First dump in the Western Alps is here, more snow on Thursday

The webcams and precipitation measurements confirm this morning what the weather models had already predicted: in the French and Swiss Alps, 20 to over 60 mm of precipitation has fallen on a large scale. Above 2000 meters, this resulted in a snow cover of 20 to 60 centimeters. The Italian region of Aosta also participated well, with, for example, 49 centimeters in Lago delle Rane (2370m). Lower down, the snow cover quickly decreases, and below 1400 meters, there is little to no snow. Today, the snowfall moves eastward, but tomorrow a new low-pressure area will reach the Alps. What will this mean, and what are the prospects for next week? We will update you.

The map above shows the measured precipitation amount in mm for the period from 19:00 last night to 07:00 this morning. Above 2000 meters, where almost all precipitation fell as snow, you can roughly convert this to centimeters of snow. Austria also saw snow in many places, but outside Vorarlberg, this did not yet result in a serious snow cover.

Cold and gradually drier today

This morning, it continues to snow a bit in France and Switzerland with the snow line descending further. In Austria, the odd snow shower can fall throughout the day, but large amounts are not expected. This afternoon, there is also room for a few clear spells. It is cold with a strong wind from the west to northwest and frost above approximately 1000 meters. In the Southern French Alps, it remains somewhat milder.

Snow in more regions on Thursday, French snow line remains high

The depression reaching the Alps on Thursday initially causes a weststau again with heavy snowfall in France and Switzerland (30 to 50 cm above 1500-2000 meters), but in the afternoon and evening, small disturbances over Northern Italy can also cause snow in the Southern Alps. We cautiously expect 10 to 30 centimeters here, but it could be more regionally. The same 10 to 30 centimeters is expected for Austria; Vorarlberg may also catch part of the weststau and thus come out higher. The whole system moves through fairly quickly, so the snow amounts are not enormous. The reason for the high snow line in France (and possibly Western Switzerland) is again a warm sector, preceding the passage of the cold front, in which Mediterranean air is drawn in with a southern flow.

Friday: cold with scattered snow showers

On Friday night, the flow behind the passed depression turns to northwest, causing about 10 centimeters of snow to fall in Switzerland and Austria due to orographic lift. This will be nice dry snow down to the valleys. Scattered snow showers remain possible during the day, especially in Zwitserland and Austria. Furthermore, there is also room for a few clear spells on Friday afternoon. The cold wind decreases, but the temperature remains low with frost at most levels and maximums around -5 at 1500 meters and -12 at 2500 meters.

Transition to mild weather during friendly weekend

A deep low-pressure area near Ireland sets a large bubble of subtropical air in motion, making it extremely mild in many places in Europe on Sunday and Monday. The Alps will not notice this yet on Saturday. Thanks to a high-pressure ridge, the sun breaks through in most places. After a very cold night with severe frost above the snow in many places, the temperature during the day rises to -2 in the Eastern Alps to +4 in France at 1500 meters. Sunday also remains dry with regular sunshine. The mild air is already clearly moving in at altitude, with +5 to +10 at 1500 meters in the Northern and Western Alps. In the inner Alpine regions and the Italian Alps, the temperature rise remains limited. The incoming air is dry, so the fallen snow will not melt quickly.

High-pressure influence next week?

Most weather models predict high-pressure areas over Central and Eastern Europe for next week. This would mean little or no precipitation and low humidity in the high mountains. A reasonably favorable scenario for preserving the snow. Whether it will be cold or mild depends on the position of the high-pressure areas and thus the wind direction. More details will become known in the coming days. Would you like to follow these trend yourself? WePowder Pro now provides you with 4 updates per day with 14-day forecasts. There’s a 30% discount if you subscribe before the end of this month with the code INSTA30.