Zermatt

Snowpack

Fresh snow fell on and to the south of the Main Alpine Ridge at the weekend. The southerly winds led to the formation of extensive wind slabs at high altitudes.

In the north, the loose snow of the past week was heavily transported to below the tree line by the storm-force foehn wind, meaning that the surface of the snowpack is now marked by the wind in many places. The snowdrift was widely deposited on loose snow on north-facing slopes, locally also on surface hoar. As a result, the recent wind slabs were often prone to triggering and many were released by people.

Deep layers of the snowpack are compact in many places. Around the crusts in the upper third of the old snowpack, layers with a sometimes faceted crystal structure are deposited. Particularly in the inneralpine regions of Grisons, avalanches were released in these layers above around 2400 m in the past week.

Gliding avalanches are still possible, primarily on east-, south- and west-facing slopes below approximately 2400 m and more rarely on north-facing slopes. These may be large.

Weather forecast until Monday, 11.03.2024

On Sunday evening, there will still be little snow above approximately 1100 m. On Monday, it will be quite sunny in the morning, then increasingly cloudy with isolated showers, especially in the north and west.

New snow

From Sunday afternoon to Monday afternoon, the following amounts of fresh snow are expected:

• central part of the northern flank of the Alps, Main Alpine Ridge from Simplon to Bernina: 5 to 10 cm;
• less elsewhere.

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, around -3 °C.

Wind

• There will be a moderate southwesterly wind on Sunday evening.
• On Monday, there will be a weak wind.

Weather review for Sunday, 10.03.2024

It was very cloudy. In the south, a lot of snow fell above approximately 1200 m; in the north, the foehn wind raged.

New snow

From Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, the following amounts of fresh snow fell above approximately 1600 m:

• Simplon region, Bedretto, Valle Maggia: 50 to 70 cm;
• other regions of the Main Alpine Ridge from Monte Rosa to San Bernardino and south of it, Val Bregaglia, Bernina: 30 to 50 cm;
• directly neighbouring regions to the north, Lower Valais Main Alpine Ridge, rest of Upper Engadine: mostly 10 to 20 cm;
• further north: there was less snow or it remained dry.

This means that a total of 60 to 90 cm of snow has fallen since Friday afternoon in the Simplon region, Bedretto and the Valle Maggia.

Temperature

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

Wind

Until the morning, there was:

• a strong to storm-force southerly wind, with gale-force southerly winds in some areas at high altitudes on the Northern Alpine Ridge;
• a storm-force foehn wind in the valleys of the north;
• a moderate to locally strong southerly wind in the south, only at high altitudes.

The wind gradually died down as the day progressed.

Trend until Wednesday, 13.03.2024

In the north, it will initially be cloudy with precipitation, which will fall as snow above approximately 1200 m. On the Northern Alpine Ridge from the Jungfrau region to the Alpstein, 20 to 30 cm of new snow is expected, although it remains unclear exactly how much snow there will be. The precipitation will end and it will become quite sunny in the west as Wednesday progresses. In the south, it will be mostly sunny with moderate northerly winds in places on both days.

In the north, the danger of dry avalanches will rise somewhat with the new snow. It will decrease in the south. Gliding avalanches will still be possible, some of which could be large.