Waadtländer Voralpen

Snowpack

Fresh snow is falling onto a damp or hard surface, except on northern slopes in the high Alpine regions. In the south, snowdrift accumulations are developing during the daytime with the northerly winds, and more wet loose snow avalanches are to be expected in these areas with sunshine.

In the south and west, the large amounts of fresh snow from the past week have largely stabilised. Only very occasional avalanches can still be triggered in the old snowpack, but these can become very large.

Although no human-triggered dry avalanches have been reported in the inneralpine regions of Grisons for some time, the snowpack still contains weak layers. When the snowpack initially becomes moist, these layers lose strength and fractures in the old snowpack become possible again. This currently mainly affects northern slopes between around 2400 and 2800 m.

The snowpack is water-saturated on southern slopes up to the high alpine regions and on eastern and western slopes up to around 3000 m. On northern slopes, most of the old snowpack is water-saturated up to around 2600 m.

Weather forecast to Thursday

Overnight to Thursday there will be widespread precipitation, but during the day only in the north and east. In Upper Valais and the south, conditions will be sunny with northerly winds from the morning onwards. The snowfall level will be between 1600 and 1800 m.

Fresh snow

From Wednesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon above 2200 m:

• central part of the Main Alpine Ridge and south of there, northern flank of the Alps from the eastern Bernese Oberland to the Alpstein area: 20 to 40 cm
• extreme west of Lower Valais, Grisons: 10 to 20 cm
• less elsewhere

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m in the north around 0 °C, in the south around +4 °C

Wind

• Light to moderate westerly in the north
• Moderate to strong northerly on the Main Alpine Ridge and south of there, sometimes strong foehn wind from the north in the southern valleys

Weather review for Wednesday

There were cloudy spells overnight in the south and in Valais, elsewhere skies were clear. In the morning there were sunny intervals, but from midday onwards conditions became increasingly cloudy with scattered showers.

Fresh snow

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Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, around +6 °C

Wind

Light, from the morning onwards sometimes moderate from southerly directions

OutlookFriday

There will be precipitation in the north and east, falling as snow above approximately 1600 m. Up to 15 cm of snow is expected to have fallen on the central and eastern parts of the northern flank of the Alps by Friday evening. After a mostly clear night with moderate to strong northerly winds, conditions will be sunny in the south and in Valais.

There will be hardly any change in the risk of dry avalanches. The risk of wet avalanches will increase in the south and in Valais with the daytime sunshine. In the north, wet and gliding avalanche activity will decrease somewhat with the cooler weather.

Saturday

After a mostly clear night, conditions will be sunny in the mountains. Winds will be mostly light. The zero-degree level will rise to around 2600 m.

The risk of dry avalanches will decrease. With the daytime sunshine the risk of wet avalanches will increase, significantly in the north.