Calm has returned, fresh snow for the Northern Alps on Friday

Calm has returned, fresh snow for the Northern Alps on Friday
Lots of fresh snow in Saalbach (ArjanK2)
Lots of fresh snow in Saalbach (ArjanK2)

After a weekend with PA#4 and total accumulations of over half a metre, we now return to the well-known stable high-pressure weather. Luckily for the end of the week there is again snow for the Northern Alps on the weather charts. Possibly PA#5 for the Northern Alps is approaching soon.

Lots of snow and wind

^The forecasts on wePowder are powdered by our friends at Ortovox

The warm front on Saturday gave a lot of snow for the areas to the east of Innsbruck. As expected, the Nordstau areas such as Loser - Altaussee received the most snow, where in total a metre fell. In the chart below you can also see the rising temperatures due to the passing warm front during the course of Saturday. A little further west (west of Salzburg, east of Tyrol) there was also a lot of snow (30 to 40 centimetres) locally all the way down into the lowest valleys. Unfortunately, the stormy winds higher up also threw a spanner in the works. It was (and still is!) a critical avalanche situation with several avalanches resulting in the east of Austria. Higher up there, avalanche danger 4 still prevails.

Total accumulation of one metre of snow in Loser (lawis.at)

Three sunny days

I can be brief about the weather until Wednesday: the next three days will be dry and sunny thanks to the influence of high pressure. Temperatures will rise again, especially in the Northern and Western Alps. After the snowfall, there is still some powder to be found in the eastern part of Austria, especially on the shady slopes, but both the southern and western Alps are currently hopeful for fresh snow. Still, large parts of the Alps have to be patient.

Cold front approaching on Thursday (wetter3.de, DWD)
Snowfall from Thursday evening to Friday evening

Snow at the end of the week

Thursday will bring the first clouds from the north due to a strengthened north-westerly flow, followed by a cold front with snow for the Northern Alps in the evening. The snow line will be down in most valleys. In the stau areas from eastern Switzerland to eastern Austria some 5 to 20 centimetres, with possible spikes of up to 30 centimetres of fresh snow in Austria. It’s a foretaste of more, because what’s next on the weather charts…a big dump! Possibly PA#5!

Continuing snow chances for the Northern Alps

Also during the weekend and after, the weather in the Northern Alps will remain changeable with great chances of snow. The Western Alps might also benefit. The European and American weather models both hint at a big dump with snow accumulations exceeding maybe even 1 metre, but at the same time it’s still far away! We’ll have to wait until the weather report on Wednesday for more details. It looks like the Southern Alps are out of the picture again. Here it will stay dry for a longer period.

Henri
knows everything about new ski areas, lifts and projects.

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CamuschAuthor24 January 2022 · 12:57

Hadn´t that much fun in a long time on Saturday. Looking forward to the weather report on Wednesday.

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