Lauterbrunnen

Snowpack

A lot of fresh snow fell in the south at the end of the week; this snow is becoming increasingly settled and compacted. Southwesterly winds led to the formation of widespread wind slabs at the weekend, including large ones in the south. Some of these are still prone to triggering. With new snow in the south and strong southerly winds at altitude as well as southerly foehn winds in the north, wind slabs will continue to grow. New snow and wind slabs are overlaying a mostly compact old snowpack, and fractures deep in the snowpack are not generally expected in the north. In the south, however, there were naturally triggered avalanches on north-facing slopes at the weekend, sometimes also in deeper layers of the snowpack.

Individual gliding avalanches are still possible, primarily on east-, south- and west-facing slopes below approximately 2600 m and more rarely on north-facing slopes below approximately 2200 m. These may be large.

Weather forecast until Monday, 26.02.2024

In the south, it will be very cloudy and snow will continue to fall down to low altitudes. In the north, it will be mostly cloudy with some precipitation in the west and foehn clear spells in the east.

New snow

From Sunday evening to Monday afternoon, the following amounts of fresh snow are expected in the south above approximately 1200 m and in the west above approximately 1800 m:

• southern flank of the Alps excluding Val Müstair: 15 to 30 cm, up to 40 cm in central and southern Ticino;
• western Jura, Valais, other regions on the Main Alpine Ridge from the Grand St. Bernard to the Bernina region: 10 cm, locally up to 20 cm;
• elsewhere: only a few centimetres, or it will remain dry.

Temperature

The temperature will rise, reaching -1 °C in the north and -3 °C in the south at midday at 2000 m.

Wind

• In the north: during Sunday night into Monday, there will be a strong southerly to southwesterly wind, with a strong southerly foehn wind in the Alpine valleys of the north, easing during the day, and there will still be a moderate to strong wind, especially in the east.
• In the south: there will be a moderate southerly wind.

Weather review for Sunday, 25.02.2024

During the night, snow fell in the south down to low altitudes. During the day, it was initially mostly cloudy in the south with isolated snow showers, with clear spells in the afternoon. It was mostly sunny in the north, with patches of cloud coming from the west in the afternoon.

New snow

From Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon, the following amounts of fresh snow were recorded above 1500 m:

• central part of the southern flank of the Alps excluding Sotto Ceneri, including the Rheinwald, Avers, Val Bregaglia: 20 to 30 cm;
• the rest of the Main Alpine Ridge from the Simplon region to the Ofen Pass, Sotto Ceneri, Upper Engadine: 10 to 20 cm;
• southern Simplon region, other regions of central Grisons and the Engadine: 5 to 10 cm, elsewhere: less or it remained dry.

This means that since Friday evening, the following amounts of fresh snow have fallen in total above approximately 1500 m:

• northeastern Ticino, Main Alpine Ridge from the Rheinwaldhorn to the Bernina Pass: 40 to 60 cm;
• the rest of northern Ticino and the rest of the central and eastern parts of the Main Alpine Ridge: 30 to 40 cm;
• southern Simplon region, the rest of the Gotthard region and the rest of central Grisons and Engadine: 10 to 20 cm, with less snow elsewhere.

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, -2 °C in the west and -5 °C in the east and south.

Wind

There was a weak to moderate wind during the night, a moderate to strong wind during the day at high altitudes, and an increasing southerly foehn wind in the Alpine valleys of the north.

Trend until Wednesday, 28.02.2024

On both days, it will be cloudy to very cloudy with precipitation, mainly in the south. On the Main Alpine Ridge from Zermatt to the Ofen Pass and south of it, 30 to 50 cm of snow may fall above approximately 1800 m. It remains unclear how much precipitation there will be. The wind will shift to the southeast and be weak to moderate.

The danger of dry avalanches will rise in the south and may reach level 4 (high) in some regions. In the north, the danger will not change significantly on Tuesday and is expected to fall on Wednesday. Gliding avalanches will still be possible.