Wetterblog 9 2023/24 | Ein Blick in die Ferne

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Weather situation and outlook

The polar vortex has retreated far away from Europe and is now determining the weather in North America. There is a lot of snow there, from which many Hollywood stars mix controversial iced coffees and frost, bringing black ice, which is an equally difficult subject to control.

Unfortunately, we have arrived in a classic westerly weather situation. Precipitation is reaching Germany and the northern slopes of the Alps, but it is only fluffy at high altitudes. No improvement in sight for the time being. We'll make do with the fact that the last snowfall brought some conditions reporters very good conditions after all. There is nothing new from the west in the medium term either and perhaps we should prove our willingness to make sacrifices at the ULLR shrine, or be patient. In the meantime, we let our gaze wander into the distance. How are things actually looking in Hokkaido, Georgia and British Columbia?

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Current weather situation Northern Hemisphere: 850hPa geopotential and temperature

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Hokkaido

The much-vaunted JaPow! In this article, a Japanese weather expert explains the special features of Japanese snowfall. Of particular interest is how the quality of JaPow in Hokkaido is even higher than on the main island, due to the weaker lake effect and lower temperatures. Webcams suggest quite good conditions.

Georgia

Now that Sammy and Heli have so impressively portrayed Georgia on our minds as a freeriding paradise with Ialakha, let's take a look at their route and the current weather. ECMWF reports more than five metres of snow in the high mountains and the webcams also indicate the best conditions. Can we expect a new edition of Ialakha this winter? The snow conditions seem favourable. Otherwise, FWT will also be organised in Georgia this year, we are excited!

Kicking Horse, BC

We also look to Canada, to the mountains around Revelstoke in British Columbia. Almost 5 metres in the high mountains look solid, although I don't have a reference here. Before Christmas, Whistler still had quite abominable conditions to look at and listen to, but by the time the FWT event comes round in mid-February, everything will certainly be fine.

The overall snow situation in the northern hemisphere

The state of the cryosphere, i.e. the surface of the Earth covered by ice and snow, is constantly monitored by satellite and in-situ measurements and summarised here: https://globalcryospherewatch.org/state_of_cryo/snow/. We notice that the total snow mass increased significantly in January and is now above average, but North America is probably responsible for this. The Alps, even though they are the fixed point in the world for ours, only play a minor role here.