It’s snowing heavily in the southern French Alps and the Italian Piedmont this Sunday morning. The center of gravity moves towards the south of Switzerland and the Italian Lombardia during the day. Fortunately, it gets a little colder and the snow line is dropping after a mild night from Saturday to Sunday. The wind turns west to northwest on Monday and snow continues to fall latr that the day in the northwest. The current turns back to the south from Tuesday/Wednesday and a lot of snow is expected in the southwest and south of the Alps on Thursday. The Siberian cold has disappeared from the Alps and so you will have to look higher up. The snow between the trees is a lot heavier than a week ago, but those who do not really care could ride (somewhat heavier) powder in the coming days. In this forecast:
- Lots of snow in the south
- PA#21: Where and when to go
- Snowfall in the northwest on Monday afternoon
- Another powder day on Tuesday
- Long term: colder, but also southern Föhn and Stau
Lots of snow in the south
The first snow came down in the southwest of the Alps on Saturday. The snow line fluctuated considerably. Warm air came into the Alps in the night from Saturday to Sunday and it became temporarily warmer. There will be some ‘cooler’ air coming in this Sunday morning and the snow line will drop to 1200-1600 meters and the freezing level will end up around 1700-2000 meters.
The picture above shows that the weather in the Alps is dominated by the current from the south. Sunday starts with heavy snowfall in the southern French Alps and the Italian Piedmont. The center of gravity moves towards the south of Switzerland (east of Ticino and the southwest of the Engadin) and the north of Lombardia during the day. You can expect 30-50 cm of fresh snow in these regions until Monday morning. In the bordering regions it will be 10-30 cm. It is mild and dry in the north of the Alps.
PA#21: Where and when to go
It’s ON in:
- The resorts south of the Ecrins
- The bordering regions in the western and southern Italian Piedmont
- The north of Lombardia/southwest of the Engadin
Please note that there will be a strong Föhn wind from the northwest in the southern Alps on Monday. This will result in a lot of wind drifted snow (wind slabs).
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Snowfall in the northwest on Monday afternoon
The mild southern current disappears on Monday and the current turns to the west-northwest. The air is temporarily colder and it snows heavily in the northwest of the Alps especially on Monday afternoon. You can expect 10-30, locally 40 cm of fresh snow and a snow line that will locally drop towards a 1000 meters.
Another powder day on Tuesday
If you are in the southern Alps on Sunday and Monday, it is worth considering driving to the northwest via the Mont Blanc tunnel or the St. Bernard tunnel from the Aosta. Tuesday will be a powder day there. It is in the middle of the week and peak season in the Alps is over, so it won’t be that crowded.
Long term: colder, but also southern Föhn and Stau
The current turns back to the southwest after Tuesday and there is a lot of snow in the forecast again for the southwest and south of the Alps from Thursday. More details about that later this week.
So again: right now it’s ON in:
- The resorts south of the Ecrins
- The bordering regions in the western and southern Italian Piedmont
- The north of Lombardia/southwest of the Engadin
From Tuesday it will be ON in the resorts at higher altitude in:
- The northern French Alps
- The northwest of Switzerland
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Stay stoked,
Morris