Disturbed circulation and May powder
High air pressure, which has spread from Spain via the French Atlantic coast, across the British Isles and into polar regions, has been blocking the westerly drift for some time. Disturbances that form over the western Atlantic do not make it to us, but are deflected to the north. On the eastern side of the massive high-pressure center, polar air masses with cool temperatures and fresh snow have repeatedly slipped into the Alpine region in the first half of May. Although the large-scale pressure structures are now gradually changing, the crystal ball still seems to be assuming high air pressure in the polar region, which means that the circulation will continue to waft around in our latitudes rather than producing standard westerly weather. May remains interesting!
This means that there could still be fresh snow in the mountains in May or perhaps even in June. There's still plenty lying around, as the latest reports from the Zentralschweiz, the Salzburger Land, Oberbayern und Sölden zeigen. The chances of a long spring ski touring season don't look bad with the unstable weather forecasts for May. There will also be isolated reports in the coming weeks. The weather forecast will be updated for the last time tomorrow, May 16, 2019, and will no longer be available from the weekend onwards.
