Some snow for the northern side at the end of the week

Some snow for the northern side at the end of the week
Low stratus deck in the Rhine valley, sunshine above (foto-webcam.eu)
Low stratus deck in the Rhine valley, sunshine above (foto-webcam.eu)

The sun will continue to shine brightly in the coming days and, together with higher temperatures, it will even become somewhat spring-like. Only towards the end of the week can we expect the first precipitation. This will mainly affect the Northern Alps. In the western and southern Alps it will remain drier.

Spring in February

So the first days of this week will be mild and sunny in the Alps. This has everything to do with a strong high pressure area over central Europe. The clouds you see on the satellite image north of the Alps are the typical low-hanging clouds that come with this almost windless high-pressure weather, but in the Alps the sun is shining brightly. With temperatures of 10 to 15 degrees in the valleys and a zero degree limit of around 3000 metres, it is even quite spring-like, but fortunately the air is quite dry, so snowmelt is not too bad. Nothing to worry about.

Satellite image of this morning (sat24.com)
High-pressure weather dominates this week (wetter3.de, DWD)

Transition to changeable weather

The high-pressure blockade over central Europe weakens somewhat during the week and also moves southwards, ensuring that the Alps see a gradual transition to a more changeable phase from the end of the week. The jet stream no longer makes a wide detour around the Alps and central Europe, but is temporarily directed towards the Northern Alps from the North Sea by the end of the week. Depressions can enter Europe slightly better north of the Alps, but new high pressure build-up over south-western Europe limits precipitation to the Northern Alps and does not seem to yield much initially. From the North Sea, the core of the low-pressure area soon moves on to the west towards the Baltic States, so it is not a hefty Nordstau situation.

Jet stream temporarily directed towards the Northern Alps at the end of the week (meteociel.fr)
Approaching depression brings some precipitation (wetter3.de, DWD)

Some snowfall starting on Friday

Friday during the day we will see the first snowfall in the Northern Alps. The high pressure area west of the Alps will ensure that the areas west of Berner Oberland/Wallis should expect less snow, maximum 1-5 centimetres I expect. Especially on the Austrian north side, some 10-15 centimetres could still fall. So it does not deliver much yet, but it is a nice refresher here. The supply is still quite mild, though, so we shouldn’t expect snow all the way into the valleys. With the first snowfall, the snowline will be at around 1200-1500 metres.

No large amounts during the first snowfall
No large amounts during the first snowfall

Sunday possibly more

More precipitation may follow on Sunday for the northern side. The GFS even foresees quite a bit of snow for eastern Austria, but the European model does not really want to follow yet. So we will keep an eye on these developments.

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

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LiBTech1978proAuthor13 February 2023 · 13:38

Thanks @@Henri, at least we have hope the end of week beginning of next week we get some more snow and cold in Austria

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