A lot of fresh snow will fall on the mountains today, with strong northerly foehn winds in the south. During the night and tomorrow morning, an intermediate high will have a temporary effect, then the next fronts will follow. So there can still be no talk of calmer and more stable late fall weather...
Lots of fresh snow on the mountains
Storm depression Frederico brought us a turbulent night and is now already over eastern and south-eastern Europe. On its back, a high pressure system is now expanding into Central Europe and the air pressure is rising. However, cool, humid and unstable stratified air reaches the northern side of the Alps from the northwest and accumulates along the mountains. After a cloudy morning, it will continue to be cloudy and wet in the afternoon. The snow line will vary between 800 and 1000 meters, and at high intensities it will drop even lower in some places. In the lowlands, on the other hand, it will be rather changeable; the sun may peek through between the many clouds, and there will only be isolated showers. During the night, the weather will also calm down on the central and eastern northern slopes of the Alps and the precipitation will subside. Until then, however, considerable amounts of fresh snow will accumulate at high altitudes, up to half a meter in some regions.
First intermediate high pressure, then a new warm front
Saturday will begin on a friendly note, especially in the eastern half of the country. In the lowlands there will be fog in some areas, in the valleys there will still be a few high fog-like residual clouds in places, otherwise the sun will shine between high cloud fields. During the day, cloud cover will increase from the west and the sun will increasingly disappear behind an ever more compact cloud cover. In the course of the afternoon and evening, it may also rain lightly in places, with the snow line rising to between 2000 and 2500 meters. After a cold morning, temperatures will remain in the single digits during the day and the wind will remain weak at low altitudes.
Fig. 1: Weather on Saturday: Still friendly at first, then increasingly dense clouds; Source: MeteoNews
Women's downhill on the Gran Becca – Attempt 1
From a purely visual point of view, there is also a time window in the morning that should be suitable for a downhill. However, strong to gale-force winds are still blowing from northerly directions at altitude, with gusts peaking at 70 to 90 km/h on the Klein Matterhorn, the Plateau Rosa and the Gobba di Rollin. However, the start of the women's downhill is about 300 meters lower than that of the men and therefore not quite as exposed. In any case, visibility deteriorates during the second half of the day and the light becomes more diffuse. The conditions are certainly anything but optimal, but the race may be feasible – the wind in the upper section of the course is crucial.
Warm air sector and cold front
Behind the warm front on Sunday night, we are in the so-called warm air sector, the area between the warm and cold fronts. But the latter won't be too long in coming! In the Alps, Sunday will start partly cloudy, but the models are not quite in agreement about the timing. A cold front with new precipitation will quickly reach us from the north. It will pass over the Central Plateau in the morning and move towards the Alps. The snow line will initially be around 2500 meters, but will then drop to just below 2000 meters. At the same time, however, the precipitation will ease in the afternoon and the clouds in the lowlands will break up again on the back of the cold front. With a freshening south-westerly wind, temperatures will reach 10 to 14 degrees. On the mountains, strong to stormy winds will blow from westerly directions.
Women's downhill on the Gran Becca – Attempt 2
There is also a certain window of opportunity on Sunday morning in terms of clouds and precipitation, but the wind at altitude is still the decisive factor!
Fig. 2: Outlook for the coming days; Source: MeteoNews
Low pressure weather, colder towards the middle of the week
At the beginning of the new week, we are on the southern edge of a low pressure system with its center over the North and Baltic Seas. Somewhat drier air will reach us temporarily from the west, with the next disturbance approaching towards the evening. On Tuesday, the low pressure system will shift further towards eastern and south-eastern Europe, with a strong high pressure system over the Atlantic. Between these two pressure systems, the current turns to the north, bringing us colder and colder air. On Wednesday, the snow line will drop well below 1,000 meters, but as the coldest air arrives, the precipitation will subside from today's perspective. According to the current timetable, the aforementioned high will temporarily dominate our weather after the middle of the week. As always at this distance – it is still too early for details.
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