Weather
The High Alps get a modest, high-elevation refresh through early Thursday, with the best-supported totals around 8-31 cm and the largest amounts on the highest alpine terrain. Snow levels mostly sit between 2,400 and 2,850 meters, so the lower Grands Montets elevation range is more marginal, while upper terrain stays cold enough for snow. Confidence is strongest from Monday evening, April 27, through early Thursday, April 30; after that, the pattern stays unsettled, but the models diverge quickly on which waves become meaningful.
From Monday evening into early Thursday, the individual models converge on intermittent snowfall rather than one clean, intense storm. The main focus is Tuesday and Wednesday, with upper mountain snow levels generally 2,400-2,850 meters and SLRs near 15-20 on the highest peaks, making the snow light there, while lower ski elevations run closer to 10-14 and ski more moderate to dense. The published totals for this period range from 8-31 cm, highest at Dufourspitze and lower at Grands Montets, where the base elevation sits well below the snow line. Wind agreement is not as strong as the snow timing, but exposed terrain has gust potential near 35-55 km/h, strongest around Mont Blanc.
Thursday and Friday look like a relative break, and the individual models mostly agree that organized snowfall fades for a time. A few light showers can linger at high elevations, but totals look minor, and snow levels trend near or above 2,600 meters during any precipitation. That should leave upper alpine surfaces refreshed but not deeply reset, with lower elevations dealing with a more mixed spring snow surface. Winds ease compared with the Tuesday-Wednesday period, though exposed ridges may still feel breezy.
From Saturday into next Thursday, the individual models diverge on intensity and placement, even though they keep an unsettled pattern over the region. One cluster brings a stronger western High Alps wave Saturday through Monday, another delays better accumulation into Tuesday through Thursday, and one solution is much wetter farther east near Dufourspitze, so confidence is lower than it is early in the forecast. A conservative read is that high alpine terrain could see another 20-60 cm across several waves, with locally more if the wetter solutions verify; snow levels mostly fluctuate around 2,400-2,900 meters, keeping the lower ski elevations marginal during warmer pulses. Snow quality should stay light on the highest peaks where SLRs often remain above 14, but closer to lower lift-served terrain, it is more often moderate to dense, and the strongest available wind signals show exposed gusts around 50-70 km/h.
Resort Forecast Totals (Mon Apr 27 – Thu Apr 30)
- Dufourspitze: 23-31 cm
- Matterhorn: 14-19 cm
- Mont Blanc: 14-19 cm
- Aiguille Verte: 12-16 cm
- Grandes Jorasses: 11-14 cm
- Aiguille du Midi: 9-13 cm
- Grands Montets Ski Area: 8-11 cm
