Over the last few days, tomatoes have continued to trend toward a snowy solution for the northern Alps. While the exact details and storm tracks still need to be worked out, the deterministic and ensemble models show several storms impacting the region with huge snow accumulation possible. The latest guidance favors the Swiss and Austrian Alps, with at least two storms possible after the initial snow this week.

The first storm will arrive Thursday of this week and bring a period of heavy snow in the western and northern Alps through Friday. This will be the appetizer to the main course next week and help build the snow depth ahead of the incoming cycle. The northern French Alps, Swiss Alps, and Austrian Alps should see 15 to 30 cm of snow, with higher totals in favorite locations of the Swiss Alps. 

Temperatures will be warm ahead of the storm, but a strong, cold front will lower snow levels starting on Thursday, dropping to around 400 m on Friday.

The general timeline for the three potential storms is as follows:

• Storm #1: Friday through Sunday
• Storm #1: Sunday through Tuesday
• Storm #2: Tuesday through Thursday

Each storm will come right on the heels of the previous one, so there shouldn't be any break in the snowfall for a wide area of the northern Alps. Below is the upper-level pattern for the last ten days of the month.

The European model has been consistent over the last few days, as you can see from the same over the last few days, as you can see from yesterday's upper-level forecast.

The third storm in this series is tracking considerably farther east than the first two, and this may present some problems. This track puts the Alps in the warm sector and limits precipitation. The ridge that was previously off the European coast in the northeast Atlantic starts to move east, pushing the storm track away from the Alps. 

Below is an early look at potential snow totals through Christmas, resulting from the first two storms. 

If the high pressure drifts eastward more slowly, we could see the storm track a bit farther west. This would bring colder air and more precipitation into the eastern Alps for a more productive third storm.

My next post will be on Tuesday.

Thanks for reading the Europe Daily Snow!

Luke Stone
Forecaster, OpenSnow

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Regions of the Alps