You can't call it winter anymore at the moment, because it will be very warm in the Alps in the coming days. Summer values of 25 degrees are even possible, which may cause temperature records to be broken. It is now certain that the heat will be over by the end of the week and the Alps will return to a changeable type of weather, but what exactly awaits us is not yet clear. Today a short weather update, Wednesday a longer weather forecast.
In the coming days, an extensive high-pressure area over central and southern Europe will provide a major thermal revival. Except for some veiled clouds, it will be a sunny period in most places. The peak of this heat wave will be on Wednesday. The freezing level is well above 3000 meters and on a large scale, daytime temperatures can rise to as high as 25 degrees. Until Thursday, temperatures well above 20 degrees in the valleys can occur in all parts of the Alps. These are (especially on Wednesday) exceptionally high temperatures for the end of March, making it very likely that some temperature records will be broken.
These almost summery conditions of course have an impact on the snowpack. The strong daily cycle of the avalanche danger with a high risk of wet snow avalanches up to high altitudes is something to take into account. The sunny southern slopes are particularly susceptible to this.
As it has been showing on the weather maps for almost a week now, it is going to cool down considerably again during the Easter weekend. It does not look like it will be accompanied by much precipitation. Especially in Austria, up to about 10 centimeters seems possible on Friday higher up, but in the other parts the precipitation remains limited and it may stay mild a bit longer. More details on these developments on Wednesday!
Winter is here, but it's still not sure what this season will look like. It's always time to start dreaming and preparing. Whatever it will look like, the wePowder Guide is available again. We've extended the pre-order price of € 45.00 (excl. shipping) for a while. This thick book of 400+ pages is in stock and will be delivered to you as soon as possible! Thanks for your support!