Thursday and Friday will be powder days. New storm after the weekend.

A lot of snow came down in the Alps during Easter. The huge amounts of snow that came down locally even closed some resorts in Switzerland and the northern Piedmont for a day or two. The sun came out again after the storm and you could ride great snow during Easter. The chances of some late season powder remain realistic in the coming weeks. The snow cover is now 1.5 to 2 times thicker than usual in large parts of the Alps (including Switzerland (click-click)). And if some fresh snow comes down, it is often more than enough for a morning of fun. There is some fresh snow coming down on Wednesday and Thursday and the sun will come out thanks to a high pressure area. Thursday and Friday will therefore be powder days again. The sun will dominate on Friday and Saturday, but a new storm makes an attempt to enter the southwest of the Alps from Sunday. In this forecast:

• Snow cover much thicker than normal
• Fresh snow on Wednesday and Thursday
• Sunny start of the weekend
• Where to go?
• New storm from Sunday

Snow cover much thicker than normal

After three moderate winters this is a winter that we will not forget very soon. We already had 26 PowderAlerts and April had only just begun. We’ll maybe even make it up to 30 PowderAlerts this winter and that would be quite unique. There’s a snow cover that is more than two meters thick with peaks towards 4 meters and more at 2000 meters altitude in the Alps in a lot of places.

A lot of resorts normally close their lifts after Easter, but a lot of resorts (like the ones in Switzerland) decided to stay open longer. Some lifts run until the end of May, so the season isn’t over yet.

Fresh snow on Wednesday and Thursday

A front from the southwest pulls into the Alps on Wednesday afternoon. This first brings snow to the south side of the Alps and to the bordering ski areas at higher altitude in Switzerland and Austria. The snow line fluctuates between 1500 and 1800 meters with locally 15-30 cm, maybe even 40 cm of fresh snow. There is a cold front from the northwest with snow for the northern Alps coming in in the night to Thursday.

The snow line drops towards 1200 meters and another 5-20 cm of fresh snow comes down on the north side of the Alps. At the same time, the sun comes out on the south side of the Alps with a strong Föhn from the north and there is a rising risk of wind slabs.

Sunny start of the weekend

The sun will come out on the south side and west side of the Alps on Thursday. That is also the case in the northern Alps on Friday. Under the influence of high pressure the clouds dissolve and it becomes extremely sunny. It will get milder and as a result the snow will transform quickly where the sun can directly radiate. It stays fresh on steep, shady northern slopes. Thursday is a powder day on the south side of the Alps, Friday on the north side of the Alps.

Where to go?

Some powder advice for the next couple of days:

Thursday

The highest peaks in the Haute Savoie, the southwest of the Engadin, Lombardia and Trentino

The sun will slowly come out in the eastern Alps from Thursday afternoon. The skiing will be good in the ski resorts on the border of Italy and Austria.

Thursday afternoon and Friday

The highest peaks in the north of Süd-Tirol, the far south of Tirol and the south of the Salzburgerland.

Because it will be sunny everywhere from Friday (and that is certainly the case on Saturday), you can also go touring. Bring your skins and earn your turns! It will be mild, so please adapt your plans to that. It will be great days, that’s for sure.

New storm from Sunday

The current will turn to the south again from Sunday. That means snow for the south side of the Alps. The timing of this storm is still a thing, but assume that it will get cloudier on the south side of the Alps and a southern wind will rise in the high mountains from Sunday.

Stay stoked,
Morris