PowderAlert #1b and #1c followed after the perfect PowderAlert #1. Smaller alerts, early in the season, where higher temperaturs were kicking in pretty quickly. But that’s different right now. This PowderAlert is going to be serious! And it will be number two of winter 13/14 with lots of snow and a dropping snowline. I’ve said it a week ago: It will be winter from Sunday to Tuesday, it will be too warm after that and there will be freshies after the 11th.
And that snow is arriving early. A high pressure area above the Azores is making room for a low pressure area that will allowed to travel to the Alps. The webcams showed white mountains this morning already as a result. The second front is on its way and will bring snow on Sunday.
Winter is getting closer and closer and will expose itself on Sunday and Monday. A new front with lots of snow is moving from the west towards the Alps and that will result in lots of snow for the (north)western and northern Alps. The snowline will drop to a 1000 meters, locally even to 500 meters. It will snow pretty intense on Sunday, and the sun will show itself on Sunday. Monday and Tuesday will be really nice, but watch out! There’s a base layer of about 20-50 centimeters in the higher alpine above 2500 meters and the new snow will be accompanied by a lot of wind. This means you’ll have to watch out for the so called ‘second snowfall’ This phenomenon guarantees the first slab avalanches. So be careful when you’re going out there. The snowcover is still thin, rocks aren’t covered yet and the first slab avalanches are around the corner.
Long term? Winter!
Winter will return after Wednesday. It looks like that really cold air is arriving from the north and that might be the start of a snowy period in the Alps. More about that the next couple of days!