Meteorologists, at least those who are interested in weather forecasting, usually have a favorite topic. There are, for example, the foehn fanatics and the high fog lovers. What they all have in common is that they don't like boring weather.
Review
March wasn't actually all that wintry and it's no surprise that fruit trees blossomed far too early and thunderstorm freaks crawled out of the holes where they had slept through the winter. Snowfall was generally below average: Langen am Arlberg, for example, only recorded 8 cm of fresh snow in the entire month, the average being one and a half meters. Even the increase in precipitation in parts of eastern Austria is not much consolation for the dusty powder slats of most Alpine freeriders. In the inner Alpine regions of Austria, however, you could grow a nice goggle face with 150% of the usual hours of sunshine. (Source: ZAMG)
Current
The conditions at the moment are more or less as you would expect. The firn is getting better with every warm day; a few days ago, every turn was breaking through a thin cap into the deep snow below, but now, with the right timing, it's already pretty slushy. The firn, as well as the snow in general, is unfortunately becoming less and less with every warm day. On the north side, you'll find a mixture of everything, but none of it is particularly exciting.
Outlook
A warm front will move across the Alps from the west on Thursday (31.3.). The snow line will be around 2500 m in the western Alps and slightly lower in the east. However, there is unlikely to be any significant precipitation anyway. Towards the weekend, the entire Alpine region will come under the influence of a wedge. Warm air advection from the south could cause local temperatures of around 25°C, I don't even want to know where the zero degree limit is. There is a glimmer of hope at the beginning of next week in the form of a cold front, but it is still uncertain whether this will work out.
Let's just hope that the April weather lives up to its reputation and that the midsummer that is feared at the weekend doesn't last.
