After a couple of days of Nordstau, the weather has temporarily calmed down this morning. A sunny start of the day results in dream images. The sunny intermezzo is short-lived, however, because during the day it can snow again in the Northern Alps. In the coming days, Austria in particular will regularly receive some snow, but don’t expect large amounts. Over the course of next week, the Alps will slowly but surely enter a drier phase with temperatures returning to normal for this time of year.
Snow showers
The persistent snowfall came to an end yesterday and the weather cleared now and then. During the day, however, a few heavy snow showers arose, resulting in 10 to 15 centimeters of snow to fall locally on the north side. The Nordkette near Innsbruck hit the jackpot. Within 3 days, more than 1.2 meters of snow fell and the measuring station on the Seegrube (1921m) today measures a snow height of 242 centimeters. Check out the difference between before and after the snowfall above.
The sunny spells ensured that the open ski areas in Switzerland and Austria could trigger some avalanches. In the video of the ski resort Meiringen Hasliberg you can clearly see from the snow cover that the snow from the past few days fell higher on the mountain with high wind speeds. Due to the last fresh snow that fell in fairly windless conditions, part of this wind-drifted snow is buried under a thin layer of snow and is therefore invisible.
Changeable weather
^The forecasts on wePowder are powdered by our friends at Ortovox
Even today, just like yesterday, the Northern Alps have to deal with snow showers during the day after a dry and sun-drenched start of the day. These snow showers can provide another 10 to 20 centimeters of fresh snow until tomorrow, especially in the Stau resorts in Austria and Bavaria, with a snow line in the lowest valleys.
Snow in the Piedmont
Today, however, it is snowing not only in the Northern Alps, but also in the Southwestern Alps. Last night and this morning the southernmost regions of the Southern Alps, Piedmont and the French regions close to Italy have received some snow. Today, especially in the Piedmont, it can still snow for a while, causing about 10 to 15 centimeters of snow to fall with a snow line of about 300 to 500 meters. Locally even up to 30 centimeters of snow can fall, such as at the Rifugio Fontana Mura near Turin. In the course of tomorrow afternoon, the southern areas of the Southern Alps can expect some snow showers with a few centimeters of snow.
Considerably colder
In the course of tomorrow afternoon it will slowly but surely also clear up in the east. The tilting of the high-pressure area to the west of Ireland causes the Alps to get hammered by a northeastern current. A large bubble of cold air can reach the Alps tomorrow. Austria in particular has to deal with temperatures that plunge below -10 degrees at 1500 meters. Temperatures of well below -20 degrees will occur in the high alpine. Due to the clearings in the night from Saturday to Sunday, severe frost is also possible in the valleys.
Another precipitation phase
This icy-cold phase is only short-lived, because with an approaching front from the north, temperatures will rise again on Sunday. While Sunday will start fairly sunny in the Western and Southern Alps, clouds will soon enter the Northern Alps. In the course of the day it starts to snow again lightly and only in the evening will the precipitation intensify. Particularly in the Stau areas, a total of 10 to 15 centimeters of snow can fall from Sunday morning to Monday evening. With an increasing pressure gradient between the Northern and Southern Alps, the Nordföhn in the Southern Alps will provide many hours of sunshine.
Dry on the long term
As can be seen in the ensemble of the American model, the Western Alps are not affected by the snowfall on the eastern north side of the Alps. The Geneva puncture point does not show any precipitation signals for the coming week. Temperatures gradually return to normal values for the time of year. Also in the Eastern Alps it seems that it will be dry again from Tuesday and we do not have to expect snowfall for a few days.
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