ARCHIVE

 

Today in the Alps - October 2021

 

Read about current weather and snow conditions in the Alps

Updated: 10am Thursday 28 October 2021 - Significant snow for the Alps next week!

 

High pressure has been dominating the weather in the Alps for some time now, however, the next few days will see it slowly slip away eastwards, allowing a series of storms to move in from the Atlantic this weekend and into the first half of next week. 

Snowfall forecast chart showing predicted accumulated snowfall in the Alps for seven days from 28 October 2021 – Weather to ski - Today in the Alps, 28 October 2021 Significant accumulated snowfall is predicted across the Alps during the next seven days, with the brightest colours suggesting that the western Alps are likely to see 50cm or more – Image: bergfex.com, 28 October 2021

Before the Alps see any significant snow, they will first have to deal with the Foehn, set to start tomorrow and peak over the weekend. This means that temperatures will be very mild, and exceptionally mild on Saturday and Sunday in Foehn-affected valleys of the central and northern Alps. It will also become windy, with skiing operations on the glaciers becoming increasingly difficult this weekend.

 

Thanks to the Foehn, it should remain dry and bright until Monday in the northern and eastern Alps (i.e Austria), but it will become cloudier this weekend further south and west, with showers affecting parts of the French, southern and western Swiss and central and western Italian Alps on both Saturday and Sunday.

 

At this stage the rain/snow limit will be quite high, generally close to 2500m but perhaps down to 2000m to the south of the main Alpine ridge (e.g. the Monte Rosa region).

 

Next week the weather will become unsettled right across the Alps, with a drop in temperature bringing snow to relatively low levels, at least for a time. How much snow will fall is still uncertain, but it would not be unreasonable to expect between 20cm and 60cm of snow to have fallen above 2500m by this time next week across many parts of the Alps, and perhaps more in places, with the heaviest falls likely to be in the west.

 

We will keep a close eye on the situation as it evolves over the next few days, with updates on where we think the heaviest snow will fall. Stay tuned!

Updated: 12pm Tuesday 26 October 2021 - Fine weather in the Alps, but snow possible next week…

 

High pressure continues to dominate the weather in the Alps, with plenty of fine weather expected over the next few days with just some nuisance valley fog/low cloud here and there. The weather looks set to become more unsettled by the weekend though, with the chance of some snow to relatively low levels next week. 

Hintertux, Austria – Weather to ski – Today in the Alps, 26 October 2021 Fine weather and good glacier skiing in the Alps right now. This is Hintertux – 26 October 2021 – Photo: Wolfgang Gratt

In the meantime, snow conditions on the glaciers are generally good, even if the pistes are quite hard-packed in places, especially in the west (e.g Tignes). The best snow is still to be found across the eastern Alps, especially in Austria which saw the biggest snow falls last week.

 

Below glacier level, there is currently little (if any) meaningful natural snow, although some resorts (such as Obergurgl) are already laying down artificial snow in anticipation of their mid to late November openings. In fact, Sulden-am-Ortler (in the Italian Sud-Tirol) has recently become the first entirely non-glacial resort to offer any skiing this season, thanks to a mixture of natural and (mostly) man-made snow.

 

17 ski areas are currently open for skiing in the Alps including:

  • France – Tignes and Les 2 Alpes, the latter closing again on 7 November.  
  • Austria - Hintertux, Pitztal, Kaunertal, Sölden, Stubai, Kitzsteinhorn (Kaprun) and Mölltal.
  • Switzerland – Zermatt, Saas-Fee, Engelberg and the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz (on Wednesdays and weekends only, for the time being).
  • Italy - Val Senales, Passo Stelvio, Sulden am Ortler (non-glacial) and Cervinia.

Updated: 2pm Saturday 23 October 2021 - More openings, and good snow conditions on the glaciers of the Alps…

 

High pressure is currently dominating the weather in the Alps, meaning that sunny skies will prevail for some time to come, at altitude at least. There may be a wintrier blast in around 10-12 days’ time, but this is still speculative so don’t get too excited just yet!

