It's getting dark quite early again, columns of cars are rolling up the valleys, advance season ticket sales are over in many places, sports stores are advertising the latest developments in carving, Facebook contacts are posting smiley faces and snowflakes - the evidence points to the approach of winter. The WeatherBlog has spent the summer break watching TV and knows that on CSI at least 2 perpetrators are convicted every week with circumstantial evidence. So it's high time to get to work and track down winter.
Ex-Nor'Easer Quinn
Unfortunately, after initial research, the WeatherBlog has to conclude that winter is not that far off after all. A cautious glance out of the window shows: great hiking weather. Something is not quite right. Didn't we hear about snow chaos in America a few days ago? Didn't they even cancel Halloween because the pumpkins disappeared under a meter of snow? And here you can walk around in a T-shirt and, if you're lucky, ski on rock-free glacier slopes? Research shows: In fact, a typical Nor'easter was on the east coast of the USA, i.e. a low with a north-easterly track that sucks in cold air off the coast of New England, onto which warm Atlantic air then glides. This is a very good way to produce heaps of precipitation. This Nor'easter, as the name suggests, moved on to the northeast after completing its work on the East Coast. Over the Atlantic, it decided to turn to an easterly course and head for Europe. He went from Nor'easter to Low Quinn and had to realize: Viola rules in Europe and Viola won't give way just because Quinn shows up.
High pressure area Viola
Viola is a large, stable high that has spread across central and eastern Europe and has recently provided mild, sunny weather and prospects of a sea of lowland fog in large parts of the Alps. It actually wants to continue doing this, but Quinn is getting closer and closer and is slowly losing its territory from the west. Quinn is causing a strong south-westerly flow over the Alps and a strong foehn wind, which is putting a dent in the stable high pressure weather. The entire southern Alps will be cloudy thanks to dusty clouds. From Friday (4.11.) it will become increasingly damp, at least in the western Alps, more so in the south and less so in the north. At the weekend, there will also be accumulating precipitation in the eastern Southern Alps. As Viola will not give in so easily, it will probably remain dry and sunny in the north, whereby the strong southerly wind should at least disperse some of the persistent fog patches.
A lot of accumulated precipitation in the high southern Alps
Quinn is not letting himself down in terms of precipitation. At least the south and parts of the west are getting similar amounts to what the US received a few days ago. As they have to avoid Viola, Quinn's fronts only have southern access to the Alps and thus the warm Mediterranean air masses. The snow line is correspondingly high and only the high mountains can benefit from base-forming fresh snow. It remains to be seen whether WeatherBlog's new colleague Powder-Alarm will comment on this....
