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Alpine forecast 26/03 and update: 29 March

26th March 2010, by Fraser Wilkin

Cloud and precipitation forecast for midday on Wednesday 31 March. Reproduced with permission from Meteoblue (see below)

Alpine update

Sum up: Very unsettled

Tuesday will be a stormy day in the Alps. Eastern parts will start dry with sunny spells, but cloud will thicken up to bring rain and snow to all but the far north-east of Austria by evening. It will start mild, but a sharp drop in temperature will lower the rain/snow limit from 2000m to 1000m, and it will become windy everywhere. The western half of the Alps will see the bad weather set in earlier with heavy rain or snow, squally winds and the chance of thunder. The rain/snow limit will start at 1600-1800m but will drop rapidly to 1000m or lower later. Wednesday and Thursday will see further showers or longer spells of rain, heaviest in the west with snow above 1000-1200m. Some brighter spells are also expected, especially in the central Alpine valleys. Some drier weather is likely for most on Friday but further weather fronts may approach from the north-west over the Weekend.

Alpine forecast: 26 March

Sum-up

Spring is on hold..

General situation

The big thaw is coming to an end as wintery conditions return to the Alps. We won’t see the really cold temperatures experienced earlier in the season but a succession of storms will bring significant snow for many, especially (but not exclusively) at altitude .

Forecast

Austria

The southern Austrian Alps will be cloudy all day on Friday with showers and snow above 1800m (lower later). Elsewhere, it will start bright or sunny but cloud will thicken up as the days goes on with rain (and snow at altitude) everywhere by evening. The Foehn will blow strongly across some central and northern parts of the Alps where it will be very warm at first (23 degrees in Salzburg today). Saturday and Sunday will be fresher everywhere with bright spells and a few showers, heaviest in the west with snow to 1200m. Some eastern and southern regions will stay dry and bright.

France

Friday will start dry but cloud will soon thicken up with heavy rain/snow quickly spreading to all areas. The snow will fall above 1600-18000m initially but will lower rapidly to reach 800m or so by evening. Saturday and Sunday will see showers across the northern Alps with snow above 1200m. The southern Alps will see few if any showers and some long sunny spells.

Italy

Friday will be cloudy across the Italian Alps with heavy rain/snow at times. The snow will initially only fall above 1800m but this will lower as the day goes on. Saturday and Sunday will be drier and brighter with sunny spells and just the odd snow shower (1200m) close to the border areas.

Switzerland

Friday will start dry and bright in central and eastern areas but cloud will thicken from the south-west with rain/snow for all areas by afternoon. Some heavy snow is expected above 1800m at first then 1000m later in the day. Saturday and Sunday will be brighter in the southern Swiss Alps with just the odd shower. Elsewhere, showers will be more frequent with further snow above 1200m.

Outlook

It will remain very unsettled next week with further significant snow for many resorts. With fluctuating temperatures, however, some rain is also possible lower down.

Forecasts in association with ski travel agency Ski Solutions

Main picture: shows the forecast precipitation for Wednesday 31 March 2010 at approx midday.

copyright Meteoblue

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