It’s snowing on the north side of the Alps since yesterday evening. Most snow came down between Engelberg in the west and the Kleinwalsertal in the east. With 20-30 cm it’s just enough not to feel the hard layer on the top of the snowpack anymore. But beware of the heavy winds above the treeline that transported a lot of snow. You’ll find better conditions on the south side of the Alps or in the most southern part of the Austrian Ötztal at the moment. They had around 40-90 cm, locally even 120-170 cm of freshies since Saturday. But if you missed this dump, don’t worry too long. It will be ON in the Alps again from Thursday and this time the storm will end with low temperatures instead of (too) high temperatures. Sounds good right? If you are traveling to the Alps the next couple of days and you want to support wePowder and this forecast, book your accommodation using this link. We receive a small percentage of every booking made through this link and this helps us a lot to improve wePowder and advice you even better. Thanks in advance! In this forecast:
- Colder in the north and fresh snow is on its way
- PowderAdvice
- Update on the forecast page
Colder in the north and fresh snow is on its way
It started to snow on the north side of the Alps yesterday afternoon and this morning around 10-30 cm of freshies came down. Some more snow is coming down today, but the intensity is disappointing. You’ll find some powder between the trees, but the old base is not far away. A nice powder day in short, but certainly not epic. Maybe you’ll be even better off on the southern side of the Alps today and tomorrow. The temperature has gone up, but you can definitely find some powder on shady north-facing slopes and in the larch forests above 1700 meters. If you go out on a tour, please be careful. There’s a lot of tension in the snowcover due to the higher temperatures and the avalanche danger is even higher at places where the sun can radiate directly.
The Alps will be in some kind of weather transition on Wednesday. Cold air is on its way to the Alps, but the temperatures will rise on Wednesday and you’ll see some residual clouds, especially on the north side of the Alps. Just hang in there, because cold and humid air will hit the Alps in the night to Thursday. The northern Alps will get some snow at first, but the snowfall will expand into the other regions of the Alps later. It could be that there will be a lot of snowfall on the border of Italy, Austria and Slovenia. Sella Nevea might be an option again.
Thursday will be a great good powder day in the French Northern Alps and northwestern Switzerland. You can expect a lot of freshies already in the night to Thursday and it will still snow on Thursday morning. Around 25-50 cm of freshies will come down around 2000 meters between Wednesday and Thursday. On the border of Italy, Austria and Slovenia you can expect 30-70 cm of freshies, that will mostly come down on Thursday. Even the Dolomites and Austria will get around 10-30 cm. Thursday will be a powder day in a lot of region in the Alps.
A new storm will come in on Friday. The weather will come from the west till Saturday and it will snow regularly in the French Alps and the northwest of the Alps, but the Aosta region will also get some freshies. And after that? The current will turn to the north and fronts will pass the Alps from time to time. It remains cold, but there’s also room for the sun. This weekend will finally be a weekend where the temperatures stay low and with a chance of freshies in the northwest.
PowderAdvice
It’s sunny in the southern Alps and there’s plenty of snow. You’ll probably find the best powder on shady faces in:
- Western and southern Piedmont
- The northern Piedmont: Especially the Monte Rosa (thin base), the other resorts have a thinner base.
- The southern valleys in Haute-Valais
- The Haute Tarentaise and the Haute Maurienne
You can find powder on the north side of the main alpine ridge in:
Wednesday will be a day where the weather will change. The morning will be cold, with snow coming in from the north during the day. It will keep on snowing on Thursday. Wednesday will be a good day to stretch your legs, to relax and read my forecast so you know where you need to be on Thursday.
- The pre-Alps in the Haute Savoie and western Unterwallis
- The pre-Alps of the Isère and Savoie
- The Bernese Oberland
- Vorarlberg and the Kleinwalsteral
- The border of Italy, Austria and Slovenia
You can expect more snowfall from the west from Friday. The most snow will probably come down in the complete French Alps, the west of Switzerland, the Aosta region and the border of Italy, Austria and Slovenia. More details on Thursday!
The powderchase this week:
- Tuesday: fresh powder on the north side of the Alps or powder in the shade on the south side
- Wednesday: relax, stretch your legs or search for some powder on the south side of the Alps
- Thursday: it will be a powder day in almost the complete Alps, but you’ll find the best conditions in the French northern Alps
- Friday: a new storm will come in on Friday
Update on the forecast page
We’ve done a major update on the forecast page today. You used to see the expected snowfall at the top, but we’ve added the expected snowfall at 2000 meters altitude? Why? Well, this update makes the list more honest and helps you to make a better choice of where to ride. You don’t stay on the top all the time and the altitude of 2000 meters works well for a lot of resorts in the Alps. If you even want more detailed information about the expected snow, you can always check out the resort pages (check out for example Chamonix, Zermatt or Verbier and click on ‘show all measuring points’ below the map). If you want to book your accommodation: support wePowder and use this link.
Stay stoked!
Morris