or bad for a long time (it's always a question of perspective, of course), have increased significantly. This is also in line with my personal perception, although you can be very wrong. Are there any empirical findings on this or what do you think about the trend?

The permanent high that has accompanied us for so long is increasingly weakening, while a powerful low near Iceland is becoming stronger and stronger, bringing very stormy holidays to parts of northern Europe. Between this Atlantic low and the remnants of the high over the continent, the Alps are caught in a south-westerly flow that brings mild, sometimes damp weather.

The current weather situation offers large east/west and cold/warm contrasts and remains difficult to predict. A sudden warming of the stratosphere could determine the further course of winter.

After a fantastic powder day on Thursday last week (16.12.), we had slightly frozen noses and a little toe that didn't really want to thaw out. On Friday, a chairlift acquaintance complained bitterly about the weather in general and the snow in particular, saying it couldn't be that it had been snowing for three weeks and the wife at home in Germany had to clear the snow again. In fact, this is already the second ski vacation where the sun never shines and it is also far too cold and in future he would stay at home?