Les 2 Alpes, France – Weather to ski – Today in the Alps, 23 October 2021 Lovely weather for the opening day of the season in Les 2 Alpes – 23 October 2021 – Photo: les2alpes.com

In the meantime, snow conditions on the glaciers are generally good, helped by a modest top-up of fresh snow over the last few days. The best snow is still to be found across the eastern Alps, especially in Austria though, with the weather in a settled mode, all the open glacier areas will be able to offer some highly enjoyable skiing and snowboarding over the next few days.

 

Today sees the opening of the glacier in Les 2 Alpes, where skiing will be possible for two weeks until the lifts close again on 7 November. Elsewhere in France, the Grande Motte glacier above Tignes is now open daily through to the main winter season.

 

Elsewhere in the Alps there are plenty of skiing options including in:

  • Austria - Hintertux, Pitztal, Kaunertal, Sölden, Stubai, Kitzsteinhorn (Kaprun) and Mölltal.
  • Switzerland – Zermatt, Saas-Fee and Engelberg and also now the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz (on Wednesdays and weekends only, for the time being).
  • Italy - Val Senales, Passo Stelvio and Cervinia.

Updated: 9.30am Thursday 14 October 2021 - Fantastic snow conditions on the eastern Alpine glaciers as the weather clears…

 

It’s still cloudy this morning across the central and eastern Austrian Alps, the tail end of the recent storm that delivered up to 30cm of snow to some higher parts of the eastern Swiss and Austrian Alps. Elsewhere in the Alps it is mostly sunny, with fine weather expected in all Alpine regions tomorrow and over the weekend. 

Kitzsteinhorn glacier, Austria – Weather to ski – Today in the Alps, 14 October 2021 Fantastic snow conditions earlier this week on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier above Kaprun, where even more snow has fallen since – Photo: facebook.com/visitsalzburgland

Snow conditions are excellent on the Austrian glaciers, where most of the recent snow has fallen, as well as on the Titlis glacier above Engelberg.

 

Conditions are not quite as good further south and west (e.g. Passo Stelvio, Zermatt, Saas-Fee), which only had a dusting this week, but are certainly ok for the time of year.

 

Right now it is possible to ski on eleven glaciers across the Alps, including:

  • Austria - Hintertux, Pitztal, Kaunertal, Sölden, Stubai, Kitzsteinhorn (Kaprun) and Mölltal (which opened today).
  • Switzerland – Zermatt, Saas-Fee and Engelberg.
  • Italy - Val Senales and Passo Stelvio. Cervinia is set to join the action this weekend –(16 October).

France currently has no lift-served skiing available, though the Grande Motte glacier above Tignes is scheduled to open for the season on Saturday (16 October), with Les 2 Alpes following on 23 October, just for the half-term holidays, closing again on 7 November.

Updated: 10.30am Wednesday 13 October 2021 - Fresh snow in the Alps!

 

It has been snowing again in the Alps, this time mostly in the east, with 10-30cm falling in the last 24 hours in the northern and eastern Swiss Alps, and parts of Austria. 

Kleinwalstertal, Austria – Weather to ski – Today in the Alps, 13 October 2021 15cm of new snow this morning in Austria’s Kleinwalstertal, close to the German border – 13 October 2021 – Photo: @Kleinwalsertal1

This new snow comes courtesy of a cold and unstable north-easterly airflow, that allowed snow to fall to below 1000m on Tuesday and will continue to bring a few flurries to low altitudes across some north-eastern parts of the Alps (mostly Austria) today. The western and southern Alps (i.e. Italy and France) have seen little or no snow from this latest storm.

 

A few showers or flurries are forecast to linger across the northern and eastern Austrian Alps at first on Thursday before the weather settles down across the board later in the week, with fine weather expected to last over the weekend and into next week.

 

Thanks to significant new snow, conditions are superb right now on the Austrian glaciers and the Titlis glacier above Engelberg. Further south and west (e.g. Passo Stelvio, Zermatt, Saas-Fee) conditions are ok, but with only a dusting of new snow from the latest storm.

