Weather
This EU Alps snow forecast features a cold, active late-week pattern with the best mountain snow from Wednesday night through Saturday night. The strongest totals favor higher Alpine terrain from Austria into Switzerland and parts of the western Alps, while lower-elevation and eastern fringe areas see lighter accumulations. Confidence is highest from Wednesday night, May 13, through early Sunday, May 17, when the individual models agree well on the timing, snow levels, and generally modest wind impacts, though they still differ on exact intensity.
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The late-week storm arrives in two main waves, first building late Wednesday night into Thursday and then reloading Friday into Saturday. The individual models converge on that broad timing, with the steadiest snow focused from Thursday morning through Saturday evening before tapering around early Sunday. Snow levels should mostly run near 1,200-1,700 meters on Thursday, then trend closer to 1,000-1,600 meters Friday and Saturday, keeping the better snow quality in the upper-mountain terrain. Published totals for this period support a broad 20-50 cm outcome for many favored high Alpine areas, with Sölden, Samnaun, Chamonix, and the Jungfrau region among the stronger performers.
Snow quality looks mostly moderate for May, with some dense periods mixed in during the warmer or lower-elevation hours. SLRs generally sit in the 10-14 range during the main storm, with pockets closer to 7-10 during denser bursts and occasional 14-15 ratios in colder upper-elevation snow. The individual models are fairly aligned on wind being a secondary issue rather than the main story, with many exposed areas seeing breezes and periodic gusts around 20-35 km/h. Where late-season lifts are still running, Thursday through Saturday should offer the best chance for fresh upper-mountain turns, especially after the Friday-Saturday reload.
Sunday turns quieter, then the models diverge quickly on whether a weak Monday-Tuesday disturbance can produce more snow. The most realistic read is scattered showers with variable snow levels, generally near 1,200-2,200 meters during any precipitation, and only a few centimeters for most terrain, though a localized area could approach 10 cm if the wetter solutions verify. Beyond Tuesday, the pattern looks mostly quieter until a very late-window storm signal appears in one outlier scenario near Thursday, May 28. That signal is not supported well enough for specific totals, so treat it as a watch item rather than a forecast commitment.
EU Snow Forecast Resort Totals (Wed May 13 – Sun May 17)
- Sölden – 38-52 cm
- Samnaun – 33-45 cm
- Chamonix – 31-42 cm
- Wengen (Jungfrau) – 27-38 cm
- St. Moritz – 23-32 cm
- Cortina d’Ampezzo – 22-31 cm
- Val Thorens – 21-29 cm
- Les 3 Vallées – 21-29 cm
- Verbier – 21-29 cm
- Ischgl – 18-25 cm
- Tignes – 15-21 cm
- Cervinia – 14-20 cm
- Zermatt – 14-19 cm
- Val d’Isère – 14-19 cm
- St. Anton – 8-12 cm
- Kitzbühel – 3-4 cm
