Bedrettotal

Snowpack

Over the past two days, fresh snow and strong to stormy westerly winds have led, mostly at altitude, to the formation of snowdrift accumulations that are prone to triggering, especially on the northern flank of the Alps and in Valais, Grisons and Ticino. Some of these are still prone to triggering. With the wind shifting to the south, fresh snowdrift accumulations that are prone to triggering will form on Friday. Apart from that, however, the snowpack structure is generally favourable. Hardly any fractures deeper in the snowpack are to be expected.

Furthermore, individual medium-sized and occasionally also large gliding avalanches are still possible, especially at altitudes between 2000 and 2500 m.

Weather forecast for Friday, 05.01.2024

It will be very cloudy and light snowfall will set in from the south as the morning progresses. The snowfall level will be below 1000 m on the southern flank of the Alps and between 1000 and 1200 m in the north.

New snow

From Friday morning to Friday afternoon, the following amounts of fresh snow are expected above approximately 1200 m:

• in the west and south: up to 10 cm;
• elsewhere: there will only be a few centimetres of snow or it will remain dry.

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, -2 °C in the north and -4 °C in the south.

Wind

The wind will shift to the south:

• It will be moderate to strong at altitude, especially in the south and east.
• There will be a moderate to strong foehn wind until around the middle of the day in the regions that are exposed to the foehn wind in the north.

Weather review for Thursday, 04.01.2024

Snow fell widely in the west and north during the night. During the day, the snowfall from the west subsided and it became increasingly sunny in the mountains. The snowfall level dropped from 1500 to around 1200 m. In the south, it was mostly sunny during the day after a clear night.

New snow

Between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon, the following amounts of fresh snow were recorded above 1800 m:

• Lower Valais, north of the Rhone-Rhine, Prättigau and Gotthard region: 15 to 30 cm;
• Upper Valais, central Grisons, Lower Engadine: 5 to 15 cm;
• elsewhere: there were only a few centimetres of snow or it remained dry.

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, -3 °C in the north and 0 °C in the south.

Wind

There was a westerly wind:

• This wind was strong to stormy on the northern flank of the Alps, in Valais and the Jura.
• It was moderate to strong at altitude in Grisons and on the southern flank of the Alps.

Trend until Sunday, 07.01.2024

There will be widespread snowfall down to low altitudes. From midday on Saturday, it will remain dry on the southern flank of the Alps with a strong foehn wind from the north. By Sunday evening, 20 to 40 cm of snow will have fallen in the north and east, and 10 to 20 cm in Valais and the south. The avalanche danger will increase slightly in all regions. New snow and snowdrift will pose the biggest danger here.