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In the last few days, the WeatherBlog has often heard the question of whether the current weather misery can be blamed on climate change. It's somehow to blame for everything and in the meantime we've often read that it's causing more "extreme" or simply more persistent weather conditions. So what's this all about again?

After a lot of tinkering and numerous optimizations last season, our PowderMap now enables the display of ConditionsReports simultaneously with new snow or sunshine forecasts, as well as the SNOWGRID Layover. Reason enough to name it our Gear of the Week!

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.

The PowderGuide weather service is starting the season. As usual, you'll find a preview and short text forecast on the homepage and our PowderMap in the weather section, which you can use to navigate to ConditionsReports, text forecast, fresh snow and sunshine forecast.

Spring is progressing rapidly, but has to pause for breath: Cool air of polar origin is reaching the Alps from the north-east and it is getting fresh again with snowfall limits in some of the higher valleys. Maybe it's better to wait a few more days with the summer tires!

A strong low pressure system is approaching the Alpine region from the west and a southerly flow is developing in front of the trough with Föhn on the northern slopes of the Alps and increasing accumulating precipitation in the south. Today, Wednesday, it is already snowing heavily in the west, while in the east it is still mostly dry, at least in the north, with a strong Föhn wind.

The interplay of windy, warmer, colder, sunny and wet continues. Embedded in a strong westerly current, new disturbances are constantly reaching the Alps. Small changes in the direction of flow on both sides of the Alps sometimes lead to foehn, then again to accumulating precipitation.

A small high-pressure bridge has moved between a low over Scandinavia and one in the Aegean and is currently providing sunny, high-pressure weather in the Alps. Tomorrow, Thursday, a small disturbance will move through, bringing snow showers to the western Alps and some clouds to the east.

The persistent, very heavy northern precipitation has come to an end and a high with a core in the western Mediterranean will dominate the weather in the Alpine region today, Wednesday. Over the next few days, there will be minor disturbances from time to time, but compared to the weather of the last two weeks, it will remain calm. Time to take a deep breath, dig out the cars and shovel off the roof.

...and the occasional bit of north-westerly congestion. That more or less sums up the current outlook. As you can read in the never-ending PowderAlert series, it's still snowing in the northern Alps 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.

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.