After a tumultuous weekend with quite a fluctuating temperature, we start the new week quietly. However, new snow will already follow tomorrow, but in the meantime I am keeping a close eye on the situation for the weekend. With a swelling north-westerly flow, Austria could get a good amount of snow.
Rollercoaster weather
We have had a real rollercoaster weather over the past weekend. It went from deep wintry on Saturday to mild and rainy on Sunday. In the higher regions of the Arlberg, for instance, almost a metre of snow fell. In the village of Warth, almost 70 centimetres of snow fell, but by Sunday up to 40 centimetres had melted away again. This morning, there are even only a few centimetres left of the snow cover at the snow measurement station.
Fresh snow is of course more susceptible to melting than an old snow layer, but other factors were enhancing the melt a lot. Not only was the freezing level temporarily almost at 3,000 metres, but on Sunday it also started to rain with the passage of the warm front. On top of that, it was also quite windy.
Snow again tomorrow
Meanwhile, calm has returned and it is sunny in most high alpine regions. Many valleys still have a persistent low stratus deck. During the day it remains dry, but tonight new snowfall follows from the northwest, although the amounts are not really noteworthy. More snow follows tomorrow for the northern Alps, which could persist in the Staulagen until Wednesday morning/Wednesday afternoon. Here, 10 to 20 centimetres of snow could fall, with locally around 30 centimetres of snow. In the more inner-alpine areas, of course, less. The snowline will be around 1,000 metres.
- 1cm
- 5cm
- 10cm
- 15cm
- 20cm
- 30cm
- 40cm
- 50cm
- 75cm
- 100+
- 1mm
- 5mm
- 10mm
- 20mm
- 30mm
- 60mm
- 120+
Thursday dry
Wednesday high pressure influence increases from the west. Austria still faces some remnants of snowfall, but the intensity decreases rapidly there too. Thursday remains dry and sunny. Friday also starts calm, but north of the Alps a new weather change is knocking at the door.
From Friday full of snow?
A temporary blocking over the Atlantic and a large and strong low-pressure area over Scandinavia will clear the way for polar air from the north. Both ECMWF and GFS currently show this arctic slide over the North Sea. The moist and cold air then courses straight towards the Northern Alps. Even after that (as seen in the ensemble above), the chances of cold winter weather seem high, but with whether much snow can then be expected is of course not yet certain.
Previous forecasts:
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thanks Henri