Génépi

Snowpack

South of a line from the Rhône to the Rhine, the new snow from the beginning of the week is lying in many places on a faceted, unfavourable old snow surface. In Ticino, central Grisons, the Engadine and the Grisons southern valleys, the entire old snowpack is often faceted and loose, especially on shady slopes that are protected from the wind. In such places, avalanches can take the entire snowpack with them.

North of a line from the Rhône to the Rhine, avalanches are expected to be triggered mainly within the near-surface layers and at the point of transition to old snowpack. Fractures in the deep layers of the old snowpack are less probable here and avalanche prone locations are somewhat more rare than in the south.

After the snowfall at the beginning of the week, gliding avalanche activity has slightly increased again, especially below 2000 m.

Weather forecast to Saturday

In the south, it will often be cloudy and some snow will fall. Otherwise, it will be quite sunny in the mountains.

Fresh snow

From Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon above approximately 1500 m:

• Main Alpine Ridge in Upper Valais, southern flank of the Alps: 5 to 15 cm.
• Elsewhere less or dry.

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, around -2 °C.

Wind

Weak to moderate from the south.

Weather review for Friday

It was often cloudy in the north and a little snow fell on the northern flank of the Alps. It was partly sunny in the south.

Fresh snow

A few centimetres in the Prealps.

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, around -3 °C.

Wind

There was a weak to moderate southwesterly wind.

Outlook

On Sunday and Monday it will be sunny with mostly light winds in the mountains. The zero-degree level will be around 2000 m on Sunday and will increase towards 2500 m on Monday.

The danger of dry avalanches continues to decrease in Valais, Ticino and Grisons, but only slowly. In these regions, the avalanche situation remains critical for off-piste snow sports due to the weak snow layering.