WeatherBlog 16 2019/20 | Outlook and first winter review

The meteorological winter, i.e. December, January, February, was colder than the climatological average in most of Alaska, in northwest Canada and in phases in Svalbard and Greenland. Everywhere else it was something between fairly mild to extreme and record-breaking warm, with a certain tendency towards the latter. In Moscow, the warmest winter since measurements began was recorded, with more than 6°C above the average winter temperature. The previous record holder was "only" 3°C above average, so the record was not only just broken, but easily wiped away. Depending on where the normal average temperature lies, +6°C can quickly make the difference between snow and rain. It's not just Moscow that is lacking snow, the landscape in Helsinki and large parts of southern Scandinavia is also the brownest or greenest it has been since records began.

Outlook

The start of spring will be as wintry as winter has rarely been. Due to the rising continental high in the east, the Atlantic current will be somewhat blocked and the frontal zone will undulate in the area of Central Europe. Today, Wednesday, the Alpine region will be under the influence of a trough in a cool north-westerly current. After a rather cloudy morning, it will gradually become dry, and in the afternoon the sun should start to shine through in the east. On Thursday, the next disturbance will approach from the west. The precipitation will be concentrated in the west and south, the snow line will fall from west to east and it will be warmer overall. We'll leave the details to the oracle, who has announced a report for this evening. Friday and Saturday will remain cloudy with slightly lower temperatures, the southern slopes of the Alps will be more favorable and sunny. From today's perspective, Sunday will be clearer, but not bright and sunny. At the start of the coming week, the forecast will increasingly see the return of westerly weather in the familiar manner with a significantly milder SW current.