As of Wednesday night, snow totals reached 143 cm at 2500 m in Switzerland, and it was still dumping across much of the Alps. Below are some other totals so far.

Here is the webcam from Verbier, showing 60 cm as of 1 AM.

As mentioned, this storm has a lot left to give. It will continue to dump snow through Thursday evening, with some light to moderate snow continuing through Friday morning. The snow levels were high through Wednesday morning and gradually started to fall throughout the day. By evening, snow was falling below 1500 m across much of the Alps. Snow levels will continue to fall, and we could see them dip down to 1000 to 1200 m, and even a bit lower during heavy precipitation in the western Alps. 

The avalanche danger has risen, reaching level four or five in parts of the southern Swiss and French Alps, and it will only worsen on Thursday. Some roads have been forced to close near Saas Fee, and others could be closed on Friday. Flooding and landslides remain a major concern where precipitation is all or mostly rain. This is an impressive storm, and snow totals will likely exceed forecasts. I wouldn't be surprised to see reports of 2.5 m, which means at higher elevations, 3 m is possible.

This storm is still warm overall, so the higher the terrain, the better the snow quality. However, with incredibly heavy snow on Thursday, visibility at those upper elevations will be low or practically nonexistent. This will present some challenges. I'll be out at Val Thorens tomorrow, but there will be loads of options with many resorts getting slammed. Be safe and enjoy. I am not sure where I'll end up on Friday/Saturday, but it will depend on what opens Thursday, what the snow totals are in the entire region, and where the warm air will arrive the latest.

More snow is possible this weekend and next week, though these storms don't look as big. The pattern should stay in place, though, with southerly winds and the biggest accumulations in the southern and southwestern Alps. I'll have more details on Friday or Saturday as the weekend storm is on the doorstep.

My next post will be on Friday or Saturday.

Thanks for reading the Europe Daily Snow!

Luke Stone
Forecaster, OpenSnow

Alps Regions:

NEW: Forecast Range Graphs

You can now view individual forecasts from global and regional high-resolution weather models in OpenSnow. This includes forecasts from the GFS, ECMWF, HRRR, and ICON models, as well as the OpenSnow blend.

The graphs give you a behind-the-scenes look at the forecast and make it easier to see if the forecast models are in tight agreement or if there is a wide range of potential outcomes over the next 10 days.

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