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WeatherBlog 13/2015 | January review and outlook

Sun, high fog and so on ...

by Lea Hartl 02/11/2015
January may have felt relatively wintry, but the statistics have no feelings. February, on the other hand, is currently spring-like in the mountains, while the lowlands are often bobbing along under a blanket of inversion-induced fog.

January review - warm and wet

In its preliminary monthly review, ZAMG states that January was 2.7°C warmer than the long-term average across Austria, with the high value mainly due to the very warm phase around January 10. The highest temperature of the month was measured in Graz and Obervellach on January 10 at 21.7°C. Precipitation was also above average in Austria in January, although there was not only snow but also some rain, so the snow depths are not exactly exhilarating.

The current situation

The Alps have been in a low-gradient, omega-like situation for two days now, which can be recognized by the calm, sunny weather without wind or other inconveniences. As there is hardly any breeze, cold air close to the ground remains undisturbed and high fog forms on the inversion boundary, which often does not want to dissipate during the course of the day due to the still low level of the sun. Above this, it is brightly sunny and spring-like warm.

In this image from the polar orbiting satellite Aqua, you can see the German low mountain ranges, as well as parts of the Alps at the bottom of the image, protruding from the high fog. The inflow comes from the NW. The displacement of the air at the mountains causes gravity waves to form around them, which can be seen as small ripples in the image. In the direct lee of the mountains, the warming of the air as it descends leads to brightening.

Compare this to this duck in Lake Constance: as it displaces water while swimming, waves form behind it in a staggered pattern.

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The further outlook

Basically, the rather calm, unspectacular weather will be with us for a while yet, with a possible interruption at the weekend in the west and south, which we leave to the oracle. According to this, there are currently signs that the Azores High is visiting Central Europe. This does not automatically mean that winter is over, but as we know, overly speculative crystal ball gazing is just as pointless as premature despair and unpacking swimming trunks.

Finally, we recommend a visit to the SLF website for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. They're delighted to have successfully attempted a major avalanche (= they produced and filmed a major avalanche).

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This article has been automatically translated by DeepL with subsequent editing. If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors or if the translation has lost its meaning, please write an e-mail to the editors.

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