Current avalanche and weather situation
The winter with little snow has created a tragic powder keg over the past week: On the one hand, a problematic build-up of snow cover in many places, and on the other, winter sports enthusiasts in acute powder deprivation.
Numerous avalanche accidents have claimed lives. We continue to advise a defensive approach, as the problem of old snow still needs to be taken into account. Avalanche.report reports and provides information in its blog.
Europe is currently once again in a pronounced blocking situation. Atlantic lows are bouncing off the high pressure barrier, so to speak, and are being redirected southwards over a large area. Precipitation has been falling in southern Europe since the weekend. Rain at lower altitudes, snow in the Pyrenees. Since the first stop of the Freeride World Tour, it has continued to snow centimeter by centimeter, so that the region currently has an above-average amount of snow compared to the ERA5 climatology. On the other hand, the Alps enjoyed calm, dry and fairly mild winter weather. Classic inversions have formed in many Alpine valleys: spring-like at the top, icy at the bottom and, where there was enough moisture, also with high fog. At least the avalanche situation has calmed down somewhat as a result.
Weather outlook
Until tomorrow, the high pressure over Central Europe will hold firm for the time being, it will remain mostly sunny, cold in the valleys and mild at higher altitudes. The general weather situation will change from blocking to NAO(see ECMWF info). In this case, this means that the high will move northwards and a trough will surround the whole of Europe, with the flow moving west-north-west. A low pressure system is forecast to develop explosively on this slide (core pressure < 960 hPa), which will then station itself off the coast of France at the weekend.
