Lots of snow for the southern Alps!

Lots of snow for the southern Alps!

Monday was pretty good at the Pic du Midi de Bigorre in the Pyrenees, where I’m riding at the moment. Conditions felt more like April than March, but this mountain has so much potential! The Pyrenees will get some fresh snow the next couple of days. But, there’s even more snow in the forecast for the high alpine in the southern Alps this week! In this forecast:

  • Sun is shining on Tuesday
  • Wednesday will start with snowfall
  • Snowfall in the southern Alps from Thursday
  • No PowderAlert (yet)?

Sun is shining on Tuesday

Tuesday starts sunny and it will remain sunny for a while in western and northern Alps. It will get cloudy in the southern Alps during the day. You can expect the first precipitation south of the Gotthard tunnel during the day though, when the sun is still shining in the Dolomites and the Piedmont.

A front with snow for the southern and northern Alps will pass in the night to Wednesday. The snow on the north side of the main alpine ridge is the result of a cold front which makes some furious attempts to reach the Alps. The snow line will temporarily drop towards 1000 meters.

The fronts on Tuesday
The fronts on Tuesday

At the same time, humid air from the south arrived in the Alps. These clouds will bring fresh snow, but only above 1700 to 2000 meters. The main alpine ridge is situated right between the front from the north and the front from the south and you can also expect some snowfall there in the night to Wednesday, but the snow line will be somewhere between 1000 and 2000 meters. You can expect some sunny spells from the west on Wednesday, but that won’t be for long.

Snow for the southern Alps
Snow for the southern Alps

Snowfall in the southern Alps from Thursday

A new front will kick in on Thursday. An active depression over Spain starts a huge current from the south. The northern Alps will have to deal with a warm Föhn wind, but it will start snowing on the south side of the Alps. And that snowfall will last well into the weekend. The snow line is around 1500 to 2000 meters, and varies from time to time. Dry snow will generally only fall above 2100 meters or higher.

Föhn from the south
Föhn from the south

No PowderAlert (yet)?

Lots of snow and still no PowderAlert? That’s correct. A lot of snow will come down, but only above 2000 meters. It will snow continously with poor visibility. Powder? Yeah, for sure, but only on the slopes. The visibility simply is too bad in the off-piste in the high alpine. I’ll give you sme PowderAdvice and where to go tips later this week.

Anyway, this snowfall in the high alpine defenitely offers perspective for the end of the season!

Stay stoked. Morris

meteomorris

Replies

Tourist
AnonymousAuthor21 March 2017 · 18:04

Hi Morris, thanks for this - and I’m really looking forward to your PowderAdvice…am trying to decide where to go early April and it’s sooo tricky! Cheers, Uli

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rossymcgAuthor21 March 2017 · 23:07

Looks like I’ve picked correctly for once in my life. I was in a toss up between VDI/tignes st anton but out of nowhere chose cervinia. it’s going to be pounding it down there the back end of the week and I’m out there on Sunday for a week BINGO

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