One of the best storm cycles of the year on the Alps wrapped up yesterday, Wednesday, after continuous snowfall for seven straight days. This storm featured well below normal temperatures, low-density snow, copious snow totals, and many powder days.  

After digging a bit deeper into the forecast last week, and confirming that a few resorts were still open, I booked a last-minute trip to chase this storm through the Alps. On Tuesday night at 3 am, I booked the flight and left Utah at 3 pm the next day. 

I continued to research on my flight in order to develop a plan for where to chase on what days given the forecast and available resorts. Below is a brief overview of my itinerary:

• Tuesday PM: Depart SLC
• Wednesday PM: Arrive in Munich, drive 4 hours to Interlaken, Switzerland
• Thursday AM: Ride at Grindelwald/Wengen Switzerland with 50-60 cm
• Thursday PM: Drive 2 hours to Zürich, Switzerland
• Friday AM: Drive 2.5 hours to St. Anton. Austria
• Saturday: Ride 40-50 cm (30 overnight, 10-20 during the day, 20 the day before) Lech/Zurs
• Sunday: Ride 1 m (30 overnight) at Lech/Zurs
• Sunday PM: Drive 1.5 hours to Glorenza, Italy
• Monday: Ride 30 cm at Sulden, Italy 
• Monday PM: Drive 2 hours to Predaia, IT
• Tuesday: Ride 50 cm at Passo Tonale, IT
• Tuesday PM: Drive 3.5 hours to Stubai, Austria
• Wednesday: Ride 1 m (15 overnight) at Stubai Glacier
• Wednesday PM: Drive 2.5 hours back to Munich 
• Thursday: Depart Munich
• Thursday PM: Arrive SLC

Rode six out of seven days with bottomless powder each day, a few of which were mega deep. This storm just kept going and going, with the deepest totals likely on the central Swiss Alps near Engelberg where more than 2 m fell during this time. The limited open resorts and strong April sun angle required a careful approach each day, but in the end, some of the deepest turns of the season happened during this cycle. 

Finally, on Wednesday, the storm began moving away from the region, with mainly light snow falling. On Thursday skies cleared a bit revealing the massive dump that just occurred over the last week. Things will stay mostly quiet the rest of Thursday and on Friday before another storm cycle gets started on Friday night. 

Unlike the previous storm, the low-pressure will remain west of the Alps, bringing warmer southwestern and southerly winds, and the heaviest precipitation to the western Alps. Snow levels will remain high throughout this event, climbing to around 1800 m this weekend and then to the 2100 - 2400 m range. Significant snow is expected above these elevations, with a mix of rain and snow with limited accumulations below. 

This system will linger off to the West for much of next week, bringing rain and high-elevation snow through next weekend as well. Below is the snow forecast from the European model through the end of the week.

There aren’t too many resorts still open in this region, but you may be able to get some decent turns at Cervinia, La Grave, Tignes, and Val d'Isere, especially at upper elevations. 

While the upper-level low remains west of the Alps, the chance for rain and high-elevation snow will persist. Eventually, this storm will move east, bringing additional chances for precipitation around the end of next week or next weekend. The models also show the active pattern continuing into the first week of May. 

Thanks for reading the Europe Daily Snow!

Next update on Sunday.

Luke Stone
Forecaster, OpenSnow

Summer Weather: How To Use OpenSnow

As the snow begins to melt and summer conditions quickly take over, remember that you can use OpenSnow as your go-to weather app during the non-winter months.

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2. Location > Weather
3. Maps > Weather

Switch to using your "Summer" favorites list, check the "Weather" tab on both the Favorites screen and any location screen, and avoid poor air quality & incoming storms with our summer-focused map layers in the OpenSnow app.

You can also view the hourly forecast for the next 10 days for any location on Earth in OpenSnow.

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