Zervreila

At the end of the past week, fresh snow fell at low temperatures. Much of this snow is still loose or has been transported by the moderate to strong Bise wind. The fresh and drift snow expected to fall during the upcoming precipitation spell will be deposited on the still cold and often loose snow during the milder temperatures on Monday and can easily be triggered as avalanche. Deeper in the snowpack, there are faceted weak layers that are prone to triggering, especially on shady slopes above approximately 2400 m and generally in the high Alpine regions. Avalanches may also be triggered in these deeper layers in places.

It was already cloudy in the early morning in the west, but still sunny in the south and east. It later clouded over in these regions too.

Fresh snow

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Temperature

At midday at 2000 m, around -4 °C

Wind

• Still mostly moderate from the north during the night
• There was a moderate to strong westerly to southwesterly wind during the day in the west and on the northern flank of the Alps, and a light to moderate northwesterly wind in the south and in Grisons

Precipitation from the west will set in overnight to Monday. Widespread precipitation will fall during the day, which will be persistent and intense in the west. The snowfall level will be between 1200 and 1400 m.

Fresh snow

Until Monday afternoon, the following amounts will fall above approximately 1600 m:

• Extreme west of Lower Valais on the border with France: 50 to 80 cm
• Vaud and Fribourg Alps, western Bernese Oberland, rest of northern Valais: 30 to 50 cm
• Other parts of the Lower Valais, Goms, northern flank of the Alps: 15 to 30 cm
• Otherwise less and often dry, especially in central Grisons

Temperature

In the middle of the day at 2000 m, between -1 °C in the west and north and -3 °C in the south

Wind

• In the west and on the northern flank of the Alps: strong west to southwesterly winds
• Otherwise moderate to strong southwesterly winds at high altitudes
• In the alpine valleys in the central and eastern parts of the northern flank of the Alps: moderate foehn wind in the late morning

Tuesday

Further snowfall is expected below 1000 m, with persistent snowfall in the extreme west of Lower Valais and on the northern flank of the Alps. Another 30 to 50 cm is expected in the west, and a widespread 15 to 30 cm on the northern flank of the Alps. There will be a moderate to strong westerly wind initially. As the day progresses, the wind will shift to the northwest. It will become appreciably colder again in the north.

The avalanche danger will continue to increase, especially in the west and north.

Wednesday

In the north, snow will continue to fall to below 1000 m, mostly from the eastern Bernese Oberland to the Alpstein region, where 15 to 30 cm is expected. Some brighter spells are possible in inneralpine regions. On the southern flank of the Alps, it will be mostly sunny, with sometimes strong northerly winds extending down to the valleys.

The avalanche danger will gradually decrease in the west. Elsewhere, it will not change significantly.