Pilatus

Snowpack

At high altitudes, the fresh and drifted snow from the last few days is lying on an old snowpack that contains coarse-grained weak layers in its upper part, especially on north- and east-facing slopes.

As a result of solar radiation, moist snow slides from the new snow are to be expected. In many regions this is likely to occur on Tuesday afternoon, while in the northeast some may not happen until Wednesday.

Weather forecast to Wednesday

During the night it will be mostly cloudy in the southwest and quite clear in the northeast. It will be quite sunny everywhere during the day.

Fresh snow

-

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, between +1 °C in the north and +4 °C in the south

Wind

• Mainly light at first
• In the afternoon, moderate in the north and generally at high altitudes, also locally strong winds, from westerly directions

Weather review for Tuesday

There was precipitation during the night, at times heavy in the north. In the morning there was still some precipitation in the northeast. Elsewhere, it was cloudy during the day with increasingly long bright spells. It was sunny in the south.

Fresh snow

From Monday afternoon until precipitation stopped on Tuesday, the following amounts fell above approximately 2200 m:

• North of a line from the Rhône to the Rhine and in the extreme west of Lower Valais: 20 to 40 cm
• Elsewhere: a widespread 10 to 20 cm, less in the south.

This means that, above approximately 2800 m, total snowfall since Sunday has been:

• Northern flank of the Alps west of Tödi, extreme west of Lower Valais, northern Valais and from Avers to the Bernina region: 40 to 50 cm
• Elsewhere: a widespread 20 to 40 cm, less in Ticino.

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, between -5 °C in the north and 0 °C in the south

Wind

• Moderate and locally strong from the west
• On the Main Alpine Ridge and south of it, often strong from the northwest during the day

Outlook to Friday

It will be mostly cloudy with longer bright spells on Thursday on the Main Alpine Ridge in Upper Valais and in the Gotthard region. Snow will fall at times, with the largest amounts in the far west, on the northern flank of the Alps and in the Bernina region, totalling around 20 to 30 cm. The snowfall level will be around 1300 m in the north and 1600 m in the south. On Thursday, there will be moderate and locally strong westerly winds in the north and at high altitudes. Winds will be light on Friday.

The danger of dry avalanches will increase in the far west, on the northern flank of the Alps and in the Bernina region, but will not change significantly in other regions. With the cool and often cloudy weather, only isolated wet avalanches are to be expected.