PA#2 is for the Northwest

Next week will be turbulent in which the snow line will go yo-yo. One moment it gives rain to mid mountain altitudes, while less than 24 hours later it can snow deep into the valleys. The jet stream is on track for to the Alps as of Saturday which will cause a lot of dynamics in the atmosphere. Te exact detailsof this storm cycle is hard to predict , but there will certainly fall a lot of fresh snow. The northwestern Alps in particular are going to see a lot of snow, but the northern and southern Alps will also have their share.

In this aricle:

• Friday last beautiful day
• Snow and later rain on the weekend
• Dynamic pattern next week

Friday last beautiful day

After Snowvecember, December started with a lot of sun. We had a lovely week, but that comes to an end. Today is the last really nice and sunny day although Saturday might not ti bad, especially the Western and Southern Alps.

Some snow, some sun and later rain during the weekend

Our 6-day snow map is looking great, but if you delve deeper into the details, you will immediately see that the coming weekend will not the best when it comes to fresh snowfall. Let me first start with the snow forecast map for Saturday and Sunday:

The quantities are not huge, but what is immediately noticeable is that it is only the highest peaks that get snow.

• • Saturday* : Saturday it is still fairly cool with a dusting of snow. Expect 2-5 cm, with peaks around the Arlberg reaching 10-15 cm. In Austria in particular the clouds can be stubborn. The best conditions can be found on Saturday in the French Alps and the Southern Alps with wonderful sunny weather. In the resorts where the lifts will open for the first time on Saturday, powder will be found next to the slopes, but in areas where the lifts have been running out for longer you will have to go further into the backcountry on your tourskis or splitboard to find some untracked powder.
• • Sunday *: on Sunday a warm front approaches from the west. This causes diffuse sunlight at first and with rain in the valley and snow above 1600-1900 meters later during the day. To illustrate let’s have a look at Engelberg ([click here for the detailed expectation] (https://wepowder.com/en/engelberg#engelberg-titlis)). As you can see: Saturday a dusting of snow, some sunny intervals during the day. On Sunday higher clouds are moving, the zero degree level will rise and it starts to rain and snow during the day.

In short: no deep fresh powder this weekend, but those who want to take advantage of earlier fallen untracked powder and sun should head on Saturday to the western and southern Alps. On Sunday you have the best chance of sun on the south side of the Alps.

Dynamic pattern next week

The stormcycle is really picking up as of Monday. Below an attempt to outline the headlines for you, but keep in mind that with a jetstream on fire there will always be some surprises which will affect the snowfall, temperatures etc.

• Monday: in the morning, a cold front enters the Northwest of the Alps, with a west-north-westerly current, it becomes cooler and it starts snowing heavily. At the same time in the early morning there is a little southern Föhn in the Eastern Alps, but these will disapear as soon as the wind turns northwest which will bring also fresh snows on the North side at the end of the morning.
• Tuesday: it still snows nicely in the north of Austria, but at the same time it slowly clears up from the west. It gets milder with an approaching warm front.
• Wednesday: the early Wednesday starts mildly but just like on Monday, a cold front is approaching from the west. Again a lot of snow first of all for the West and Northwest of the Alps, later a northern stau on the North side of Austria.
• Thursday: room for sommy intervals
• Friday: first snow from the southwest with lots of snow for the French Southern Alps and Italy, at the same time a Föhn on the north side of the Alps. At the end of the morning cold air is coming in fron the North with snow first for the Northwest and later for the North.

In short next week:

• many temperature fluctuations with sometimes a somewhat higher snow line
• a lot of snow for the Northwest, but also the Northern and Southern Alps get their share
• changing wind directions

PA # 2 is coming

With so much snow in the firecast PA#2 is just around the corner. In the upcoming week, delicious powder can certainly be ridden somewhere. My where-to-go tips (which will apply from Tuesday) will I put live on Sunday.

Stay stoked
Morris