Europe Daily Snow
By Luke Stone, Forecaster Posted 1 year ago December 12, 2023
Low Elevation Rain and Deep, Dense, High Elevation Snow
Summary
Snow totals at upper elevation have been impressive so far, but snow levels have rapidly risen over the past day. We have one more day of rain and high-elevation snow before the much-needed cold front arrives Tuesday night. The low and mid-elevation snowpack across the Alps will take a hit, but snow on the tail end will help ease some of the pain.
Short Term Forecast
Heavy snow has fallen across parts of the French and Italian Alps the last few days, with totals over a half meter at upper elevations. Snow levels climbed to around 2100 - 2300m in the western Alps on Sunday and will remain there through most of Tuesday while rain and snow continue from the latest storm.
Through the end of Tuesday, accumulations below 2100m in the French and western Swiss Alps will be minimal. Above 2400m, including what's already fallen, expect 25 - 50 cms, with even more at higher elevations.
In the Austrian and eastern Swiss Alps, accumulations will be limited above 1500m. Above 1600m, including what's already fallen, expect 20 - 40 cms, with even more at higher elevations.
At the highest elevations of the French, Swiss, and Austrian Alps well over 1m of snow is possible in the next few days, leading to dangerous avalanche conditions.
While the current storm will move out of the area this (Tuesday) morning, yet another storm will keep precipitation going through Friday. This storm will be accompanied by a cold front that will slowly cool things off across the Alps starting Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning it should be snowing down to most base elevations. This last storm in the series will favor the French and western Swiss Alps, with 20 - 40 cms above 2100m. In the Austrian and eastern Swiss Alps, expect 15 - 30 cms above 1500m through Friday, though no overnight period will be particularly deep.
Check out the latest snow forecast from today through Friday.
Extended Forecast
Finally, after this active stretch with barely a day between storms, we should see our first dry stretch in over a month. Right now, the models have this ridge sticking around for about five days, through December 20th, with a return to active weather after that. The models have been pretty consistent with this ridge. Below is the upper-level pattern for the five days ending December 20th.
That is still a long way out though, so we will have to keep an eye on it.
Thanks for reading the Europe Daily Snow!
Luke Stone
Forecaster, OpenSnow
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