Saas Fee

Snowpack

The new snow and drift snow from the weekend is prone to triggering. These layers are thickest in the regions exposed to heavier precipitation in the north. As the day progresses, southerly winds will also lead to the formation of fresh wind slabs there. In the south, the wind slabs from the weekend are only small.

In addition, weak layers with a sometimes faceted crystal structure are deposited in the upper part of the old snowpack. These are still prone to triggering in places, especially on shady slopes at high altitudes. Deep layers of the snowpack are compact in many places and for the most part do not contain distinct weak layers.

Last week, the old snowpack was soaked up to approximately 3000 m on south-facing slopes, up to 2000 to 2500 m on east- and west-facing slopes, and up to approximately 1800 to 2000 m on north-facing slopes.

With the significant drop in temperatures, gliding avalanche activity has decreased. However, individual gliding avalanches are still possible, especially on east-, south- and west-facing slopes below approximately 2600 m and on north-facing slopes below approximately 2000 m. These may be large.

Weather forecast until Monday, 25.03.2024

Sunday night into Monday will be mostly clear in the west and south. There will still be some snowfall down to low altitudes in the east. In the morning, there will still be residual clouds in the east. Otherwise it will be mostly sunny. In the afternoon, high clouds will gather from the southwest.

New snow

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

• Northern Alpine Ridge from the eastern Bernese Oberland to the Alpstein, northern Grisons, Lower Engadine north of the Inn: 5 to 10 cm;
• elsewhere: a few centimetres, dry in the west and south.

Temperature

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

Wind

• There will still be moderate to strong northwesterly winds during the night at high altitudes in the east.
• The wind will temporarily ease during the day, shifting to the south.
• There will be increasing moderate to strong southerly winds in the afternoon, with moderate to strong foehn winds in the Alpine valleys.

Weather review for Sunday, 24.03.2024

In the north, snow fell down to low altitudes. As the day progressed, the snowfall subsided and there were isolated bright spells. In the south, it was quite sunny after a partly cloudy night.

New snow

From Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon, the following amounts of fresh snow were recorded:

• northern flank of the Alps not including the Prealps, extreme west of Lower Valais, northern Lower Valais, Prättigau, Schanfigg, Davos: 20 to 40 cm;
• rest of Valais excluding the Simplon region, rest of the Gotthard region, other parts of northern and central Grisons, Lower Engadine north of the Inn: 10 to 20 cm;
• elsewhere: less, with the southern flank of the Alps remaining dry.

Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, between -6 °C in the north and -2 °C in the south.

Wind

There was a moderate to strong wind at night, with mostly moderate westerly winds during the day.

Trend until Wednesday, 27.03.2024Tuesday

On Tuesday, it will be cloudy in the south. In the afternoon, some snow will fall above approximately 1000 m. In the north, there will be greater bright spells in the regions exposed to the foehn wind, otherwise it will often be cloudy. There will be strong to storm-force southerly winds, with a strong to storm-force foehn wind in the Alpine valleys. The avalanche danger will rise slightly in the south owing to the new snow in the afternoon but will hardly change in the north. Gliding avalanches will still be possible in isolated cases.

Wednesday

Another 30 to 50 cm of snow is expected to fall in the south. The snowfall level will increase to 1300 m, possibly even up to 1600 m in the Grisons southern valleys. It will also be mostly cloudy north of the Main Alpine Ridge and some snow will fall above approximately 1200 m. The wind will ease, with a continued light to moderate wind from the south to the west. The avalanche danger will rise significantly in the south. Owing to the intense snowfall, natural dry avalanches are expected, including large ones. In the north, the avalanche danger will slowly fall. Gliding avalanches will still be possible in isolated cases.