Category: Current situation

Onset of winter at the end of April, short improvement at the beginning of May, and then winter will be back again: Following heavy foehn impact, winter struck again on 26 April. Lots of fresh snow in some parts of Tirol The southern regions won the prize: between Friday 26.04 and Monday 29.04, there was…

Current situation and trend The April weather persists: Current unstable and (for backcountry skiers) infelicitous weather conditions will persist for a bit. Nonetheless, a marked change is about to take place in air masses, according to forecasts of ZAMG: the southerly foehn system is expected to collapse on Friday, 26 April. A cold front will…

The sunny and wind-calm weather over the Easter holidays, coupled with top backcountry touring conditions in the mountains, are over. Tirol currently lies in the path of a powerful southerly air current, wedged between two low-pressure systems over eastern Europe and the western Mediterranean. As a consequence, clouds are accumulating along the Main Alpine Ridge…

Easter present: It’s hard to believe, but it really couldn’t be much better: a predominantly stable snowpack. High-pressure weather system. Mostly clear nocturnal skies with adequate outgoing radiation. Rather dry air masses. All of the ingredients for really good springtime conditions, provided one leaves early in the morning and finishes the tour relatively early. At…

Zooming in on the already mentioned near-surface weak layers, we were able to bring the picture into sharper focus. These layers were responsible for several avalanches involving persons in the regions where recent snowfall has been heaviest (see last blog). The avalanches were without consequences for the backcountry skiers. Slab avalanches and settling noises were…

Recent weather has suffered under the the onus of a NE barrier cloud zone. In Stubai, Ötztal and parts of Zillertal Alps, up to 60 cm of fresh snow was registered from place to place. The gradient in fresh snow depths was frequently impressive. There was next to no wind. Yesterday, 14 April, heightened avalanche…

A few items of current importance, as a supplement to the last blog. Particularly in springtime, the interplay of weather parameters – humidity, global radiation, air temperature – have decisive effects on avalanche danger. Even tiny changes in the weather can have huge effects on avalanche danger, both in positive and negative ways. A glance…

Current situation & outlook The current avalanche situation is quite favorable over widespread areas. The greatest danger continues to stem from wet-snow and glide-snow avalanches. Small-to-medium glide-snow avalanches are possible below about 2200 m in all aspects. Wet loose-snow avalanches are likely only below 1800 m at the current temperatures. In East Tirol the zero-degree…

A few snapshots of the current situation Lots of fresh snow in some southern regions 100 cm of fresh snow at 3000 m in Sölden ski area (photo: 05.04.2019) In the meantime, weather conditions have improved. Hardly any wind (in western regions, such as here in the Silvretta, clear nighttime skies, sunshine from early morning).…

Current situation & outlook April, comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb. On the heels of recent springlike temperatures, a low-pressure system over the Gulf of Genoa is bringing back a bout of late winter. In the southern barrier-cloud zones along the border to South Tirol, particularly on the Ötztal Main Ridge,…