Low pressure system Olivia brings the post-Valentine's Day powder announced by our colleague Oracle and finally puts an end to the eastern frost. After an impressive cold spell, the Atlantic slowly regains its importance.
Review
The first half of February was characterized by cold Siberian air, which was able to reach us thanks to a polar vortex split. The circulation was severely disrupted by a high-pressure bridge from the North Atlantic to the North Pacific and the cold air masses from the continental east were able to spread unhindered to Central Europe. After a few days of gorgeous weather across the board with cold, sunny weather and an extremely light layer on the well-established westerly base, the wind soon intervened. Over the past week, it was easy to observe the development from "super everywhere" to widespread "pretty nasty".
Current situation
The combination of wind and low temperatures made for a very unfavorable base for the current snowfall. The snow surface varies greatly on a small scale and has everything from various melting and windblown hardpacks to surface rime, which is where fresh snow tends to slide off. Our current storm depression Olivia is hitting the Alps a little further east than its legendary predecessors. The low pressure core is located somewhere over Poland and the Alps are on the back side of the trough in a strong northerly flow. A look at the polar vortex shows that the split is a thing of the past and the vortex is swirling again.
Outlook
By Friday, Olivia had already moved southeast and we were moving into a more westerly flow. Relatively mild, humid Atlantic air is being shoveled towards us - the principle is familiar after the past few months. The polar vortex continues to strengthen and is likely to transport Atlantic lows to Europe in the near future as if on the conveyor belt of an Aldi express checkout. This means that the next frontal systems from the north-west are already on the way at the weekend. Temperatures will hover around normal seasonal values.
