Waadtländer Voralpen

Snowpack

The snowpack is characterised by stormy weather, warmer temperatures and sometimes rain. Peaks, ridgelines and crests are often blown off down to the ground or the crusts from November. There are large, often compact and hard snowdrift accumulations at a distance from ridgelines. The surface of the snowpack is often icy and slippery. There is hardly any transportable snow left. The snowpack structure is generally favourable. Fractures in near-surface layers or also in deeper layers are only possible in isolated cases.

There are many glide cracks, except on the southern flank of the Alps. To date, gliding avalanches have mainly occurred on east-, south- and west-facing slopes below approximately 2500 m and, somewhat less frequently, on northern slopes below approximately 2200 m. Gliding avalanches may still be triggered at any time of day or night and may be large in regions with a lot of snow.

Weather forecast until Friday, 29.12.2023

The night will be partly cloudy but largely dry. It will be fairly sunny in the mountains during the day.

New fallen snow

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Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, around 0 °C.

Wind

There will be a westerly to southwesterly wind:

• moderate to strong in the Prealps, and at high altitudes also on the Northern Alpine Ridge;
• weak to moderate elsewhere.

Weather review for Thursday, 28.12.2023

After a partly clear night, it was cloudy but dry during the day.

New fallen snow

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Temperature

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

Wind

There were moderate westerly to southwesterly winds, locally strong in the west.

Trend until New Year's Eve, 31.12.2023Saturday

The night will be partly cloudy but largely dry. It will be mostly sunny during the day. The wind will turn from west to southwest and die down.

The danger of dry avalanches will continue to decrease. Gliding avalanches are still expected, with even large ones anticipated in regions with a lot of snow.

New Year's Eve

The night will be mostly clear. During the day, it will often be cloudy and there will be a little precipitation from the southwest, falling as snow above approximately 1300 m. The southwesterly wind will be strong to storm force.

Small snowdrift accumulations will form in the far west. Otherwise, the danger of dry avalanches will not change significantly. Despite the falling temperatures, gliding avalanches are still to be expected, with even large ones anticipated in regions with a lot of snow.