The African heat left Italy a few weeks ago, August is coming to an end, and it looks as though summer is ready to exit the stage too (at least temporarily).
Over the next few hours, the Alps will be hit by a weather system arriving from the north that will bring rain and falling temperatures at least until the middle of next week.
The star of this final week of August will be Snow, which will return to blanket Alpine peaks above 2,900 m of altitude—a godsend for the glaciers, which in recent weeks have seen much of the snow accumulated last winter melt away.
The scorching heat of late July and early August put Alpine glaciers and snowfields to the test, returning them to alarming conditions despite the huge quantities of snow accumulated last winter; the late-August balance will certainly still end in positive territory compared to the infernal summer of 2012, though perhaps people had hoped for even better.
This storm system will bring sub-zero temperatures back above 3,000 meters of altitude and snow across most of the major Alpine peaks, with possible snowfalls starting from 2,500 m.
Passo dello Stelvio, Marmolada, Presena Glacier, Val Senales, and Plateau Rosà are just a few of the areas that in the coming hours will once again “dress in white”: snowfalls will affect the peaks starting Saturday, August 23, and from Monday snow will reach all the glaciers with intensifying snowfalls expected to continue through Wednesday the 28th.
At 3,000 meters, up to 20 cm of fresh snow is forecast, though it will be the drop in temperatures that helps the glaciers the most, pushing the mercury back below freezing for the entire duration of the storm. Weather experts stress that this temperature shift could be decisive, meaning that—at least at the highest elevations—summer could be packed away in the attic, sparing our beloved snow reserves.
useful links:
> Passo Stelvio webcam
> Presena Glacier webcam
> Plateau Rosà webcam
No comments yet