Saas Fee

Snowpack

In the north, snowfall is leading to the formation of wind slabs that are prone to triggering. There are still isolated weak layers in the old snowpack near the surface above approximately 2500 m, but no human-triggered avalanches have been reported in the last week. The bottom section of the snowpack is generally stable.

Gliding avalanches are still to be expected. This is mainly the case on east-, south- and west-facing slopes below approximately 2600 m and more rarely on north-facing slopes below approximately 2200 m. These avalanches may be large in regions with a lot of snow.

Weather forecast until Thursday, 08.02.2024

Snow will fall in the north during Wednesday night into Thursday. The snowfall will end in the late morning. The snowfall level will rise from 1500 m to around 2000 m in the west and 1800 m in the east. Some brighter spells are possible in the west as the day progresses. In the south, it will be partly sunny at first, becoming increasingly cloudy as the day progresses.

New snow

From Wednesday evening to Thursday noon, the following amounts of fresh snow are expected above approximately 2200 m:

• Northern Alpine Ridge, extreme west of Lower Valais: 10 to 20 cm;
• other parts of the northern flank of the Alps, other parts of Lower Valais, southern Goms, Prättigau, Silvretta, Samnaun: 5 to 10 cm;
• less elsewhere, dry in the south.

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, around 2 °C.

Wind

In the north and generally at high altitudes, winds will be moderate to strong from the southwest.

Weather review for Wednesday, 07.02.2024

It was partly sunny, with high cloud in the morning. In the afternoon, it turned increasingly cloudy from the northwest.

New snow

-

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, around -1 °C.

Wind

Winds were mostly moderate, weak to moderate in Ticino and Grisons, from the southwest.

Trend until Saturday, 10.02.2024

There will be persistent snowfall in the south. The snowfall level will be between 1200 and 1700 m. It will also be mostly cloudy in the other regions and some snow will fall along the Main Alpine Ridge and in the west above approximately 1700 m. There will be a strong to storm force wind from the southwest on Friday, with a strong southerly wind on Saturday. A strong foehn wind will blow in the Alpine valleys of the north.

On the Main Alpine Ridge from the Dufourspitze to the Bernina Pass and to the south of this, 50 to 80 cm of new snow is expected by Saturday evening. 30 to 50 cm will also fall on the rest of the Valais Main Alpine Ridge. There will be hardly any snowfall in the north.

The avalanche danger will increase significantly on, and to the south of, the Main Alpine Ridge. Danger level 4 (high) is expected to be reached during Friday night into Saturday in the regions exposed to heavier precipitation. Natural dry avalanches are expected, with some large ones increasingly likely. In the north, the avalanche situation will not change significantly.