The first signs of winter are coming to the mid-mountain ranges. A strong northern current will bring snow to the east of Austria, the peaks in the Czech Republic and the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia the next couple of days. It’s the first significant snowfall of the season. It will probably snow heavily in Slovakia, but the eastern part of Austria can also expect around 30-60 cm of freshies above 1500 meters. High pressure area Peter and the ‘storm’ Yanina are causing this snowfall. Cold air from the north is heading to the Alps between those two systems and the temperature will drop seriously in the mountains from Tuesday.
Storm Yanina isn’t that powerful. It’s not she’s completely responsible for the snowfall. The enormous pressure differences between the high pressure area Peter and the low pressure area Yanina are causing the strong northern current. Weak storms normally don’t bring lots of snow, but in this case the northern current is here to stay for a while and the air that’s coming in is really cold. The combination of these two factors makes the moisture in the cold air layer transform into snow and will create the first feeling of winter in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
It’s snowing already today, but because the snow line is still high, you can only see some freshies on the webcams tomorrow. It will get more serious on Tuesday when the snow line will drop to 1200 meters and will end up at 900 meters on Wednesday.
The most snow will come down east of the line Salzburg-Obertauern. You can expect around 30-60 cm of fresh snow above 1800 meters Slovakia will also get significant amounts of snow. The more west, the less snow will come down, simply because it’s warmer and there’s less moisture in the air.
Tip: Check out our snow maps for more details
The air will remain cold until the end of the week and the weather will be pretty unstable in the Alps from time to time. Higher temperatures will try to make a comeback in the week after this one. This shift in temperature is something we’ll see quite a lot the next couple of months. This storm will bring some snow to the Austrian glaciers, but it’s definitely not enough to create the first base layer for the winter to come. More details tomorrow!
Stay stoked, Morris
Replies
Great report.
I’ve been looking at the Thurs/Fri time period since that’s when the brunt of the cold looks to reach the northern Alps. But I wonder if the sneaky waves Monday night - Tue. could squeeze out some decent moisture. I’ll be curious to see how low the snow level can get early week and if anyone manages to pull off some respectable totals.
I’m unfamiliar with Alps mountain weather, but in the US I would flag the setup for possible upslope enhancement along the Austrian/German border with weak northerly flow and decent mid-level moisture.