Schams

Snowpack

Following days of storm-force foehn winds, there is hardly any loose snow left in the north. However, the new snow is being intensively displaced. Beneath the new snow, the near-surface layers of the snowpack are moist up to around 3000 m and contain Saharan dust.

A lot of snow has fallen in the south over the last five days, with very heavy snowfall in places during Saturday night into Easter Sunday. Very heavy precipitation will fall again during Sunday night into Monday. Deeper layers in the snowpack contain hardly any distinct weak layers. As such, most avalanches will be triggered in the new and drift snow and in some cases will carry along the snow that has fallen over the past few days. Owing to the large amount of new snow, however, isolated fractures in deeper layers are still possible, and are likely to occur in the Visp valleys due to the poorer snowpack structure there. Below approximately 2000 m, the snowpack is wet due to the rain.

In the south, gliding avalanches are expected. These can occasionally become very large due to the high volumes of snow. Gliding avalanches are more rare in the north but they can also be large here in isolated cases.

Weather forecast until Easter Monday, 01.04.2024

During the night, there will be widespread precipitation with stormy southerly winds. Once again, this precipitation will be very intense in the south. In the east, the precipitation will continue during the day but will be less intense. There will be bright spells in the west. The snowfall level will be between 1500 and 1800 m. During the second half of the night, it will temporarily rise to around 2100 m in the south and in Grisons.

New snow

From Sunday afternoon until the end of the precipitation on Monday, the following amounts of fresh snow are expected above approximately 2200 m:

• Main Alpine Ridge from the Matterhorn to the Bernina Pass and south of it: 50 to 80 cm;
• neighbouring regions to the north of the central part of the Main Alpine Ridge, central Grisons, Upper Engadine, Val Müstair: 30 to 50 cm;
• extreme west of Lower Valais, Lower Valais Main Alpine Ridge, rest of Upper Valais, eastern part of the northern flank of the Alps, rest of Grisons: 15 to 30 cm;
• elsewhere: 5 to 15 cm.

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, between -2 °C in the north and 0 °C in the south.

Wind

• There will be stormy southerly winds during the night, then briefly a strong westerly wind on the northern flank of the Alps.
• The storm-force foehn wind will end during the night, first in the west, later also in the east.
• There will be a moderate westerly to southwesterly wind during the day.

Weather review for Easter Sunday, 31.03.2024

With partly stormy southerly winds, there were foehn-like clear spells in the north. Otherwise it was very cloudy. There was widespread precipitation, with very intense precipitation during the night in the south and especially from southern Upper Valais to the Valle Maggia. The snowfall level was between 1600 and 2000 m.

New snow

From Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, the following amounts of fresh snow fell above approximately 2200 m:

• Main Alpine Ridge from Saas Almagell to the Nufenen Pass, Bedretto, Valle Maggia: 50 to 80 cm, 100 cm in the Simplon region;
• other Visp valleys, Aletsch region, other areas of the Gotthard region and Ticino, Moesano, Val Bregaglia and Bernina region: 30 to 50 cm;
• directly neighbouring regions to the north, the rest of the Main Alpine Ridge, Engadine and Val Müstair: 15 to 30 cm;
• further north: less.

This means that in two days, 40 to 80 cm of snow fell on the Main Alpine Ridge from Saas Almagell to San Bernardino Pass and south of it, and as much as 80 to 130 cm of snow from the Simplon region via southern Goms and Bedretto to the Valle Maggia.

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, between +4 °C in the north and -1 °C in the south.

Wind

There was a strong to stormy southerly wind, with a foehn wind in the valleys of the north.

Trend until Wednesday, 03.04.2024

During the night, up to 10 cm of snow will fall above approximately 1200 m. On Tuesday, it will become increasingly sunny from the west as the day progresses. It will be mostly sunny in the south. On Wednesday, it will be mostly cloudy with a little snow.

In the north, the danger of dry avalanches will not change significantly. It will fall considerably in the south. Although avalanches are no longer as easy to trigger, large ones are still possible. The situation is still precarious for off-piste winter sports.

Individual gliding avalanches are expected in the north, with more such avalanches anticipated in the south. These may be large.