Gruyère

Snowpack

After a longer period with frequent strong winds from the northeast and at the end from the southeast, the snowpack is strongly affected by the wind in many places. The fresh and often somewhat older snowdrift accumulations are lying on an old snowpack, which varies in nature from region to region:

• south of a line from the Rhône to the Rhine, at high altitude there are distinct weak layers in the snowpack in which avalanches can still be triggered in places, sometimes reaching down to ground level. In central and southern Ticino, as well as in Val Bregaglia and Val Poschiavo, there is so little old snow that near-ground weak layers are mainly only thick enough to trigger an avalanche above approximately 2600 m.
• North of a line from the Rhône to the Rhine and in the extreme west of Lower Valais, the snowpack structure is more favourable. Hardly any avalanches starting in weak layers in the near-ground old snowpack are to be expected.

Weather forecast until Friday

Conditions will be sunny in the mountains.

Fresh snow

-

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, between +1 °C in the north and -3 °C in the south.

Wind

Easterly wind moderate in the high Alpine regions and light elsewhere

Weather review for Thursday

Conditions were sunny in the mountains.

Fresh snow

-

Temperature

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

Wind

• There was a moderate northeasterly wind in the night that was sometimes strong in the Jura, the Prealps and in northern Ticino.
• During the day there was a moderate southeasterly wind that was also strong for a time on the Northern Alpine Ridge.

Outlook

On Saturday it will be sunny in the mountains and mild, particularly in the north. On Sunday, it will continue to be sunny in the north in the mountains but very cloudy in the south with slight snowfall above approximately 1000 m. On both days there will be a moderate south to southeasterly wind, with a tendency towards foehn winds in the north on Sunday.

The avalanche danger will decrease, but only slowly in areas with persistent weak layers.