Polar vortices spoil the winter for us
“January is guaranteed not to be really cold anymore”
Winter seems to be over before it even begins. Will there still be snow? And why is it so warm anyway? Klaus Marquardt from Meteo News explains.
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At 1600 meters, some ski tourists in Villars-sur-Ollon VD ski on artificial snow. An end to the mild temperatures is not in sight.
Marian NadlerEditor News
The ski areas in Switzerland must continue to tremble. In the middle of the Christmas holidays, the mild climate and the lack of snow throw a spanner in the works for the operators in many places. Now the next piece of bad news: Don’t expect frosty temperatures in the next few days either. The zero degree level levels off at over 2500 meters.
Hochwang GR, Moléson FR, Marbach-Marbachegg LU: The list of closed smaller ski areas has recently become longer and longer. And even areas that were actually considered snow-reliable sometimes have the greatest difficulty in maintaining what they have to offer. In many places, hiking is popular instead.
“January is guaranteed not to be really cold anymore,” says Klaus Marquardt from Meteo News to Blick. It remains mild. Specifically: between 8 and 12 degrees. The normal case in January is actually 4 degrees in the Mittelland.
Record January possible
Even on New Year’s Eve it was way too warm. The warm turn of the year does not leave the weather experts cold. This “exorbitantly mild” start to 2023 is unique. He can therefore not rule out a record-breaking warm January.
Snow can also fall in the middle elevations, but the white flakes won’t stay there for long, according to the weather expert’s forecast. In weather like this, the Swiss shouldn’t get any winter feelings, according to the meteorologist.
The reason for this mini-spring is the stable polar vortex. This is a strong aerial band rotating from west to east at an altitude of 20 to 50 kilometers. The polar vortex can have an extreme impact on the weather. The polar jet, a strong westerly wind, has kept the eddy in check in recent weeks. As a result, cold air remains in the vortex and does not reach us, instead warm air flows to Europe.
Dark clouds are on the way
Marquardt cannot predict how the situation will change in February. If the polar vortex remains stable, the mild weather should continue. spring instead of winter.
Dark clouds will bring rain to Switzerland this week. And it’s likely to be stormy. According to the models, the severe storms only touch Switzerland. Like last year, when hurricane Zeynep hit Europe and caused chaos. People even died in neighboring countries.