Waadtländer Voralpen

Snowpack

The snowpack is characterised by stormy weather, warmer temperatures and sometimes rain. Peaks, ridgelines and crests are often blown off down to the ground or the crusts from November. There are large, often compact and hard snowdrift accumulations at a distance from ridgelines. The surface of the snowpack is often icy and slippery. There is hardly any transportable snow left. The snowpack structure is generally favourable. Fractures in near-surface layers or also in deeper layers are only possible in isolated cases.

There are many glide cracks, except on the southern flank of the Alps. To date, gliding avalanches have mainly occurred on east-, south- and west-facing slopes below approximately 2500 m and, somewhat less frequently, on northern slopes below approximately 2200 m. Gliding avalanches may still be triggered at any time of day or night and may be large in regions with a lot of snow.

Weather forecast until Saturday, 30.12.2023

The night will be partly cloudy in the north and a few snowflakes will fall above approximately 1600 m. During the day, it will be mostly sunny in the mountains.

New fallen snow

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Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, around 0 °C.

Wind

The wind will be mostly weak, with a moderate southwesterly wind at high altitudes.

Weather review for Friday, 29.12.2023

During Thursday night, a few flakes of snow fell in the west above approximately 1700 m. Otherwise it was often cloudy, but mostly clear in Grisons. During the day, it was cloudy with occasional clear spells. There were longer sunny spells, especially in Grisons.

New fallen snow

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Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, between +2 °C in the north and -2 °C in the south.

Wind

There was a moderate wind in the north, with a mostly weak southwesterly wind in Valais, Ticino and Grisons.

Trend until New Year's Day, 01.01.2024

Clouds will start to gather in the south during Saturday night. In the morning, it will still be brighter in the regions that are exposed to the foehn wind in the north, with strong foehn winds in places. Otherwise snowfall will set in from the west and south. The snowfall level will be around 1300 m, dropping to around 1000 m by the evening. The snowfall will end during New Year’s Eve night. In total, around 20 cm of snow is expected in the west and south, with less snow anticipated elsewhere. It will be quite sunny in the mountains on New Year's Day.

On New Year's Eve, there will be a strong to stormy southwesterly wind in the north and at high altitudes. On New Year's Day, there will still be a moderate to strong westerly wind.

The danger of dry avalanches will rise during the day on New Year's Eve and on Sunday night, especially in the west and south. In the other regions, small snowdrift accumulations will form with little new snow and stormy weather, and the avalanche danger may increase slightly there. Gliding avalanches are still possible, with even large ones anticipated in regions with a lot of snow.