It's white in the east, snow for the south

It's white in the east, snow for the south

Cold air arrived in the eastern parts of Austria last night. It snowed heavily in the pre-Alps and the main alpine ridge (and basically everything south of it) had to deal with heavy wind from the north. Lots of snow in the main alpine ridge has been transported and in the meantime it’s snowing in the pre-Alps. The snow line dropped to 900(!) meters and you can find a nice snow cover at 1100 meters on the border of Steiermark and Nieder-Österreich. Let’s check out the webcams and measuring stations.

Hinterstoder is white
Hinterstoder is white
This looks like winter
This looks like winter
Hochkar
Hochkar
Gemeindealpe
Gemeindealpe

And it’s even white at lower altitude!

1100 meter altitude
1100 meter altitude
1002 meter altitude
1002 meter altitude

A look at the measuring stations says it all.

Almost 10 cm at 911 meter altitude
Almost 10 cm at 911 meter altitude
Almost 40 cm
Almost 40 cm

But there are also some heavy winds. If you go deeper into the Alps you have to deal with heavy winds. Check out the flags on the Grossglocknerstrasse. If you look closely you’ll also se signs of wind in the Gasteinertal.

Heavy wind
Heavy wind
Gastein
Gastein

The strong current from the north will loose some of its power and will turn to the east. This will end the northern Stau, but the weather will remain unstable. It’s still pretty cold and there’s plenty of humidity in the air to let it snow above 1500 meters from time to time. Don’t expect too much though, simply because the current is less powerful and doesn’t come straight from the north anymore.

TIP: Check out the snow maps with details for the next couple of days

Snow heading to the southern Alps

With the current turning to the east, the Italian Po-valley is filled with moist air and with the current coming from the southeast on Saturday and Sunday, this will bring some freshies to the Ortler and Monte Rosa regions. The sun will come out again on Sunday in the northern Alps (you might even go out for a tour on an alpine meadow), but on the south side of the main alpine ridge it will start snowing, with a snow line dropping to 1500 meters.

The sun will come out after Monday and the Alps can get ready for a new storm. This one is coming from the west with pretty warm air that will bring snow to the glaciers.

It is autumn, and the battle between warm air in the south and cold air in the north has begun. You can expect heavy storms heading to the Alps, some with warm air, others with cold air. And it might snow from time to time. Summer is definitely over. Winter is coming!

Stay stoked, Morris

meteomorris

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thomaswellerAuthor7 October 2016 · 20:40

Is the best time of the year in the Fall when we´re all glued to our screens watching the snow come…or actually in the winter when we´re shredding? Let´s just agree that the ski season actually starts in September for us die-hard skiers/boarders!
Staying stoked Morris!

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MuehlbachAuthor8 October 2016 · 10:21

My very best winter was when I lived in Austria 2008… it started in September and never stopped snowing until May… too much stoke, quoi.

On a different note - Austrian Met Office now has cold weather continuing until Tuesday and snow falling in most places above 1000 M.Alt. … I say whoever is there should head up to some Alm and to hell with the rocks :-)

"Skiing is a dance, and the mountain always leads." - - - "There is no skiing without apres-ski. Fai
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