östliche Berner Voralpen

Snowpack

For the end of February, snow depths are below average in many regions and well below average in the north and east.

This week's fresh and drifted snow is increasingly settling and stabilising. In the west and north, near-surface layers of the snowpack are still sometimes prone to triggering, especially on wind-protected shady slopes. Elsewhere, snowpack structure in these regions is mostly favourable. In southern Valais, Ticino and Grisons, the snowpack often contains several soft layers of faceted crystals, making the structure unfavourable.

In recent days, however, there have been hardly any reports of human triggered avalanches. In addition, this week’s drop in temperatures has significantly reduced gliding avalanche activity.

Weather forecast to Saturday

At higher altitudes, conditions will be mostly sunny with broken cloud. In the north, there will be low stratus cloud with an upper limit at 1400 to 1700 m. On the main Alpine ridge in Upper Valais and in Ticino, conditions will initially be cloudy and a few centimetres of snow will fall down to low altitudes. Conditions will become increasingly bright over the course of the day.

Fresh snow

Main Alpine Ridge in Upper Valais, Ticino: 1 to 5 cm, locally up to 10 cm in central Ticino

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, around -5 °C.

Wind

• Jura, Prealps: moderate Bise wind, sometimes strong in the highlands of the Jura
• Elsewhere mostly light, sometimes moderate from the southeast in high Alpine regions

Weather review for Friday

Overnight to Friday, a few centimetres of snow fell down to low altitudes on the central and eastern parts of the northern flank of the Alps. In the central and eastern Prealps, conditions were increasingly sunny once any remaining cloud cover had cleared. Elsewhere, conditions were mostly sunny.

Fresh snow

-

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, -6 °C in the north and -2 °C in the south

Wind

• Light to moderate from the west, easing during the day
• Rising bise wind in the Jura and the western Prealps in the afternoon

Outlook

Sunday and Monday will be sunny in the mountains. In the Jura and the Prealps, there will still be moderate Bise winds on Sunday but elsewhere winds will mostly be light. The zero-degree level will rise to around 1800 m on Sunday and to around 2200 m on Monday.

The danger of dry avalanches will continue to decrease. Moist snow slides will become increasingly likely in the daytime. There will be a slight increase in gliding avalanche activity once again.