Lots of fresh snow, stormy second part of the week

Large parts of the Alps awoke to a winter wonderland this morning. As expected, most fell in the French northern Alps and western Switzerland. Accumulations were serious with up to a metre of snow in recent days higher up. Further east, the amounts do decrease rapidly, but still, up to around 40 centimetres fell in the Arlberg. Behind it, in the shadow of the north-western stau, we see smaller snow accumulations. But here, too, we see a large-scale freshening of some 20 to locally 30 centimetres. A nice layer of snow also fell in the southern Alps from Lombardy to the east. Nassfeld, for instance, is also reporting 40 centimetres of fresh. In the southern Dolomites and also further to the east, we do see that by now the strong northföhn has made a big impact.

Avalanche danger

Avalanche danger is seriously high at the moment. SLF reports for much of Valais:

Large quantities of fresh snow and the wind-drifted snow are lying on top of a weakly bonded old snowpack. Natural avalanches are possible. Avalanches can release the entire snowpack. In particular from starting zones at higher altitudes very large avalanches, capable of reaching intermediate altitudes, must be expected in isolated cases. The conditions are critical for snow sport activities outside marked and open pistes. Even single winter sport participants can release avalanches easily.

More snow on the way

It will not stay dry in the coming days either. A succession of fronts will regularly bring some snow. Tonight we will see rising temperatures due to a tail of the passing warm front. Not much snow will fall, at most a few centimetres in the northernmost areas, but the snowline will temporarily rise to around 1,500 - 1,800 metres. Tomorrow, a cold front will follow in the afternoon, with the snowline dropping again to around 1,200 metres during the snowfall. In the north-western Alps, this will yield around 10 to 20 centimetres of snow.

Some snow follows again on Thursday with a somewhat higher snowline, but the models still differ quite a bit. The northernmost areas should expect several centimetres of snow. Below 1500 metres, most of it will fall as rain. On Friday, another cold front follows with about 10 centimetres of snow with a falling snowline to around 1000 - 1200 metres, possibly even lower in Austria.

Stormy from Thursday onwards

From Thursday, we face a strong westerly flow that rushes past on the northern side of the Alps. Higher up it will get really stormy which will definitely have an impact on the higher lifts. Not only on Thursday, but also in the following days. The northernmost areas are the most exposed to the highest wind speeds. Going further south, the wind already decreases a bit, but even here it is still strong.

Keypoints:

• Most snow has fallen in the north-west Alps (Mont-Blanc massif & Wallis).
• Higher treeruns are doable, lower areas have often still little snow and are too warm.
• Very changeable weather in the coming days with a fluctuating snowline.
• More snow for the north-west and north side (centre of gravity more towards Arlberg).
• Watch out for avalanche danger! Check the avalanche bulletins! Not just the numbers, but all the details. Also later this week, because:
• Higher up, wind is going to play a big role especially from Thursday onwards, especially on the northern edge of the Alps (French Northern Alps to Austria). Wind-drifted snow is going to be a (bigger) problem.
• Keep an eye out for (some) closed lifts in the ski resorts from Thursday onwards.

Read also:

• What is an ensemble forecast?
• What are low- and high pressure areas?
• What is a northstau/nordstau?
• What is a southstau/südstau?
• What is föhn?
• What is the jet stream?