First large-scale snowfall in the Alps

It is clear that it will become significantly cooler in our own country, but the temperature in the Alps will also drop significantly in the coming days. The wind is shifting to the northwest and the first heavy snow will fall next weekend. You can read here how much and where exactly it can turn white.

Very hot summer for the Alps

After an exceptionally hot summer, most glaciers are currently in very poor condition. Heat waves were measured in the valleys of the Alps in early summer and it also became exceptionally hot higher up in the mountains. In early July, for example, a record temperature of 10 degrees was measured on a glacier in the Dolomites. This resulted in the glacier breaking with 11 fatalities.

It now looks like the first significant snow will fall this weekend. However, this is not really unusual. Usually the first snow falls in August, although this is often only on the high peaks. It is quite early that it turns white on a large scale in mid-September.

Changeable and cold weekend

The wind is turning northwest, blowing colder air over the Alps. This current also brings showers which can cause large scale white tops. Especially in Switzerland and Austria there will be a back and forth of various showers in the coming days.

At the start, it is still quite warm in a large part of the Alps. In the popular ski area Zell am See, which is over 760 meters above sea level, it will be over 20 degrees on Thursday, while it will not be hotter than 10 degrees on Saturday. Until Friday, there will first be a bucket of rain in many regions. Only on the highest peaks above 3000 meters does it snow. It will be much colder on Friday and on weekends the snowfall limit can go down to 1400 meters in the Austrian Alps and on the northern side of Switzerland. Most snowfall is likely to fall in the Tyrol region. Up to and including Monday, 40 cm may fall here locally. Some snow will also fall in the Swiss Alps, although amounts here are unlikely to exceed 20cm.

On the Hintertux Glacier, in the photo located at 2100 meters, the view is still mostly green. This weekend, this image will most likely turn white. At the moment this is the only domain open in Austria. You can take the lift here to over 3000 meters where you can ski on a glacier. Maybe it will be possible to ski on several glaciers again this weekend.

Hintertux 2100 meters. Source: Feral

The first winter sports are not yet available in many places. Temperatures will rise after the weekend and the snow in the lower parts will disappear quickly. Most of the ski slopes in the Alps open each year in November and December. However, some ski slopes open partially earlier, depending on the weather situation.

Do you want to know when the snow fell on your favorite winter sports site? You can do it here if you enter your details in the right column.

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