Europe Daily Snow
By Luke Stone, Forecaster Posted 12 months ago January 15, 2024
The Next Stretch of Active Weather Has Begun
Summary
Snow returned to the western Alps last night as the next round of storms gets started. The next two storms will favor the western Alps, with a moderate event first followed by a stronger storm. The second storm will linger through Friday morning and then another break is expected.
Short Term Forecast
The details haven't changed much since yesterday, so I will just briefly summarize the timing and totals. Light to moderate snow started falling last night and will continue throughout the day. Another 5 - 15 cms is expected today across the northern French, Swiss, and western Austrian Alps through Tuesday morning. Snow will begin to taper off in the western Alps Monday evening and Tuesday morning in the east. The latest snow forecast from the European model is below.
Most of Tuesday will be dry in the western Alps before the next storm moves in Tuesday night. Snow levels will rise as the precipitation begins in the French/western Swiss Alps, rising to ~1200 m Tuesday night and 2100 m on Wednesday. A cold front arrives on Wednesday night and will gradually lower snow levels through Friday. The rising and falling of the snow levels in the eastern Swiss/western Austrian Alps will be about twelve hours behind, and remain a few hundred meters lower at each time point. These high snow levels will bring rain at lower elevations of most resorts.
The northern French and western Swiss Alps will be in the bullseye with this storm given the western origin and predominantly west/northwest winds. Heavy snow will be falling in these regions from Wednesday through Thursday night, with around 10 - 25 cms every twelve hours until Friday morning. The heaviest period of snow will be Wednesday night through Thursday evening. By Friday morning total accumulations should be in the 30 - 60 cm range, though around the Chamonix area totals could approach 1 meter.
On the northern side of the central and eastern Swiss Alps, as well as the western Austrian Alps, totals should wind up in the 10 - 30 cms range. Expect mainly light snow through Thursday with the heaviest snow on Thursday night. The latest snow forecast from the European model is below.
Extended Forecast
Once this storm departs on Saturday we should have another several days of dry weather on tap. The models show a weak storm around Tuesday of next week but the latest guidance keeps the Alps and Pyrenees mostly dry. The long-range pattern looks very dry, with a strong ridge setting up over western Europe through the end of the month. There's plenty of time for this to change, but right now, there are no major storms in sight beyond this week.
Thanks for reading the Europe Daily Snow!
Luke Stone
Forecaster, OpenSnow
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