Snow for the northern and southern Alps!

It’s dumping again like crazy in the western Alps and the snowfall will expand towards the Arlberg in the course of the day. The snow line is at pretty low altitude at the moment, but it’s already rising in the pre-Alps. check out the live report. There’s room for the sun on Friday, but the weather will become turbulent again right after. The western, northwestern and southern Alps will get the most snow till Monday. Less snow will come down in Austria east of the Arlberg, but those resorts will get some freshies as well. If it will be a large northern Stau is still a question, but hey, there’s more snow coming! And yes, you read that right: the first real southern Stau of this winter is in the making. In this forecast:

• Snow line between 650 and 2000 meters
• Tips for the weekend
• A week with turbulent weather lies ahead of us
• The first southern Stau of the winter
• First indications for a northern Stau visible on the maps!

Snow line between 650 and 2000 meters

I explained to you in yesterday’s forecast that there are large differences in the altitude of the snow line. That varies from valley to valley. Broadly speaking, the following applies with regard to the snow line for today and Friday:

• French Alps: pre-Alps 1700-2100 meter, narrow valleys in the heart of the Alps 800-1500 meter, open valleys in the heart of the Alps 1400-1950 meter.
• Switzerland: pre-Alps 1300-1800 meter, narrow valleys in the heart of the Alps 650 to 1200-1500 meter, open valleys in the heart of the Alps 1100-1900 meter
• West of Austria: pre-Alps 1200-1900 meter, narrow valleys in the heart of the Alps 650-1400 meter.

We’ll keep an eye on the snow line in this live blog.

Tips for the weekend

The weather this weekend will be even more turbulent than the maps indicated earlier. It will therefore be difficult to find good spots to ride powder with some visibility (preferably some trees for some orientation), but where the snow line didn’t rise that much. Saturday starts with mild temperatures everywhere and precipitation will come down in the west and it will expand into the southern Alps. The precipitation will cross the main alpine ridge on Sunday and it will start snowing in the northwest and north of the Alps as well.

You’ll find the best conditions this weekend in resorts above 1600-1800 meters in:

• Savoie and Isère
• Haute Savoie and (the west of) Wallis
• The north of the Hautes Alpes (the most northern resorts)

It will also be quite good in resorts above 1800 meters in:

• Arlberg regio

You can find larch trees and something of a base in Courmayeur, Ovronnaz, Les 4 Vallées, Rothwald, Val d’Isère, Val Cenis, Puy St. Vincent, Serre Chevalier, Chamonix, etc. But this definitely won’t be an epic weekend. If you find it difficult to choose and you don’t have infinite amounts of money (and time), then I would wait.

A week with turbulent weather lies ahead of us

Not only the weekend, but also the start of the new week won’t be that smooth. A strong southern Stau (bringing snow to the Southern Alps) will start its engines. This front is strong enough to reach the glacier resorts north of the main Alpine ridge as well. The current will turn to the north later and than we can speak the magical word: Nordstau (bringing snow to the northern Alps). The indications for the first northern Stau of this season are getting stronger and stronger. In short: after some days with higher temperatures, the temperature will drop again. There is initially heavy snow fall above 1800-2000 meters and it will snow deeper into the valleys later, covering large parts of the Alps with the fluffy white stuff. Does that sounds like a plan or what?

If you really want to ride powder, than I would block the days from Tuesday. It good become epic.

The first southern Stau of the winter

Things can still change in the next couple of days regarding details and timing, but you definitely can expect a southern Stau to kick in on Monday. I personally expect more snow fall than visible on our maps right now.

First indications for a northern Stau visible on the maps!

Even more things (as in details and timing and amounts of snow) can still change regaring the northern Stau, but the first indications are visible on our maps on Tuesday. It’s not super intense yet, and there’s still a bit of problem in the south, but hey, it’s better than nothing!

Stay stoked, Morris