It’s snowing again in the Alps since Wednesday. Between 30-120 cm of snow came down in the high alpine, but the temperature is pretty high. The snow line is somewehere between 1300 and 2000 meters, but you’ll only find cold powder above 2200 meter. Don’t underestimate the influence of the sun. It’s almost the end of March and it’s getting stronger every day. The motto with powder trips in March and April should be 'You snooze you lose, you should have been here yesterday or something like that. Just be there when the flakes are coming down! In this forecast:
- Snow for the southern Alps: snow till Saturday
- ‘Cold’ till Sunday
- The sun will come out
- PowderAlert for Saturday till Monday
- Where to go?
Snow for the southern Alps: snow till Saturday
An active depression over Spain brought a lot of snow to central Switzerland and the south side of the Gotthard and Simplon. A new storm depression is getting ready and this one will bring lots of snow to the French southern Alps and the western and northern Piedmont on Saturday.
This new storm will bring between 30 and 80 cm of fresh snow above 1400 to 1900 meters. Dry snow will only fall above 2000 to 2200 meters. The sun is pretty strong, so I expect the temperatures to rise a bit during the day. Check out our snow maps for all the details.
Some cooler air will reach the Piedmont and the southern French Alps on Saturday and Sunday, so the snow stays relatively cold. Do not expect cold smoke blower powder, but you can ride good snow above 2000 meters. Especially when the sun comes out on Sunday. It’s still pretty cold in the night to Monday, so the conditions will be good on Monday morning as well. The temperature will start rising in the afternoon, but fortunately the nights are clear.
The sun will come out
The sun takes over the weather on Monday. The temperatures will rise and it will be hard to find some decent powder. PowderAlert #15 will be one with a short window, but if you’re there in time… There’s some room for changes in the weather by the end of next week. High pressure will keep on dominating the weather for a week. That means mild and sunny days and clear and cold nights, that will allow the snowpack to loose some of its moisture.
Where to go?
It’s snowing in the southern French Alps, the Haute Maurienne, the Gotthard, the western and northern Piedmont and the eastern part of the Aosta. You’ll have to look for resorts with significant possibilities above 2000 meter. My PowderAdvice for Saturday, Sunday and Monday are the following resorts:
France
- Val d’Isère (will get more snow than Tignes)
- Bonneval sur Arc
- Valfréjus (good conditions above the Plateau)
- Serre Chevalier (Monetier is the place to be)
- Montgenèvre
- The east of the Queyras
Italy
- Sestrière
- Champorcher
- Alagna - Gressoney
Switzerland
- Andermatt
- Saas Fee (the most southern peaks)
- Zermatt (the most southern peaks)
Enjoy the weekend and ride safe!
Stay stoked, Morris
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PA #15