Goodbye south, time to go north!

Goodbye south, time to go north!

Let’s keep it simple today. I’ll tell what the situation in the Alps is like right now, what’s about to come and if the northern Alps finally will have their share of winter.

The Alps are divided in the northern Alps, the southern Alps and the western Alps by the main alpine ridge.Main Alpine Ridge

The main alpine ridge divides the Alps in three main regions (the northern, the southern and western Alps).Main regions

When the storm comes in from the west, the most snow will fall in the western Alps, from the south in the southern Alps and guess what….from the north in the northern Alps. You’ll probably understand why the southern Alps had so much snow. Right, because the storms came in from the south. The French southern Alps do get some snow when the current is south(west) and sometimes a cold front will bring snow to the other regions in the French Alps (also called the French northern Alps), sometimes expanding into the northern regions of Switzerland and the Arlberg.

That’s why there is a lot of snow in the complete southern and French southern Alps, quite a lot of snow in the other regions of the French Alps, the west of Switzerland and everything west of the Arlberg. The snow conditions are terrible in the lower resorts east of Innsbruck.

The freeride is great in the southern Alps and there’s plenty of powder to be found in the northwestern regions of the Alps. The other regions are dying for snow.

The big change

But change is on its way. The chances for snow in the northwestern and the northern Alps are rising, but the southern Alps will get another big dump as well.

It’s not that you have to drive to the northern Alps immediately. One swallow doesn’t make a summer and one snowflake doesn’t make a faceshot. A lot of snow will have to fall in the northern Alps to make up for the bad start of the winter. But then again…40 centimeters on the alpine meadows of Salzburg and Tirol is enough for a powder day.

Poederalert 11a

One last dump for the southeast and it will become dry in the south. Check the meteograms below.French southern Alps

Some freshies for the southern Alps on Thursday and Friday, but il will become dryer and colder. Same thing for the southern Alps west and central. Dryer, colder and still good powder to be found. You’ll have to watch out with the northern wind that will cause drift snow (especially above the tree line).Southern Alps west and central

The southern Alps east will get another big dump. It will snow heavily around the 24th and it will be cold. You can expect around 20-50 centimeters of freshies and the snow won’t be as heavy as last weekend. It will be nice freeriding this weekend. The more east, the better.Southern Alps east

It will get colder and more unstable in the French northern Alps and the rest of the northern Alps. PowderAlert #12 is coming. Check it out!French northern Alps

A new period will start on Thursday. It will be colder and there will be a lot of precipitation. It’s hard to tell, but the trend is clear. Like for the rest of the northern Alps as you can see below.Northern Alps

Check it out on the image below.

It's finally coming towards the North(west)
It’s finally coming towards the North(west)

But the best snow is still to be found in the southern Alps. More details on Thursday and I’ll tell you where to go in the northern and western Alps.

Stay stoked

Morris

meteomorris

Replies

Tourist
AnonymousAuthor22 January 2014 · 11:01

Go baby, go!!!

Reply
Never miss a PowderAlert!

Get updates on the latest news, PowderAlerts and more!