An ever earlier spring – good or bad?
One of the mildest winters on record is having an impact on nature: As has often been the case in recent years, nature has woken up very early, which is also reflected in the fact that hay fever symptoms have been on the rise for some time now and many spring flowers are already blooming in gardens and parks. Winters are becoming milder and milder as a result of climate change, which means that nature is waking up earlier and earlier and the growing season is being extended. This has a variety of effects, both positive and negative.
Polar vortex and first spring trend
Something is happening in the stratosphere over the polar region, another "major warming" is looming. With a delay of a few weeks, this could also have an impact on our weather patterns. We are therefore taking a cautious look at the long-term models for the coming spring.
AMOC – the heating of Europe
Global flow patterns exist not only in the atmosphere, but also in the oceans. These span the entire world and connect all the oceans with each other. In addition to winds and the Coriolis force, thermohaline circulation is the main driving force behind this. A new study on the possible overturning of the AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation) means that it is now back in the headlines. But what exactly is this about?
Very good weather in sight for this year's Super Bowl
Next Sunday, the Super Bowl, i.e. the final of the US American professional football league NFL, will take place near Las Vegas. The weather conditions for this 58th edition of the biggest sporting event in the United States are very good. However, this has not always been the case in the past...
Globally warmest January in recorded history
After the warmest year in recorded history, the new year also started with a record. With a global average temperature of 13.14 degrees, January was exactly 0.7 degrees warmer than the average for the years 1991-2020, beating the previous record holder (2020) by 0.12 degrees.
Microplastics in clouds
Microplastics and their impact on the environment and humans have become more and more of an issue in recent years. Until now, the focus has mainly been on water and soil, but now the fine plastic particles have also been detected in cloud droplets.
Atmospheric river causes flooding in California
An atmospheric river has caused enormous amounts of precipitation in California over the past few hours and days. The greater Los Angeles region has been particularly affected, with record-breaking rainfall totals in places.
El Niño – Peak probably passed
El Niño conditions have prevailed in the equatorial Pacific in recent months, and sea surface temperatures here are still clearly above average. However, the peak now seems to have passed and there are increasing signs that the ENSO swing is tipping again.
Hatschi – Start of the pollen season
Later than last year, but now the pollen season has begun and with it the time of suffering for pollen allergy sufferers in the north too. Currently, there is already a moderate to high amount of hazel pollen and a low to moderate amount of alder pollen in the Swiss Plateau. The prevailing high-pressure weather in the coming days will favor the pollen count; only on Thursday will the pollen be washed out of the air with a disturbance and some precipitation in the north, but the pollen concentration will quickly rise again afterwards.
The warm front
In meteorology, a front refers to an air mass boundary. In the case of a cold front, a colder air mass displaces a warmer one, and vice versa in the case of a warm front. The third form is a mixture of these two, known as a mixed front or occlusion. In this article, however, we will focus on the rarest variant here – the warm front.