Waadtländer Voralpen

Snowpack

New snow and snowdrift are sometimes prone to triggering. They lie on a mostly compact old snowpack, which, however, has layers with a sometimes faceted crystal structure at high altitudes.

There is little snow for the time of year in most areas, appreciably less along the Prealps, in Ticino, in central Grisons and in Upper Engadine.

The thin old snowpack is mostly favourable in structure with only isolated weak layers, mostly in the area of melt-freeze crusts. Above 2800 m, where there was already a cohesive old snowpack before the snowfall in the second half of November, there are some weak layers of faceted crystals on northern slopes. In these, isolated avalanches may be triggered in near-ground layers.

Weather forecast until Sunday, 08.12.2024

It will be mostly very cloudy, with isolated brighter spells possible in the west.

Fresh snow

The snowfall level will be at low altitudes. From Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon:

• Extreme west of Lower Valais and Vaud Alps: 20 to 30 cm
• Western Jura, rest of Northern Alpine Ridge, rest of Lower Valais, northern and central Grisons: 10 to 20 cm
• Rest of the Jura, Prealps, Upper Valais, southern flank of the Alps: 5 to 10 cm

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, between -7 °C in the north and -3 °C in the south.

Wind

• In the north during the night, mostly moderate from westerly directions
• At high altitudes mostly moderate from northerly directions
• Otherwise weak to moderate, initially from westerly directions, Bise wind as the day progresses

Weather review for Saturday, 07.12.2024

It was mostly very cloudy. Precipitation set in in the late morning in the west. This covered Valais and the northern flank of the Alps in the afternoon.

Fresh snow

The snowfall level was initially around 1500 m. The following fell on Saturday afternoon:

• The extreme west of Lower Valais: 10 to 20 cm
• Western part of the northern flank of the Alps: 5 to 10 cm
• Otherwise less or it remained dry

Temperature

In the middle of the day at 2000 m, between +2 °C in the west and north and -1 °C in the south

Wind

In the mountains mostly moderate to strong

• During the night from the west
• From the southwest during the day

OutlookMonday:

In Valais it will be fairly sunny, otherwise mostly very cloudy and in the north there will still be a little snow down to low altitudes. Moderate to strong Bise winds in the north, moderate to strong northeasterly winds at times at high altitudes. Otherwise, the wind will be weak to moderate from northerly directions. The avalanche danger will decrease only slowly.

Tuesday:

It will be mostly very cloudy in the Prealps, otherwise mostly sunny in the mountains and in the south. The Bise wind will weaken, in the mountains there will mostly be light winds. The avalanche danger will decrease further.