A new month with new winter opportunities. After a warm start of the month, all eyes are now on a new arctic outbreak from the north with a big impact on the weather in the Alps. Within a few days the spring-like conditions may give way to snow all the way down into the valleys. For the Northern Alps, the snowfall map is once again nicely colorful and we can expect some 30 to 50 centimeters of snow on a large scale.
Cooling
The extreme heat of the past few days is, at least on the northern side of the Alps, over again. Only in Switzerland the temperature can still just exceed 20 degrees with plenty of sunshine (and again Sahara sand in the air) this morning, but further east colder air is already moving in. On the southern side of the Alps it will stay very warm for a bit longer with temperatures again above 25 degrees possible today.
After some precipitation in the morning, the sun may show itself more often in the Eastern Alps. Later in the afternoon more clouds will move in and the chances of precipitation will increase again, especially in the northern areas. With a snowline of around 1,500 meters, it’s possible that up to 5 centimeters of snow will fall, especially around Tyrol and the Salzburgerland, but in the rest of the Northern Alps it could also temporarily snow slightly. The northerly wind will make it a lot cooler in the mountains than it has been the past few days. Tonight this precipitation will also reach the Southeastern Alps, where these showers might give around 10 to 15 centimeters of snow above 1,500 meters.
Snow showers
^The forecasts on wePowder are powdered by our friends at Ortovox
Tomorrow, the northern flow will continue to cool and Austria and Bavaria will continue to have the chance of snow showers. The snowline will drop significantly during the night to below 1000 meters. Locally, it may already be snowing from 500 meters. What a contrast with the past few days when temperatures of over 25 degrees were measured! With the persistent northern flow there is still quite a bit of snow possible. Especially in the northern areas east of Tyrol, some 10 to possibly 20 centimeters of snowfall is possible. Inner-Alpine areas (especially in the west of Austria) will most likely keep it almost dry and can expect clearings during the day.
Friendly Easter Sunday
Sunday will be dry and sunny in almost all parts of the Alps. Temperatures are still a lot lower than in recent days, with maximum temperatures around 12 to 15 degrees. Only in the east of Austria will there still be some residual clouds after the precipitation, which will slowly but surely dissolve in the course of the day. In addition, the French southern Alps will receive some moisture from the Mediterranean Sea, which may bring clouds and some light snowfall above 1600 to 2000 meters in the morning and afternoon. It won’t give more than a few centimeters.
April winter
Easter Monday will start sunny in most places, but clouds soon follow from the northwest. A cold front with an arctic outbreak behind it is approaching the Northern Alps. In the evening the precipitation reaches Switzerland and soon the rest of the Northern Alps will also have to deal with this snowfall. From Tuesday morning, the entire Alpine north side is back in deep winter conditions, with temperatures as much as 15 degrees lower than on Easter Monday and a snow line down to the lowest valleys. The southern Alps are mainly in the lee and get very little of this precipitation. Only Slovenia can possibly take 20 to 30 centimeters on Tuesday with a snowline that ultimately to an altitude of about 500 to 800 meters can come.
The GFS Innsbruck ensemble shows this marked cooling well, with temperatures on the 850 hPa plane (about 1500 meters altitude) dropping from about 10 to below -5 degrees. In addition, the precipitation peak from Monday night onwards is also clearly visible. From central Switzerland to eastern Austria, 30 centimeters of snow is possible on a large scale, with up to half a meter of snow likely in the Stau areas.
The wintry weather continues at least until Thursday. In the following days the temperatures slowly climb back to around normal for the time of year. A return to spring days like this week’s seems not really possible for the time being until mid-April.
wePowder guide is here!
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!