It's Snowing!

It's snowing, not in Utah, but in the Alps.  And probably enough to ski in some areas.

Today's snow depth analysis for western Austria shows significant snow depths for September at mid and upper elevations.  

Source: https://avalanche.report/weather/map/snow-height

There are a few questionable observations, mainly due to the need to recalibrate (i.e., some stations strated with no snow but a measured snow depth of say 10 cm) but here's one that looks legit:  76 cm (30 inches) at Seegrube (1921 m) above Innsbruck.  

Source: https://avalanche.report

Here's a corresponding web cam view confirming that it looks legit.

Source: https://www.foto-webcam.eu/

The GFS forecast for 0600 UTC 14 September shows a great setup for heavy precipitation in the northern Alps of Austria and the Alpine Foreland (i.e., the upstream plains) of Austria and Germany with a deep closed low centered over the Balkan States and strong integrated vapor transport wrapping cyclonically (counter-clocwise) from the western Mediterranean and across the Black Sea Basin, Ukraine, Poland, and Germany.  That is a favored moisture-transport corridor for the northern and western Alps.   

The situation though in eastern Austria is quite serious as heavy precipitation in that area is expected to continue for some time.  Below is the GFS forecast valid 1200 UTC tomorrow showing continued precipitation in the Lower and Upper Austrian States.  

Todays Tirol Daily News in western Austria highlights the flooding in the east as well as the heavy snowfall and avalanche situation in Tirol in western Austria.  

I took a look at the Avalanche danger article and if my translation is accurate, it was a 70 year old hiker who was buried on Saturday and is still not recovered.  The second person was on the rescue team and was partially buried and with a right leg injury.  The rescue was called of that afternoon.