Powder during Easter: where to go?

Around 10-20, locally 30 cm of fresh snow came down in the northwest and north of the Alps since Tuesday. There is some room for the sun in the French Alps this morning, but it is still snowing in the rest of the northern Alps. There will be a new storm coming in from the west on Friday which will bring snow again for large parts of the Alps between Friday and Sunday morning. It might even snow heavily in some places. It will be dry and sunny on Easter Sunday and it looks like the first really mild week of this winter will start and you can probably expect a lot of wet snow avalanches. But Powder during Easter seems guaranteed, but remember that it is already late March / early April and the temperature will rise from Monday. The sun is strong, so you better pick a resort at high altitude. In this forecast:

• Today is a powder day
• Southern Stau on Friday and Saturday
• Possibly followed by a snow sandwich in the northwest and the north
• The result: powder during Easter

Today is a powder day

Between 10-20, locally 30 cm of fresh snow came down in the northwest and north between Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning, especially in the northern French Alps and the northwest and north of Switzerland. The snow line dropped rapidly to 900 meters or lower in the night to Thursday, but unfortunately a lot of rain came down already up to high altitude before that time. You’ll ride the best powder today above 1500-1800 meters. It is important to be aware of fresh wind labs, because the wind transported a lot of snow in the high alpine.

Southern Stau on Friday and Saturday

The current turns to the south from Thursday afternoon as you can see on the map above. As a result, it will snow heavily in the southern Alps with a dropping snow line. It is still around 1400-1800 meters at first, but it locally drops to 1200 meters in the course of the day, especially in those places where it will snow heavily. You can expect snow in the southern Alps on Friday and a strong Föhn in the other areas in the Alps. You can expect a lot of snow in the southern Alps on Saturday as well, but it will start snowing in the northwest and the north of the Alps as well later that day, because a front is moving in from the northwest.

You are best off on the south side of the Alps on Friday and Saturday. At the same time, there is a strong Föhn in the north on Friday. Good visibility and comfortable temperatures, but that’s not the best thing that can happen to the powder. The wind will transport the snow (avalanche danger) and/or it becomes wet because of the mild air. Cold air will come in from the northwest later that day. The Alps will have to deal with a snow sandwich that will bring snow from the southwest and northwest and there you go: snow in the south, snow in the west and snow in the north = Powder during Easter!

Where to go?

Things will settle down after the snowfall on Friday and Saturday. There is still snow coming down in the northern Alps on Sunday, but with the high pressure coming in from the west the sun will come out. At the same time, the current turns to the south and will bring in very mild air. This results in increasingly drier and sunnier weather during Easter, but the temperature will rise as well.

Where to go?

• Go south on Friday: the northern Piedmont, the north of Ticino, the north of Lombardia and the Ortler region. Trees are a must, but the snow line is initially quite high at about 1400-1800 meters. It will drop towards 1200 meters close to the main alpine ridge.
• Saturday: all of the areas above, but during the day the conditions will improve in the Mont Blanc region (first Courmayeur and later also Cham), the southern and western regions of Haut Valais, the southwestern Engadine, the Gotthard region and the Bernese Oberland. You can expect snow coming down in the northern Alps in the night to Sunday.
• Sunday: some snowfall in the northern Alps and sun will come out from the west and southwest. Fresh powder can be found everywhere above 2000 meters.
• Monday: You can find good snow everywhere, but the sun is getting stronger. The quality of the snow will be the best on north faces above 2000 meters.

Rising temperatures after Easter

The current turns south and the temperature will rise after Easter. There is a strong southern Föhn especially in the northern Alps and we can prepare ourselves for perhaps +20 degrees in the northern Alps. On the south side of the Alps, storm clouds often appear which will bring new snow in the high alpine.

In short:

• Today is a powder day in the northwest
• Go south on Friday and Saturday
• Snow in the northwest of the Alps on Saturday afternoon
• Sunny on Sunday and you can ride powder in large parts of the Alps
• The temperature will rise on Monday

Check out our detailled forecast maps to check out the snowfall in your resort!

Stay stoked.
Morris