We were in Annecy yesterday and the weather was cloudy with light rain. The clouds came down to the valley in Geneva in the afternoon. A signal that the snow line was dropping and the precipitation was intensifying. It didn’t stop snowing. It snowed lightly pretty much the whole day north of the line Grenoble-Arlberg. And it’s stil snowing lightly. Not pretty heavy, but enough to make the world white again.
You can check out the precipitation line of last night on the map below. If you have a look at the Pyrenees, you’ll know why there’s a PowderAlert over there right now.
The snowfall is moving to the eastern regions of the northern Alps and they can expect around 2-10 centimeters over there. Not much snow, but for some resorts it’s 2-10 centimeters more than they’ve got right now. Can the differences be any bigger? Check out these two reports from the PowderQuest app.
Huge amounts of snow in Madesimo in the Southern Alps.
And sad green alpine meadows in Saalbach Hinterglemm in the northern Alps.
Let’s be clear about this. The snow that will fall east of the Arlbergregion (2-10 centimeters) won’t make the difference. There’s around two meters of snow (or more) in the southern Alps at 2000 meters altitude. In the western Alps you can find a snow cover that’s between 80 and 150 centimeters and in the northern Alps that’s just 30 to 80 centimeters. The 10-20 centimeters that will fall in the northwest of Switzerland can make the difference. The base is pretty good already and the sun will come out on Tuesday afternoon. The sun will come out on Wednesday. The perfect day to ride some big lines in the southern Alps. Wednesday will also be the day to the check the livestream on wePowder to see the riders competing in the Freeride World Tour in Courmayeur. They’ll start at 9.30, but the window is short.
Snow from the west
It will start snowing in the western Alps in the night from Wednesday to Thursday. The snowfall will expand into the western parts of Wallis, the north of Switzerland, Vorarlberg and the resorts west of the Arlberg. It’s still pretty early for the details, but you might expect 15-30 centimeters till Thursday night.
Two fronts are coming in bringing snow for the northwestern regions of the Alps when we approach the weekend. PowderAlert #12 might just happen in the northwestern Alps. Yep, if this plan comes together, it’s time for some powwow in the northwestern Alps:
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northern Alps central (everything west of the Arlberg)
Until then, go to the southern Alps for the best snow. The snow will settle the next couple of days and the riding will be awesome in the larch trees for a week or so. The humid snow will become drier during the night, especially on north facing slopes. Don’t forget to check the daily avalanche bulletin and ride smart!
Stay stoked
Morris