50-120 cm of cold and fresh snow!

50-120 cm of cold and fresh snow!

It’s snowing again in the northwest of the Alps since Tuesday night. It’s the start of nearly 60 hours of continuous snowfall in the northwest and north of the Alps before the sun comes out again on Friday and Saturday morning. Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning will be good days to ride some powder. On Saturday afternoon a warm front will kick in. That will bring some freshies for the high alpine in the night to Sunday, but also rain in the valleys. In this forecast:

  • 60 hours of snowfall
  • Between 50 to 120 cm of freshies above 2200 meters
  • PowderAdvice for the next couple of days
  • Mild temperatures from Saturday

60 hours of snowfall

Storm Julia will bring snow to the northwest and north of the Alps, but the sun will also come out and you can expect some heavy winds at the south side of the Alps. You can see how it started to snow from the west on the precipitation radar from Landi.

Source: Landi.ch
Source: Landi.ch

The webcams show the first snow and it’s snowing deep into the valleys in lots of resorts in the French northern Alps.

It's snowing in La Clusaz
It’s snowing in La Clusaz

The snowfall will extend into Switzerland and the Austrian Vorarlberg the next 36 hours. The snow line will rise slowly, but will get stuck at around 1000-1400 meters in the west and arond 600-1000 meters in the east. The precipitation will intensify on Thursday and will reach the other regions in Austria. The most snow will still come down in the French northern Alps, the west and north of Switzerland and the Austrian region of Vorarlberg. The front will start moving to the east on Friday and you can expect the sun to come out locally on Friday afternoon.

Between 50 to 120 cm of freshies above 2200 meters

Storm Julia will not only bring a lot of snow, but from time to time just too much wind. The result is that the snow on ridges will be transported by the wind. I expect that the French northern Alps, the west and north of Switzerland and the Austrian region of Vorarlberg will get between 50-120 cm of freshies in the next 60 hours. Slightly lower in the valleys (at around 1800 meters) I still expect 20-50 cm of freshies. The amounts of snow coming down will decrease further east and south.

TIP: Check out our detailled snow maps for all details

Snowfall the next 6 days
Snowfall the next 6 days

Our maps are showing red colors and you might jump to the conclusion that lots of places will get 100 cm or more. Well, forget about it. That 100 cm or more will come fown on the highest parts of the mountain (2500-2800 meters). Check out the top 10 snowfall at 2000 meters below.

Top 10 snowfall at 2000 meter
Top 10 snowfall at 2000 meter

PowderAdvice for the next couple of days

There will be plenty of snow coming down this Wednesday. Storm Julia has just arrived and the big dump is expected on Thursday. Especially in Austria (where they have lots of lifts running already) it will snow heavily on Thursday. Please also note that wind might be a deal breaker in France and Switzerland. It might close some of the lifts. My tips for the next couple of days:

  • Thursday: Tignes (if it’s open) will have lots of freshies. Pitztal, Sölden and Stubai will be good, but will get less snow.
  • Friday: Tignes, Courchevel (open for a day + free lift pass), Pitztal, Sölden and Stubai
  • Friday afternoon: Go out for a tour in the French Alps
  • Saturday morning: Go out for a tour on an alpine meadow and fresh snow on the slopes of the glaciers
  • Sunday: The snow on the slopes of the glaciers will get warmer, but with the right knowledge you can still go out for a tour in the east of the Alps. A new front will hit the west with a much higher snow line.

PLEASE NOTE: The temperatures will rise on Saturday. The instability of the snow cover will rapidly increase thanks to the rise in temperature and this leads to more avalanche activity.

Mild temperatures from Saturday

The temperatures will rise on Saturday thanks to incoming warm air from the west. But the sun will come out as well and this will make Saturday a pretty good day. Sunday will be a good day in the east of the Alps, but it will start snowing and raining in the west. The weather models strongly disagree what will happen after the weekend. More news tomorrow!

Stay stoked. Morris

meteomorris

Replies

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ridermarangoniAuthor9 November 2016 · 14:13

Yesterday in Engadin great conditions at the top:

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