Wednesday 7 February 2024 - Taste of winter on its way for most of the Alps…
The good news is that temperatures are set to turn a bit colder in the Alps later this week and over the weekend, with some snow in places. However, the snow is sadly not going to be quite as heavy or as widespread as was hoped a few days ago, with some places probably not seeing very much at all.
Isola 2000 in the far southern French Alps has not seen much snow this season but should be in the sweet spot for the upcoming storm, with at least 50cm of snow expected between Thursday night and Saturday
Today will be mostly fine and mild across the Alps, with some long sunny spells. However, cloud will thicken across the far northern Alps later in the day, with a little rain or snow falling overnight close to the foothills of the French (e.g. Avoriaz), Swiss (e.g. Engelberg) and perhaps the far western Austrian Alps (e.g Lech). The rain/snow limit will rise from 1400m to 1800m, with a maximum of 2-5cm of new snow.
Any showers in the far northern Alps will die away on Thursday, leaving most areas with a dry day with sunny spells. However, cloud will thicken up in the south-western Alps (e.g. Isola 2000)later, heralding the approach of the next, more significant storm. This storm will continue to influence the weather in the Alps into the weekend, most favouring the south-western Alps.
The two areas that should do very well from this storm include the far southern French Alps (e.g. Isola 2000, Auron) where 50cm or more is quite likely between Thursday night and Saturday afternoon. The second is a portion of the Italian central-western Italian Alps, roughly between Cervinia and Madesimo (including the Monte Rosa region) where 30-50cm is likely.
Most of the rest of the Alps will also see some snow but generally in lesser quantities, with typically 10-20cm, with the higher totals falling in the northern Alps (e.g. Avoriaz, Engelberg, Lech, Kaprun) falling later in the weekend.
During this storm the rain/snow limit will generally start at around 1500-1800m in the southern Alps overnight on Thursday, before gradually falling towards 1200-1500m on Friday. In the northern Alps it will also start at around 1500-1800m, but on Saturday, before falling towards 1000m on Sunday.
The upcoming snow will be very welcome for those resorts that get it in any significant quantity. However, except in a few lucky resorts in the south-western Alps (e.g. Isola 2000, Monte Rosa), itis unlikely to significantly alter the situation for long. This is due to the serious lack of snow at low altitudes across the Alps, for which big back-to-back storms are needed to radically transform the situation and relay the base – an increasingly tricky task at this time of year when the sun’s strength increases.
In terms of how the weather in the Alps will pan out for the big February half term week next week, there remains a lot of uncertainty, with a little more snow possible but not in the really big quantities that are needed right now.
, I'd suggest that our Aussie friends have done reasonably well considering that most of their visits are to mega resorts, where it's only a matter of time before you run into hordes, especially in February. I was grateful that once out of the base area at Val d'Isere, Liz/Tony/I only hit a handful of lifts where we had to wait more than a few chairs.