SnowBrains Forecast: 30-55 cm for the European Alps through Saturday

This European Alps snow forecast stays active through Saturday, with the best upper-mountain totals stacking up from an ongoing storm tonight into Tuesday and a broader reload Thursday through Saturday. Confidence is strongest from Monday night, May 11, through Saturday night, May 16, when the individual models are reasonably aligned on the two main waves. Favored northern and western high terrain should see roughly 30-55 cm by late Saturday, while lower and more eastern areas see less, denser snow with more mixed snow quality.

The current storm is already underway across much of the western and central Alps and continues overnight into Tuesday. The individual models are converging on the main timing, with the steadiest snow through Tuesday morning before showers fade Tuesday afternoon and evening. Snow levels during the continuing wave generally run near 900-2,100 meters, lowest toward the northern and eastern Alps and higher at times in the French and Swiss high terrain. Snow quality is mixed: SLRs mostly run 8-13:1, so expect dense to moderate snow, with the wettest lower-elevation snow near Kitzbühel, St. Anton, and parts of the Dolomites. Winds are gusty on exposed terrain, especially early Tuesday, but the snowfall remains the main ski-weather feature.

Wednesday is the brief break, then the next storm reloads from Thursday into Saturday. The individual models are converging on another multi-day unsettled period, but they diverge on which side of the Alps gets the heaviest core and how long Saturday snow lingers. Snow levels look lower and steadier than the current storm, mostly around 1,200-1,800 meters while snow is falling. SLRs are generally 10-14:1 in the higher French, Swiss, and central Alpine terrain for moderate to fairly light snow, but closer to 4-9:1 in lower Austrian terrain and parts of the Dolomites, where snow will be denser and more elevation-dependent.

From Sunday through Thursday, the pattern turns more uncertain and less organized. The individual models diverge on weak follow-up waves, with one wetter solution trying to keep showers going in the central and eastern Alps while the drier solutions trend toward only spotty snow. That period is best treated as a lower-confidence extension, not a committed storm total. A realistic broad read is additional light accumulations for many upper elevations, commonly just a few centimeters, with localized 5-15 cm if the wetter central or eastern solutions verify.

European Alps Snow Forecast Resort Totals (Mon May 11 – Sat May 16)

• Wengen (Jungfrau) – 38-56 cm
• Chamonix – 35-51 cm
• Samnaun – 32-48 cm
• Verbier – 33-48 cm
• Val Thorens – 32-47 cm
• Les 3 Vallées – 30-44 cm
• Sölden – 25-39 cm
• Cortina d’Ampezzo – 23-37 cm
• Val d’Isère – 23-34 cm
• Tignes – 23-33 cm
• Ischgl – 19-29 cm
• St. Moritz – 19-28 cm
• St. Anton – 12-19 cm
• Zermatt – 10-14 cm
• Cervinia – 8-11 cm
• Kitzbühel – 7-9 cm