It is snowing at the time of writing in the south of the Italian Piedmont. Storm Klaus sends humid air into the Po-plain with a current from the northeast. The clouds are pushed against the mountains of the southern Piedmont with snowfall as a result. On the radar images you can see the snow front and in the mountains above Genoa it turns white.
But a PowderAlert? No, as I said earlier, the conditions are too marginal. The snow cover is thin and it hasn’t snowed since December 20th. The new snow falls on the ground or on an old snow cover. And that last versions means acute avalanche danger. You can certainly ride a powder line tomorrow, but you’d better go towards the north-northwest of the Alps.
The current will be ‘just’ north-northwest again this weekend. I put ‘just’ between brackets, because usually I expect something like that in February or early March. But this season King Winter clearly has its own ideas. There is no longer any question of a strong western jet stream. The jet stream meanders over Europe as a river, as a result of which a current in the direction of the French Alps has not been observedfor a long time. And that while they drowned in snow a year ago. After Snowvember for the southern Alps, all the snow is coming down in the north-northwest since December.
There’s a low pressure area north of the Alps and a high pressure west of the Alps on the map again for next weekend. The result is a strong current from the north. It just remains cold and more snow is coming down. Those who live in northern Italy and are looking for powder should drive to the north or to the south the next couple of days, because in the Apennines a lot of snow will come down the next few days. In fact, it is already snowing.
Back to the Alps. A depression is heading towards the Alps on Saturday and is expected on Sunday. That means that the following days will look like this:
- Wednesday: snow in the southern Piedmont, mix of sun and clouds in the rest of the Alps
- Thursday: sunny and cold
- Friday: sunny and cold
- Saturday: sunny and later snow from the north
- Sunday: snow for the north-northwest
It snows heavily from time to time in the north-northwest between Sunday and Wednesday. That means a lot of snow for the French northern Alps, everything north of the main alpine ridge and in particular the northern alpine ridge in Switzerland, the south of Germany, Vorarlberg and the northern Stau regions. It is possible that the snow will later move to the Alpe di Adria, but more about that tomorrow.
PA#10 for the north-northwest
A new storm pulls into the Alps in the night to Sunday. First of all, the wind turns to the southwest with temporarily some Föhn and rising temperatures, but the front will hit the Alps soon with snow between Sunday and Wednesday. The weekend warriors can already ride some powder on Sunday, the more flexible riders among us have the mountain for themselves from Monday. It is still quiet, the crowds are still far away. It remains calm until the end of this month and it is not until the middle of February that it becomes really busy in the Alps again.
TIP: check out Peak season in the Alps: how to avoid the crowds
Where to go?
Great weather, a solid base and a low avalanche danger in Austria and the east of Switzerland (also read this article). The situation is somewhat more critical in France and western Switzerland (also read this article).
But for those who want to tour, split or hike in the sun with a solid snow pack until Saturday are well off in the areas below. In fact, the small family areas in Austria still offer a lot of untracked powder, just off the slopes. Check our insta timeline for some pictures.
Long term
The most snow is in the forecast for the north-northwest, the Alpe di Adria and the Apennines until the middle of next week, but there is a chance that after that a storm will hit France with increasing snow chances for the Southern Alps. Still far away, but it is good to mention here.
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Stay stoked,
Morris