Westalpen

The Atlantic wakes up at the start of winter and brings snow to the western Alps on Friday. Otherwise: The east is still waiting for the big snow, from the weekend onwards the weather trend will be rather unwintry everywhere again, the fall was unusually warm and there are fewer inversions in Austria.

The PG Weather Service is taking a summer break on 1 May to recover from the positive stress of the numerous PowderAlerts in the 2017/18 season and to gather strength for many colorful new snow maps in winter 2018/19.

A decent dump is coming to the southwest of the Alps. It's still cold enough for powder and there's a lot of it coming down, so there's nothing wrong with a weekend in the south.

Today, Wednesday, will be very sunny for the most part thanks to the influence of intermediate highs, and any remaining hillside clouds should clear quickly. Thursday will be cloudy with the arrival of a warm front from the west. In the western Alps, it will probably be cloudy from the morning onwards, while it will remain clearer in the east in the morning.

The mythical mountain peak of la Meije lends itself to a lift-supported and varied tour in late winter. In the heart of the Western Alps, the 2-day tour leads through steep gullies and a rugged glacier landscape. The route requires frequent changes from ski to carrying passages and, depending on the snow conditions, also offers some technical passages. However, due to its sensational descents over the Glacier de l'Homme, it has more than earned the title of TouringTip.

It's not often that international weather reports dominate the evening news. If it does, there is usually not much else happening, or the weather has a massive impact on many people's everyday lives, for example in the form of extreme temperatures, as recently seen in the eastern USA and Australia, or masses of snow, as is currently the case in the Western Alps.

As announced, the time has come. We're in the middle of the rollercoaster and heading for the megaloop. The Ullr is sending squadron after squadron of damp, mild and cool air from the west towards the Alps and it's rattling around. There is a ray of hope in terms of the snow line, because this time it should look better in the Alps than last time. So maybe less puking and more fun on our wild ride!

As PowderAlert has already explained in more detail: it's snowing heavily in the southwest. In the north-east, it's only snowing a little today, then spring will continue. This basic constellation won't change much over the next few days either. What's more: tomorrow is World Weather Day!

Ullr finally thinks to himself again: "Oh, while I'm here, there'll be snow again". Thank goodness, you have to say, because there hasn't been much in France and western Switzerland so far. With the recent dump, you can probably go skiing there too. With the handbrake on. (Have there already been days without a handbrake this winter?)

During this spot check, we painfully learned what Mark Twain once said: forecasts are difficult, especially when they concern the future. Various platforms were virtually overflowing with predictions for an imminent dump in the Western Alps. Well then, bag and baggage in the van and off we go.

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?

Unlike Trump as president, Ullr is a god of facts and feel-good, so I'm afraid I'll have to pass on the #EightMeterSnow clickbait hashtag. But at least there's now a widely drivable alarm. So wax your skis, study the ski tour maps or hope for ski resorts to open earlier. It has already started to snow, but the fun only lasts until the weekend and unfortunately not until 2020 ;)