An active depression brought lots of snow to the Swiss Alps (and the French northern Alps). Especially the west and north of Switzerland got a lot of snow. Further south it was virtually dry. A brief overview where the snow came down this weekend!
The most snow came down in the west of Unterwallis, the Bernese Oberland and the Appenzell region (The part west and north of peaks like the Eiger and Jungfrau). Or as the SLF describes it in the avalanche forecast:
It’s visible even better on a map:
A lot of snow came down (around a meter) in the west and the north of Switzerland, but it remained almost dry in the south of Switzerland. In the Lötschental they had over 150 centimeters of freshies at 2700 meters altitude. Around 48 centimeters came down in the night from Friday to Saturday. Check out these amazing images.
And check out this video from Les Diablerets!
The amounts of snow match perfectly with the amounts forecasted on our snow maps. In some cases (like the Lötschental) even more snow came down.
The snow cover is settling due to influences of the wind, sun, temperature and the mass of the snow cover itself. You can find a base of 40-80 centimeters of snow on north faces and 20-50 centimeters on south facing slopes north and west of the northern Alpine ridge at 2500 meter altitude.
The snow cover in the west and north of Switzerland at the moment:
- 1500 meter: 15-40 cm
- 2200 meter: 20-70 cm
- 3000 meter: 50-120 cm (sometimes bare due to the wind and sun)
The snow cover in the south of Switzerland at the moment:
- 1500 meter: 0 cm
- 2200 meter: 0-25 cm
- 3000 meter: 10-60 cm (sometimes bare due to the wind and sun)
Conclusion: The first base is there and there’s even more snow on the maps the next couple of days for the north of the west of Switzerland. Verbier and Andermatt open their lifts next weekend. You can ride powder or go on a tour in the west and north of Switzerland next weekend. It’s different in the south of Switzerland. With the exception of the glaciers in Saas Fee and Zermatt, the snow cover is thin. You should be in the north and west for powder!