 

Right now it is possible to ski on ten glaciers across the Alps, including:

  • Austria - Hintertux, Pitztal, Kaunertal and Sölden, Stubai and Kitzsteinhorn (Kaprun). The Mölltal glacier opens tomorrow (14 October).
  • Switzerland – Zermatt, Saas-Fee and Engelberg.
  • Italy - Val Senales and Passo Stelvio. Cervinia is set to join the action on 16 October.

France currently has no lift-served skiing available, though the Grande Motte glacier above Tignes is scheduled to open for the season on 16 October, with Les 2 Alpes following on 23 October, just for the half-term holidays, closing again on 7 November.

Updated: 2pm Wednesday 6 October 2021 - Lots of new snow on the glaciers…

 

The weather in the Alps has been very unsettled so far this week, with plenty of new snow at altitude. This is great news for the glaciers, where snow conditions will be superb once skies start to clear.

Les 2 Alpes, France – Weather to ski – Today in the Alps, 6 October 2021 There’s 40cm of new snow on the glacier above Les 2 Alpes, where skiing will be possible between 23 October and 7 November – 6 October 2021 – Photo: les2alpes.com

Skies are already starting to clear across some western and south-western parts of the Alps, including the glacier above Les 2 Alpes (pictured), which is scheduled to open on 23 October. Elsewhere in the Alps it has been a cloudier picture today, with showers or longer spells of rain/snow, heaviest in Austria where the rain/snow limit is typically between 1500m and 2000m.

 

Looking a bit further ahead, some further showers or flurries are expected across the eastern Alps tomorrow and possibly also early on Friday. The rest of the Alps should see drier and brighter weather, with all areas expected to see plenty of fine weather over the weekend.

 

Right now it is possible to ski on eight glaciers across the Alps, including:

  • Austria - Hintertux, Pitztal, Kaunertal and Sölden. Stubai is then scheduled to open on 8 October, with the Kitzsteinhorn above Kaprun following on 9 October;
  • Switzerland - Zermatt and Saas-Fee. The Titlis glacier above Engelberg is also scheduled to open on 9 October; and
  • Italy - Val Senales and Passo Stelvio. Cervinia is set to join the action on 16 October.

France currently has no lift-served skiing available, though the Grande Motte glacier above Tignes is scheduled to open for the season on 16 October, with Les 2 Alpes following on 23 October, just for the half-term holidays, closing again on 7 November.

Updated: 11.30am Monday 4 October 2021 - Unsettled with some fresh snow at altitude…

 

The weather in the Alps is currently very unsettled, with rain or snow expected across most regions over the next couple of days. 

Bergfex chart showing snowfall accumulations between 4 and 8 October 2021 – Weather to ski – Today in the Alps, 4 October 2021 10-40cm of snow is forecast for the Alps between today and Friday 8 October (the blues and purples indicate the greatest accumulations) – Image: bergfex.com, 4 October 2021

The western and southern Alps will see the worst of today’s weather, with the heaviest precipitation close to the Swiss-Italian border, roughly between Zermatt/Saas-Fee and the Italian lakes, with a rain/snow limit around 2700-3000m. Over the next couple of days the heaviest precipitation will then gradually move east, with the rain/snow limit dropping to 2000m or lower by Wednesday.

 

This current storm cycle is good news for the glaciers, which will see between 10-40cm of new snow by mid-week and will be offering some excellent skiing once the current storm moves away.

 

However, it will not have any bearing on how early season snow conditions might pan out more generally, and with warmer drier air set to move in later in the week, any lower-lying snow will not last long.

 

Right now it is possible to ski on eight glaciers across the Alps, including:

  • Austria - Hintertux, Pitztal, Kaunertal and Sölden;
  • Switzerland - Zermatt and Saas-Fee; and
  • Italy - Val Senales and Passo Stelvio.

France currently has no lift-served skiing available, though the Grande Motte glacier above Tignes is scheduled to open for the season on 16 October, with Les 2 Alpes following on 23 October, just for the half-term holidays, closing again on 7 November.