Later this week snow with a very high snowline

Later this week snow with a very high snowline
Great conditions (but with a high avalanche danger) in the French Alps (photo by Medicine, Chazelet)
Great conditions (but with a high avalanche danger) in the French Alps (photo by Medicine, Chazelet)

After a sunny and wintry weekend, the Alps have a mild week ahead. With a south-westerly high, föhn will play a role in the northern Alps and temperatures could rise considerably. Later this week, some precipitation is also possible again, but it does not really cool down significantly. Also in the longer term (until Christmas), there is no cooling in sight yet.

From wintry to warm

Yesterday the day still started very cold, especially in the Eastern Alps, but from the west higher up the temperature already picked up considerably. The real cold has now completely disappeared from the Alps. Only in the Italian Alps we still encounter some cooler conditions with around 0 to 2 degrees at 1500 metres. In the Northern Alps today, temperatures rise to 10 degrees at the same altitude due to the mild south-westerly flow and the south-föhn.

With these high temperatures, no precipitation will come along initially. High clouds prevent the sun from reaching us. Especially in the typical föhn areas, it may clear up a bit more. In the French southern Alps, the southern flow from the Mediterranean will not rule out a shower, although most precipitation will stick to the coastal areas.

Cold front in the night to Wednesday (wetter3.de, DWD)
Cold front in the night to Wednesday (wetter3.de, DWD)

Cold front

A cold front follows from the west during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. Some cooler air flows in, but still the snowline in the French northern Alps and western Switzerland sticks at about 1,800 metres. Further south in the French Alps even above 2000 metres, but here precipitation amounts decrease. I expect around 10 centimetres above 2000 metres with decreasing amounts to the east and south.

During Wednesday morning and afternoon, the cold front moves further east, which means we will also see some precipitation in the rest of Switzerland and Austria. Again, the snowline will be at around 1,500 to 1,800 metres, but the futility is a bit off, leaving the northern areas to receive a few centimetres above 2,000 metres. The inner-alpine areas (especially in the Eastern Alps) can keep it mostly dry.

Warm front with rain follows Thursday night (wetter3.de, DWD)
Snow only for the high alpine regions

Rain and a high snowline Thursday and Friday

Also on Thursday, the north-western Alps will see some showers. With a warm front, another precipitation area reaches the northwestern Alps on Thursday evening. Especially in the areas on the northern edge of the Alps, it could become very unpleasant with strong winds and a snowline up to possibly 2,500 metres. How much it will rain and snow is not yet entirely certain. Some models indicate very high precipitation, with up to 30-40mm at times. Let’s hope it won’t be that bad, because it would strongly affect the snow cover below 2000 metres. More on this on Wednesday in a new weather report.

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Replies

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georgesproAuthor19 December 2022 · 08:45

Hello wepowder team. Long term follower and always grateful for your work (got the book!), What happened to your amazing app??

Follow the snow
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LiBTech1978proAuthor19 December 2022 · 17:02

Not good news for powder lovers(

Beginner
juancarlosdominguezlemoineAuthor21 December 2022 · 07:05

Normal winter for Europe. Val Thorens is basically the only place i go now and even so ina decade, i feel that the base should be at 2500 meters

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LiBTech1978proAuthor21 December 2022 · 12:10

Normal winter for Europe. Val Thorens is basically the only place i go now and even so ina decade, i feel that the base should be at 2500 meters

juancarlosdominguezlemoine op 21 Dec 2022 07:05

Maybe in Chamonix also good, it’s high altitude mountains

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