The forecast remains on track for a period of heavy snow in the northwest and northern Alps to close out the week. The models have backed off on the snow totals in the Swiss and Austrian Alps, but a solid dump is still on the way, and otherwise, the forecast has remained unchanged.

Snow levels will be falling from today (Thursday) through Friday evening before briefly rising on Friday night. They will climb to around 1500 m in the western Alps (northern French Alps), ~ 1000 m in the western Swiss Alps, ~ 700 m in the central Swiss Alps, and ~ 500 m in the eastern Swiss and western Austrian Alps. The ridge responsible for this snow level increase is moving in from the southwest but will only get so far before the final wave brings cooler air back into the mountains. 

Below is the latest snow forecast from the high-resolution WRF model.

The snow will arrive in two waves, conveniently, with the heaviest falling on Thursday night and Friday night, resulting in good overnight totals for both Friday and Saturday.

We can expect an additional 40 - 80 cm for most of the French Alps, with totals of 1 m in the favored parts of the Haute-Savoie region. Expect 25 - 50 cm for most of the northern side of the Swiss and western Austrian Alps, with higher totals in Engelberg and around happy valley (Murren, Wengen, Gridlewald).

The storm will wind down on Saturday, and with cold temperatures persisting, Sunday will be a nice bluebird day to catch some more fresh turns with good visibility. 

There are no changes to the long-range forecast either, with a ridge expected to move in later in the weekend. The models keep it around western/northern Europe through at least the third week of January (1/21) before there are some signs a pattern change may occur.

My next post will be on Friday.

Thanks for reading the Europe Daily Snow!

Luke Stone
Forecaster, OpenSnow

Add Weather & Webcam Widgets

See current conditions, check the 10-day forecast, and keep an eye on your favorite webcams right on your iPhone and Mac home screen with the OpenSnow iOS Widgets.

How to Add iPhone Widgets

1. Tap and hold an empty area on the home screen until the apps jiggle.
2. Tap the "Add Button (+)" in the upper-left corner.
3. Search or scroll down to "OpenSnow".
4. Scroll through our list of widgets and then tap "(+) Add Widget".

How to Edit iPhone Widgets

1. Tap and hold the widget until the widget menu appears.
2. Tap "Edit Widget".
3. Tap "Location" to edit/select from your "Winter" or "Summer" list.

What about Android?

Android widgets are in development but we do not have a timeline for their release.

Learn More → iOS Widgets

Regions of the Alps