An active front reached the Alps late Wednesday night and brought significant amounts of fresh snow, but also some rain to many regions on Thursday, heaviest in the west. It has not been notably cold again though, meaning that snow depths are much more modest lower down.
The Alpine weather remains unstable and downright moody. Disturbances meander over the Alps as the region is enclosed in mild and cold air.
Saturday will see further flurries to low levels across the northern fringes of the Alps, especially in Switzerland and Austria. In the rest of the Alpine region the weather is friendly and fairly sunny. On Sunday, the entire Alpine region benefits on the back of a high air pressure which brings lots of sun. Clouds will thicken in the north-west again later in the day as a new storm approaches, forecast to arrive overnight/on Monday. Monday the situation is getting worse with a disturbance from the west. Clouds, wind and snow showers determine the weather.
The temperatures rises sharply around Tuesday. This causes the snowfall limit to rise to around 2200 meters. For Tuesday and Wednesday, this means an increasing chance of some rain for the west and north. This situation, rain at higher altitude, is very common in March. More so, the last few years. Thursday seem to be getting mild too.
At the end of the week colder air is returning again and a new storm cycle is on the charts. On Thursday night there is significant episode of polar air for the Alps. Once again, the influx is accompanied by heavy snowfall, and on an extensive scale.
Generally speaking, the higher resorts of the French Alps are in the most impressive shape right now. Great skiing is not confined to France, however, with impressive snow depths at altitude right across Switzerland, Austria and Italy too. The only weaknesses are still some of the lower resorts close to the north-western fringes of the Alps, such as Morzine, Gstaad and Grindelwald. These resorts have all seen new snow this week though, and can still offer some excellent skiing, but are likely to become more vulnerable if any spring-like weather decides to set in.