PA #23 Bam! Winter is back!

PA #23 Bam! Winter is back!

Did you already change the tires on your car? Heading for the Alps the next couple of days? Put the winter tires back on, because winter is making the comeback of the year. The temperature will drop a whopping 15 degrees in just about 24 hours. King Winter is back on its throne!Storm depressions all over the place

Superstorm Hannelore

I was talking about Hannelore on Wednesday and she gathered some girlfriends. Her lovely twin sister Hannelore II is visible on the maps right now (don’t you love twins…) and her weaker sisters are hanging out above Barcelona and just north of the Alps. This army of storm depressions was to strong for high pressure area Johannes, who left the Alps through the backdoor. The countdown for the first snowfall has started.

Weather alarms

They are actively warning in Switzerland, Austria and Italy for the weather that’s to come. You might wanna check out meteoalarm.eu the next 48 hours. The temperatures in the Alps will drop rapidly. It was +7 degrees on 2000 meters altitude yesterday, but the temperatures will drop to around -8 on Sunday. That’s a difference of 15 degrees. They postponed the Verbier Extreme for a reason.

Winter is back!

The scenario from last Wednesday is still going strong. A jet stream that’s moving east very slowly and will get kinda stuck above the Alps and will cause a lot of snow. There are some major changes in the details though. First the power of storm Hannelore. She’s that powerful that the jet stream eventually will cover the complete Alps. This results in cold air for the complete Alps, a dominant northern current and the complete Alps can expect snow. Second, the southwestern current won’t last for long and third, the period with colder temperatures will last longer with possibly even more snowfall. Small details with major consequences. The snowfall will be less intense in the French southern Alps, and there won’t be 150 centimeters of freshies in the Monte Rosa. The front is moving rapidly and the snowfall from the northwest will be more intense.

The details

Friday: The first snow and rain will come down in the Piemonte and the French southern Alps this afternoon. Snow above 1900 meters.

Saturday: This normally is the day that old guests leave and new guests arrive, and it’s exactly the same with the weather. The warm weather is leaving, winter is arriving. The front arrives from the west in the morning. Snowfall in the complete French Alps, but also in the southern Alps central and this could be pretty intense during the afternoon. The snow line will be around 1800 meters at first, but will drop to 1200 meters. The snowfall expands to the east and the north of the Alps during the night and the snow line will drop further.

Precipitation till Sunday morning
Precipitation till Sunday morning

Sunday: The cold front is coming in from the northwest in the night from Saturday to Sunday. This is the moment that the snowfall definitely starts in the northern Alps and the snow line drops to 700 meters. It will be snowing the whole day.

Precipitation till Monday morning
Precipitation till Monday morning

Monday: It’s still snowing in the east of the Alps and it’s winter in the complete Alps. It’s cold and it really feels like mid-winter with all those freshies. Only the sun being that high in the sky is giving away that it’s already spring.Total snowfall till Monday

Tuesday: Possibly a new front from the west and snow for the French Alps. It will remain cold.

Powder advice

Don’t care about Saturday and get ready for Sunday. The sun will come out in the French Alps on Sunday and you’ll find some great snow there. The will also come out in the southern Alps, but it probably will still snow in the Dolomites. In the other regions in the southern Alps sun and freshies. It will snow heavily in the northern Alps on Sunday. You can find freshies everywhere in the Alps on Monday. More snow is coming down in the east, but the sun will come out in the west.

Have a great weekend! More details on Monday!

Stay stoked

Morris

meteomorris

Replies

Tourist
AnonymousAuthor21 March 2014 · 12:19

yeah yeah yea! We are looking forward. The www.outdoormind.de Team will we catching the snow for sure.

Tourist
AnonymousAuthor23 March 2014 · 18:23

Epic powder today at Zauchansee in Austria. 40-50cms fresh, though not bonded to old snow, set off numerous small slides on short steep pitches. Still dumping, looks like nordstau here to stay for another day, Best of season for this area. Monday will be rather special!

Reply
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