It's never easy seeing rain in the mountains, but it's even worse when it immediately follows a massive snowstorm. The good news is that a cold front has started to make its way across the Alps from north to south last night, turning rain back to snow. Snow showers will continue throughout the day, tapering off west to east and ending in the Austrian Alps early Thursday morning. A few to as many as 10 cms are possible during this time.

This won't leave much of a break before the next storm arrives Thursday evening. With the jet stream positioned further to the east, this storm will favor the central and eastern Alps, with the deepest snow expected in Austria. 

The track of this Nordstau will bring a lot of moisture to the Austrian Alps from Friday morning through Saturday night, as winds out of the north force moist air up against the northern side of the Alps. 

A strong cold front will lower snow levels early in the event, down to 900 m. The Vorarlberg and Tirol regions should see 30 - 60 cms, while much of the Swiss Alps will receive 15 - 30 cms. The French Alps can expect lesser totals of 10 - 20 cms. Check out the snow totals from the American model below. 

Another storm is expected this weekend, starting Saturday night. We'll start with a quick hitter bringing light to moderate snow through Sunday. Then, a strengthening jet stream will buckle over the North Atlantic, directing a low-pressure system south across Spain. The Pyrenees could see some snow out of this system, with additional impacts possible as it stalls and then progresses to the east. This is quite a long ways out so I will hold off on any more details at this time. 

Thanks for reading the Europe Daily Snow! Follow me @lstone84 on Instagram to track and chase storms all winter long!

Luke Stone
Forecaster, OpenSnow