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PowderAlerts

PowderAlert 15 2018/19 | One more to go!

April is reluctant and does not want to follow in the footsteps of 2018.

by Lars Oelmann 04/02/2019
There is still hope! There is snow up to 1000m on the north side and April is not yet as bad as 2018, so a dump comes just in time. The countercurrent system is intense and also quite cool for April, but the core is limited to the south except for central Switzerland. Elsewhere, it's only enough for a minor alarm. Unfortunately, there is very little carpet pad to the south - Ticino is at forest fire level 4 and the rest of the Southern Alps also looks rather barren.

Alert areas and period

The alert extends from the western French Alps across the Maritime Alps and the main Valais ridge from Monte Rosa to Slovenia in the south, but only from the Bernese Oberland to Glarnerland in the north. In the north, the differences will be huge, depending on the location of the boundary of the counterflow system. This means that it can vary between almost one meter and less than 30 cm over 10-20 km. However, the Goms and Gotthard regions are almost certainly still included. In France, only the very, very western foothills and the Maritime Alps will also see an alert.

South of the main ridge it's enough for an alert everywhere, but east of Switzerland it remains quite warm. So it's complicated.

From the Arlberg to the north-east, there's probably not enough for an alert, but small shifts in the air mass boundary could still cause surprises on the Arlberg. However, I expect positive surprises further west, towards northern Valais.

The alert will last until Thursday evening or Friday morning in the southeast.

Wind

The wind will remain fairly tame for the amount of fresh snow and will only become stormy at the very top. Especially in the core of the counter-current system, there is also good powder at the top. And you can see why this weather situation is the freerider's favorite, at least in central Switzerland!

However, the relatively low wind speeds mean that it doesn't push as much outside the core up to the main ridge.

Snow line

Higher in the south than in the north, but the core in the west of the Southern Alps should remain snowy from 1200-1500m. In the southeast, it may also rain up to 1800m.

In the west, it will quickly go from 1500m to 1000m on Wednesday and just like in the northwest and north-central Switzerland, it will continue to go down.

Full amounts in the south between 1300-1900m, depending on the region. In the north of Switzerland between 1200m and 1500m.

The amounts

Oh dear! Ullr, why so complicated? Here we go: In the west of France 30-50cm.

In the south: In the Maritime Alps and on the Valais main ridge 40-70cm and from eastern Ticino and Upper Engadine to the east 60-100cm.

In the core, Ullr sends us 100-150cm from Monte Rosa to the lower Ticino and adjacent to it in the Gotthard area and Goms 80-110cm or almost the full core amounts, you never know exactly and the borders also wobble. Following on from this in the Glarnerland and Bernese Oberland as well as central Switzerland, around 50-80cm.

The problem in the core will be that a shift in the rather sharp boundary can easily make the difference between 40cm and almost 100cm - so: the uncertainty in the north is great. From Monte Rosa over the Simplon to northern Ticino, the volumes are more reliable.

Where should I go?

Good question, because there probably won't be enough trees in the south in the morning, but if you know a place with a base, you can get into the trees from Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. Especially in the north it could be very nice with the colder air.

Friday it will clear up and you can see what opens up after the large amounts, but it will get warmer again, which should make the day quite tricky. Saturday and Sunday you can plan powder tours in the core with hopefully somewhat more stable avalanche conditions.

Mid-term

Not as gruesome as April 2018, but no late winter powder dreams either. High touring weather with a fairly normal spring temperature should still ensure a reasonably nice week above 2000m.

This article has been automatically translated by DeepL with subsequent editing. If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors or if the translation has lost its meaning, please write an e-mail to the editors.

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