Snow Report

Heavy Snow Blankets the Alps

The forecast was spot on. Heavy snow has blanketed the eastern Alps, dumping up to 70cm of the white stuff in places.
Heavy Snow Blankets the Alps | Welove2ski
Leutasch near Seefeld in Austria, October 11. Photo: © leautasch.at

Heavy snow has blanketed the eastern Alps, dumping up to 70cm of the white stuff in places. The heaviest snow has fallen in parts of the Tirol and the Salzburgerland in Austria, but almost the whole region has at least a dusting this morning.

The forecasts were pretty much spot on – although the storm took bit longer to get going than we originally thought. Anyone watching the Austrian webcams yesterday afternoon saw a lot of heavy rain to start with. But then, in the late afternoon the temperature dropped, and snow started falling down the valley floor.

And now look. This was the snow at the bottom of the Hintertux lift system in the Zillertal this morning. There’s 40cm of new snow up top, and although the skies have not yet cleared, the lifts are already running.

Heavy Snow Blankets the Alps | Welove2ski
Up top, there’s 40cm of snow…Photo: TVB Tux/Facebook

Pictured, below, was scene beneath the Stubai glacier, which reports a whopping 70cm of snow. Some trees have come down in the storm, which was slowing down the opening of the lifts this morning.

Heavy Snow Blankets the Alps | Welove2ski
Photo: Stubai Glacier/Facebook

This was the Pitztal, beneath the Pitztal Glacier

Heavy Snow Blankets the Alps | Welove2ski
Photo: © pitztaler-gletscher.at

This is St Anton

Here’s Warth-Schrocken (which this winter will be linked to Lech’s ski area).

Heavy Snow Blankets the Alps | Welove2ski
Photo: © warth-schrocken.at

Below is the snow in Solden, which is the setting for the opening races of the Alpine Skiing World Cup, on October 26 and 27. The resort reckons it’s up to 40cm deep in places.

Heavy Snow Blankets the Alps | Welove2ski
Photo: Soelden/Facebook

There’s been heavy snow in parts of Switzerland, too, favouring the resorts of the north and east.

Heavy Snow Blankets the Alps | Welove2ski
Chalet Guggel, above Davos. Photo: chaletgueggel.ch
Heavy Snow Blankets the Alps | Welove2ski
Still snowing above Engelberg in Switzerland. Photo: titlis.ch

And there’s been snow in France too.

Heavy Snow Blankets the Alps | Welove2ski
Brevent, above Chamonix. Photo: © compagniedumontblanc.com

The Grand Massif ski area has done particularly well from the storm.

Heavy Snow Blankets the Alps | Welove2ski
Les Carroz, in the Grand Massif. Photo: © grand-massif.com

Meanwhile, Tignes has only had a dusting – but still it’s great pre-season publicity for the opening of the glacier tomorrow for autumn skiing.

Heavy Snow Blankets the Alps | Welove2ski
A dusting of snow above Tignes. Photo: © tignes.net

Many Italian resorts have had a dusting too. Madonna di Campiglio, beneath the Brenta Dolomites, has had more than most.

Heavy Snow Blankets the Alps | Welove2ski
Madonna di Campiglio this morning. Photo: © funiviecampiglio.it

Will the snow last? Well, according to our snow forecast for the Alps, there’s more snow expected today and over the weekend, though not in the same quantities, and temperatures are likely to rise at the same time. We’ll see the snowline retreat from the valley floors soon enough.

But in the medium turn, it looks as though the weather will stay turbulent, and there’s a chance of another burst of cold, snowy weather in the middle of next week. Keep an eye on our snow forecast for signs of that.

Are we looking at an early start to winter? At the moment, that’s anyone’s guess. Heavy snow in October is quite normal – and can be followed by a month of unseasonably mild sunshine, so don’t count your chickens just yet. We’ll need a run of these snowstorms and plenty of cold northern air before we can start getting properly excited.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and make a start on my ski fitness

About the author

Sean Newsom

As well as founding Welove2ski in June 2007, Sean has written about skiing and snowboarding in the British press for 28 years. For the last 20 of them, he’s also been the ski travel editor at The Sunday Times.

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