WeatherBlog 12 2022/23 | Sun as far as the crystal ball can see

Current situation and outlook

The current situation has been looming for some time: High pressure across the entire Alpine region. Today, we still have the high-over-low situation to thank for this, which has been gracing us since the snowfall at the end of last week. The wedge axis of the high pressure system, which virtually limited the snowfall in the west, has tilted to one side and built a bridge to a neighboring high pressure system in the east. Remnants of low pressure still lie to the south of the high pressure bridge. In between, relatively cold air from the north-east is flowing in our direction.

This constellation will move eastwards over the next few days and will be seamlessly replaced by an omega layer. This won't make much of a difference to the weather, but it will be much milder at higher altitudes from Thursday/Friday. Inversions will form or already exist in the valleys. It will therefore remain cooler here and the air quality will suffer. There are no signs of any significant winter changes until after the weekend. There may be a few high clouds in the north from time to time, but in general we can expect a longer, very sunny phase throughout the Alps. Fresh snow is therefore not to be expected.

And otherwise?

The DWD points out that two thirds of the meteorological winter is already over. Although this is true, we don't really want to hear this in view of the lack of snow. In addition to this statement, there is an overview of the snow cover days in Germany to date. The balance is expectedly different from region to region.

On the occasion of the current weather situation, MeteoSwiss offers an explanation of blocking layers and the differences between high-over-low and omega. It also explains how lakes freeze over. This season, the Upper Engadine lakes used as an example are later than usual.

The SLF now publishes irregular blogs on avalanche events, just like its colleagues in Austria. The latest issue looks back at the snow and weather situation before, during and after last week's fresh snowfall. The avalanche situation is particularly critical in the east of Switzerland, where there was more fresh snow. After a longer phase of mostly clear weather, the snow surface was often transformed before the fresh snow. This old snow surface is now acting as a weak layer. The situation is similar in neighboring Austria. The weak layer will remain with us for some time and, as always with old snow problems, cannot be recognized by a superficial examination of the snow cover. The warning services assume that the snow cover will only stabilize slowly. Until this improves, the bright sunny touring weather should be enjoyed with caution