The snow from the last alert came and went. The coming and going from Alert 7 is over and the rain slurry is now freezing to the new base, where it hasn't been washed away. And it's going to get a surprisingly nice pack of snow by Friday. And the great thing is: the alert applies to the entire northern Alps from Chamonix to Ötscher. So northern France to the Austrian Eastern Alps. Colorful maps for the east as well:
The snow line will remain quite low in the meantime, but the zero degree line will be around 2000m in the west on a sunny Friday, otherwise probably around 1500m, which shouldn't be too bad for the powder on north-facing slopes in dry weather. Wind will be an issue on Thursday, but we're a long way from gale force winds. How much is coming? From western Switzerland to eastern Austria, 40-60cm is likely to fall. As it's cold and there's also a bit of accumulation from the west-northwest, we could even get 70. In the core from central Switzerland to northern Tyrol there may be a few more cm, but more than 80 cm is unlikely. In France, it's more likely to be 25-40 cm, as the high pressure there is quite strong in the Alps and is providing dry air. Where should I point my Gopro selfie stick? I wouldn't go out on Wednesday, unless you're there anyway and want to ski on 20cm of ice in the afternoon. Thursday could be quite nice with 30-40cm, but most of the additional snow won't come until the evening, which is great for Friday, but won't help much on Thursday. The regions are not limited to a small corner this time, so you can go to your favorite spots in the Northern Alps if they had a base. If they didn't have one, then I wouldn't go until Friday at the earliest.
Outlook: In the medium term, Ullr has a little more snow in store for all carnival revellers and anti-carnivalists, and alerts should follow from Sunday. Three times Powder Alaaf! Finally something like winter again instead of permanent fall. Powder to the people! Your oracle