WeatherBlog 10 2021/22 | Sun as far as the eye can see

Current situation and outlook

Crucial for our weather at the moment is an area of high pressure centered off the French Atlantic coast. The high pressure system is still somewhat tilted and oblique in the atmospheric landscape and stretches from France to Scandinavia. On the eastern flank of the high, cold air can flow from the east towards the Alps, giving us sunny but relatively cold weather (left map in the picture below). This will change over the next few days. The "high pressure arm" towards Scandinavia will be virtually overrun by the polar jet and the high will slide a little to the north-east (middle map). The cold air will then leave and it will become noticeably warmer at altitude. A few more "foot-cold" inversion days with plenty of sunshine in the mountains are on the cards.

Drought and forest fire danger

The south definitely needs more snow! In the Swiss natural hazard map, you have to look closely at the moment to find out where the orange coloring indicates a significant avalanche risk and where there is a significant risk of forest fires. Especially on the southern side of the Alps, some areas are very dry and where there is no snow, fires can quickly break out in winter. Dry grass that has died in the fall makes good tinder. Fires tend to occur most frequently 1) in summer, when the soil and vegetation dry out during periods of dry heat, and 2) in the spring months. If the snow has already melted on southern slopes, for example, but the fresh vegetation is not yet there, the dry, old grass may only need a spark to become a problem.

Fires or the risk of forest fires in the winter months are generally not unusual, but of course you could still be of the opinion that there should be enough snow in Ticino in January so that you don't have to think about it... The Tyrolean local press recently reported that fire departments in East Tyrol are also preparing for forest fires. Here, too, it is dry and due to forest damage caused by avalanches and storms in recent years, there is a lot of dead wood in places, which makes firefighting more difficult.

So it's clearly time for Ullr or Frau Holle to get active again!