Val d'Hérens

Snowpack

The snowpack has become thoroughly wet up to around 3000 m on south- and west-facing slopes, up to around 2500 m on east-facing slopes and up to around 2200 m on north-facing slopes. Owing to solar radiation and the significant rise in temperatures, this moistening process in the snowpack is advancing rapidly at high altitudes, where weak layers are becoming wet for the first time and are consequently unstable. Wet avalanches, including large ones, are still to be expected. Gliding avalanches are expected on steep grassy slopes and rocky ledges. These may occasionally become very large in the snowy south.

With the mild temperatures and only partially clear nights, the snowpack only freezes to the point at which it is capable of bearing loads above approximately 2400 m and quickly softens again due to solar radiation. Dry snow can now only be found on steep north-facing slopes above approximately 2400 to 2800 m.

In deeper layers of the snowpack, people can still release dry avalanches in some places, especially in southern Valais, central Grisons and Engadine.

Weather forecast until Sunday, 07.04.2024

The night will be partly clear. During the day, it will be mostly sunny with occasional dense patches of cloud. Visibility will be obscured by Sahara dust, especially in the west. It will remain very mild.

New snow

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Temperature

• At midday at 2000 m, around +13 °C.
• The zero-degree level will be around 3800 m.

Wind

There will be a southwesterly wind.

• This will be mostly moderate in the west and north and strong in the high Alpine regions.
• There will be a foehn wind in the Alpine valleys of the north.
• The wind will be weak to moderate elsewhere.

Weather review for Saturday, 06.04.2024

After a partly clear night, it was mostly sunny and very mild during the day.

New snow

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Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, between +13 °C in the north and +9 °C in the south.

Wind

There was a southwesterly wind.

• This was mostly moderate in the west and generally at high altitudes, otherwise it was weak.
• There was a foehn wind in the Alpine valleys of the north.

Trend until Tuesday, 09.04.2024Monday

After a partly clear night, it will be quite sunny, being mostly sunny in the south. However, visibility will be obscured by Sahara dust. It will still be very mild. There will be a moderate to strong southwesterly wind, with a rising foehn wind in the north.

The danger of dry avalanches will decrease. The danger of wet avalanches will increase significantly as the day progresses as a result of warmer daytime temperatures and solar radiation. Individual gliding avalanches will be possible at any time, and will become more frequent over the course of the day. These may occasionally become very large in the snowy south.

Tuesday

Monday night into Tuesday will be mostly cloudy in the north and partly clear in the south. During the day, it will be mostly cloudy; only in Grisons will there be sunshine in the morning. In the west and south, precipitation will set in as temperatures fall, although it remains unclear how much precipitation there will be. The snowfall level will rapidly drop towards 1200 m in the west and 1700 m in the south. There will be a strong to storm-force foehn wind until the middle of the day.

The danger of dry avalanches will generally fall but may increase slightly on high north-facing slopes in the regions that are exposed to the foehn wind and on the Main Alpine Ridge in Valais due to the new snow. In Grisons, the danger of wet avalanches will once again increase appreciably with the sunny weather during the day. Gliding avalanches are still to be expected and can occasionally also become very large, especially in the snowy south.