WeatherBlog 20 2022/23 | Easter weather

Current situation and outlook

The Azores High has formed a thin, elongated wedge that stretches from the French west coast across the British Isles to Scandinavia. To the east of it, cold air from the Arctic is flowing towards the Alps. The cool north-easterly flow has been decisive for the "feeling" on the mountain in recent days. The WeatherBlog recently went skiing and the conversation on the lift revolved around the unfamiliar cold, which we are no longer used to! In climatological terms, the temperatures are not unusual, but after the winter you are probably surprised if a T-shirt is not warm enough on the ascent. In any case, apart from the unaccustomed chill, the cool airflow brings mostly sunny conditions, especially where the air is drier due to the north föhn.

March in review: Mild, sometimes turbulent

As usual, the weather services look back on the past month and note that it was unusually mild, also unfortunately as usual. MeteoSwiss reports that March was 1.4°C too warm across Switzerland, and even 2°C too warm in some Alpine regions. More striking than the monthly average temperatures - as mentioned, we are more or less used to warm weather - were the heavy snowfalls in the second week of March, which improved the previously miserable snow record somewhat. This was immediately followed by a few days with temperatures of over 20°C and then another cold spell with fresh snow. In Austria, the March statistics look relatively similar with 1.5°C above the climate average. There was less fresh snow in the eastern Alps than in the west. In the west of Austria, precipitation levels were more or less normal. In the east, the already relatively alarming drought continues. The weather services are also pointing to the early development of plants, from hazel blossom to snowdrops and fruit trees, all of which were comparatively early.

The WeatherBlog wishes you a happy Easter and good luck in your search for eggs and/or snow. We'll be back next week and then probably slowly say goodbye to the summer break - depending on the weather, of course!