Europe Daily Snow
By Luke Stone, Forecaster Posted 1 year ago November 22, 2023
Massive Long-Duration Storm Starting Friday!
Summary
Snow showers will linger in the Pyrenees throughout the day on Wednesday, and then Thursday will be calm before the storm. Snow returns Friday morning as a blockbuster storm moves in from the north. This will be a long-duration, deep, cold, and very strong storm that will bring 1 - 2 + meters of snow over the next week. Buckle up, Austrian Alps, because this one's for you!
Short Term Forecast
It was nice to see shots of heavy snow from resorts across the Pyrenees yesterday, albeit without any reports of snow totals. Snow showers will linger throughout the day before tapering off this evening.
Thursday will be dry as the as the upper-levels prepare to unleash a beast of a storm. We'll start with the jet stream, as it will develop a big ridge in the north Atlantic that will provide persistent northerly flow and a supply of cold arctic air.
And below you cna see the cold, arictic air pouring into eastern Europe during this time.
The jet stream will lead to the development of a strong area of low pressure over eastern Europe that will basically stay in the same spot for a about week. It will send wave after wave of moisture and reinforcements of cold air.
This setup will provide a prolonged period of large scale lift in the atmosphere. Further, the sustained northwesterly winds slamming against the Alps will provide ample lift on its own. In order for a storm to produce preciptiation and snow in general, you need moisture and lift, and this beast of a storm will have two strong lifting mechanisms at the same time.
So, the persistent northwest winds, large-scale dynamics, and arcitic air will combine to produce a massive snow storm for thr eastern Alps. Generally, 5 - 10 cms of liquid are expected during this time, which shold equate to 1 - 2 + meters of snow for a large area, heaviest in the Vorarlberg and Tirol regions.
There will be some periods where the snow intenisty lets up, but generally from Friday through Wednesaday morning of next week, it will be snowing, oftentimes very heavily.
Below is an early look at the snow totals from the European model.
I will leave you with that for now, and get into the other details next post.
Extended Forecast
Once this wonderful storm winds down on Wednesday of next week, another storm is possible as early as Thursday. Right now, it looks like this will have a more westerly track favoring the French and Swiss Alps, but it's a bit too early to nail those details down.
Thanks for reading the Europe Daily Snow! Check out this short clip from yesterday in Utah, where 22" of snow fell in thirty-six hours. Follow me @lstone84 on Instagram to track and chase storms all winter long!
Luke Stone
Forecaster, OpenSnow
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