Wet and very mild, drier on Friday and Saturday

Between reviving depressions over the Atlantic and high pressure over the eastern Mediterranean, a humid and very mild southwesterly flow has developed. This has caused a lot of precipitation in recent days, with regional flooding once again. On Thursday, another significant precipitation area will follow, with the snow line unfortunately barely dropping. On Friday, the chance of precipitation decreases, and we can expect a predominantly dry Saturday.

New weatherman

Before I continue with the weather report, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Chris van den Bos (@weerchris on Insta), and I will be joining the Wepowder editorial team this season. Henri and I will both be writing the weather reports, so we can provide you with updates even more frequently! I have been interested in weather since early childhood and I love the mountains in all seasons. I’m really addicted to snow and long ski days in big terrain, but also charmed by small authentic ski areas. I hope to get more acquainted with freeriding in the near future.

Current wet conditions

Especially in the French and Italian Alps and the south of Tyrol, it rained abundantly with measurements of 30 to locally 86 mm (Timmelsjoch, Platt). Yesterday, the snow line in Austria rose to 3000 meters, making it wet up to the lower glacier areas. In France, the air was slightly cooler, and a bit of snow fell in the inner Alps down to 2500 meters. Above 3000 meters, there was generally 10 to 20 cm of snow. Below that, the snow cover (if still present) has significantly decreased in thickness and quality.

Ex-hurricane Kirk brings further mildness with lots of wind today

On the eastern flank of various depressions, including ex-hurricane Kirk, even milder air is being drawn in. Before the first precipitation arrives in the evening and night, temperatures in many valleys will rise to around 20 degrees (e.g., in Aosta, Innsbruck, and Bolzano). The freezing level peaks around 3500 meters. The southwesterly wind is gusty and increases to force 7 or 8 on wind-sensitive peaks and passes, and up to force 9 in the evening, a real foehn storm. During the day, it will be mostly dry with regional sunny periods.

Tonight and tomorrow morning, the cold front associated with ex-hurricane Kirk will move from west to east over the Alps. The foehn storm will persist until the cold front passes, and the precipitation peak will shift fairly quickly from the French Alps through northern Italy and southern Switzerland to Austria and Slovenia during the morning. In the evening, it will be dry again in most places. The most precipitation will again be for the southern Alps, with 30 to 50 mm south of the main ridge. Initially, snow will only fall above 3000 meters, but once the cold front passes, it can briefly turn white down to 2500 meters.

High-pressure ridge

On Friday, the weather calms down thanks to a weak ridge of high pressure. Cooler air will also flow over the Alps from the northwest. There will be some orographic lift, causing a few light snow showers above 2000 meters in Switzerland and Austria.

On Saturday, the Alps will still be influenced by this high-pressure ridge. For a change, it will remain dry throughout the entire Alpine massif with significant sunny periods. The frost line will be between 2600 and 2000 meters from west to east. On Saturday evening, a new disturbance will arrive from the west, likely bringing significant rain to France and Switzerland. On Sunday, the northern side has the highest chance of a few showers. The disturbance brings milder air, with the snow line rising to 2800 meters.

No signs of colder weather

The typical autumn pattern with active depressions over the Atlantic and high pressure over southern and eastern Europe will continue to bring a southern flow with mild weather over the continent until the forecast horizon. Sometimes it will rain, but probably not as heavily as earlier this month. There will also be “golden October days” with late summer characteristics. The frost line will be high to very high, between 2500 and 3500 meters.