Snow Falls in the Alps With Much More in the Forecast
14th November 2024
The temperatures have dropped, and some snow has fallen. It looks like it’s just a taste of what’s to come with heavy snow set to fall across the Alps next week. NEW
The recent snow has been very welcome after a prolonged dry spell.
The snow has topped up the resorts that are already open, while Verbier in Switzerland is opening a small section of its ski area this weekend following the snow.
We will have reports from Verbier over the weekend as some of our readers who live in the resort make their first turns of the winter.
At the weekend a significant weather front will arrive from the north and is set to bring heavy snow.
By Monday morning 10-15cm of snow should have fallen above 1,800m in the north-western Alps.
Resorts such as Val d’Isère, Avoriaz, Verbier, Mürren, Engelberg and St Anton are amoung those set to benefit.
In places the freezing level should drop to as low as 1,000m by Monday.
“The next, bigger, storm is expected to arrive on Tuesday afternoon and continue into Wednesday,” said the alpine weather expert Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk.
“This potent storm is expected to deliver very significant quantities of snow to much of the Alps, especially in the north-west, with snow falling to low altitudes.
“Yet another potent storm is then expected on Thursday, again bringing heavy snow to much of the Alps.
“At this stage we can only speculate as to how much snow will fall in the Alps and when – as it is still too far out to pin down the exact details – but, at this stage, we can be certain that many Alpine regions will see significant snow next week and that there is the potential for some really big falls, especially in the north-west.”
It is what many skiers and snowboarders want to hear as we approach the second half of November.
There are already a number of resorts in the Alps with parts of their ski areas open.
- Hintertux, Austria
- Pitztal, Austria
- Stubai, Austria
- Soelden, Austria
- Kaunertal, Austria
- Moltaller, Austria
- Obergurgl, Austria
- Kitzbuhel, Austria
- Cervinia, Italy
- Val Senales, Italy
- Adelboden, Switzerland
- Engleberg, Switzerland
- Murren, Switzerland
- St Moritz, Switzerland
- Saas-Fee, Switzerland
- Zermatt, Switzerland
There are no resorts currently open in France.
Tignes, Chamonix and Val Thorens planning to open on November 23rd and they will be benefiting from the approaching snow storms.
The following Saturday, November 30th, will see others including Val d’Isère, Alpe d’Huez and Montgenèvre open.
Isola 2000 will open alongside many others on December 7th.
This week the Massif Central mountain range saw a few centimetres of snow on Tuesday, while parts of the Pyrenees had 5-10cms of snow.
We have been following the snow and openings on PlanetSKI:
The PlanetSKI editor, James Cove, is heading out to the Austrian Alps next week.
Obergurgl to be precise in order to watch GB’s Dave Ryding in action in the first alpine slalom race of the season.
They have met there before.
James Cove & Dave Ryding. Image © PlanetSKI
And to make a few turns in what looks like being a cracking start to the winter.
Do look out for his reports.
The races have just been confirmed by FIS.
Across The Pond it has been a fabulous start to the season in North America, one of the best in recent years.
See here for a full PlanetSKI report on conditions in North America:
We will be updating this article as the snow falls and the next storms approach, so do check back for the very latest…
