South America Daily Snow
By Luke Stone, Forecaster Posted 1 month ago May 7, 2025
Heavy Snow in the North
Summary
Snow will continue to fall in the Andes on Wednesday and Thursday, though heavy snow will only fall over a small area. This area, likely in the northern part of the central zone and southern part of the northern zone, will see significant snow totals, with lower amounts elsewhere. The storm track shifts back to the south, limiting chances for additional storms in the mid- to long-range.
Short Term Forecast
We've seen some snowfall across the central and southern zones over the last few days, and the attention will shift further north the rest of the week. A piece of energy will come off the main upper-level low crossing South America this week and bring a period of moderate to heavy snow to a fairly small area in the Andes. It looks like this will be in the Nevados de Chillan, Chapa Verde, and Las Lenas areas. By Friday, this region should see 25 to 50 cm of snow while snow levels fall to around 2100 m. Near Nevados de Chillan, they will likely be closer to 1800 m.
Although the heaviest snow will be south of Valle Nevado/La Parva/El Colorado, totals around 15 to 30 cm are expected through Friday. Further north and south, we will see some heavy snow too, with 10 to 25 cm possible at Portillo and Corralco. However, with limited forcing mechanisms, there is less confidence in significant snow totals outside of the area between Nevados de Chillan and Chapa Verde. There is definitely some bust potential with this system.
Below is the latest snow forecast from the European model.
Snow will be coming down at a pretty good clip from Wednesday through Thursday evening in the favored areas, while Wednesday night through Thursday will be the most productive period just north and south of the jackpot zone.
This should be a nice dump overall, with solid totals at several resorts and the potential for big totals at the areas mentioned above. I would not be surprised to see some spots approach 50 cm at upper elevations around Las Lenas and Chapa Verde.
The rest of the week and weekend should be mostly dry as the storm track shifts to the south. El Fraile will see some snow and rain showers, but no significant storms are expected during this time.
Extended Forecast
The models keep most of the action south of the resorts until around the 17th. As the storm track shifts farther north, we could see more snow around that time. However, confidence in the timing and strength of the next storm isn't too high.
My next post will be on Friday or Saturday.
Thanks for reading the South America Daily Snow!
Luke Stone
Forecaster, OpenSnow
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