The second winter storm of this autumn has arrived, but it is not over yet, and the amounts measured so far are modest. In the last 24 hours the SLF stations recorded up to 24 centimetres more snow, and the deepest snow at any station is 36 centimetres. On Sunday MeteoSwiss expects the next wave, and on Tuesday it turns distinctly warm for late October.
For this we evaluated the measurements of MeteoSwiss and the SLF and the official point forecast of MeteoSwiss, as of Saturday, 24 October, around 3.30 pm. There is no model run of our own this time: the service we usually use for that was blocked today. All figures below therefore come from the measurement networks themselves.
Wednesday: a lot of precipitation, but mostly as rain
On Wednesday, 21 October, between 10 and 47 millimetres of precipitation fell at the stations we evaluated, the most along the Gotthard, at the Grimsel and in southern Graubünden. It turned into snow only at the very top: at the Säntis (2,501 m) the daily mean was −0.9 °C, at the Gütsch above Andermatt (2,286 m) +0.1 °C. In Zermatt, Davos, Andermatt, Engelberg, San Bernardino and Poschiavo it was between 4 and 10 degrees, and there it was rain.
| Station | Altitude | Precipitation on 21 October | Daily mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Bernardino | 1,639 m | 47.3 mm | 5.1 °C |
| Poschiavo | 1,078 m | 46.1 mm | 9.6 °C |
| Andermatt | 1,435 m | 38.7 mm | 5.2 °C |
| Gütsch, Andermatt | 2,286 m | 37.2 mm | 0.1 °C |
| Säntis | 2,501 m | 34.6 mm | −0.9 °C |
| Grimsel Hospiz | 1,980 m | 34.6 mm | 1.7 °C |
| Engelberg | 1,036 m | 22.0 mm | 6.9 °C |
| Zermatt | 1,638 m | 19.3 mm | 4.4 °C |
That there was hardly any snow below roughly 2,300 metres is also shown by the snow depth of the automatic stations: at the Gütsch it rose to 2 centimetres and was back at zero on Saturday.
Friday and Saturday: snow down to the middle altitudes
Only with the cold air on Friday did the snow come lower. On Saturday afternoon the MeteoSwiss stations show snow down to around 1,300 metres. Snow depth is 13 centimetres on La Dôle (1,670 m), 21 at the Grimsel Hospiz (1,980 m, previously 15), 6 each on Chasseral (1,594 m) and Le Moléson (1,275 m), 5 on the Napf (1,404 m) and 1 at the Col des Mosses (1,412 m). On Le Moléson, the Napf and La Dôle there was still nothing on Wednesday. The stations on the Plateau and in the valleys have no snow, nor does Engelberg (1,036 m) or Château-d’Oex (1,028 m).
At higher altitudes the SLF has about 130 measuring stations in the high mountains. The largest gain in snow depth over the last 24 hours is plus 24 centimetres, at Donin du Jour (2,385 m), from 12 to 36 centimetres.
Figures of the chart as a table
| Station | Altitude | 24 hours ago | now | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donin du Jour | 2,385 m | 12 cm | 36 cm | +24 cm |
| L’Ecreuleuse | 2,252 m | 11 cm | 28 cm | +17 cm |
| Trubelboden | 2,459 m | 15 cm | 31 cm | +16 cm |
| Fitteren | 2,162 m | 3 cm | 17 cm | +14 cm |
| Sabbioni | 2,305 m | 6 cm | 20 cm | +14 cm |
| Titlisboden | 2,149 m | 1 cm | 14 cm | +13 cm |
| Obere Meiel | 2,097 m | 11 cm | 24 cm | +13 cm |
| Gandegg | 2,710 m | 15 cm | 27 cm | +13 cm |
Two caveats belong here. A gain in snow depth is not new snow: the snow settles, the wind moves it, and the stations stand on ridges, not on the pistes. On the glaciers themselves, where the ski areas open, there is no station. In places there may be more. It is neither measured nor documented.
Sunday: the next wave, bringing rain and snow
According to the MeteoSwiss forecast (run of Saturday, 3 pm), Saturday is the coldest day, after which it gets milder again. The freezing level, the altitude above which the temperature is below zero, drops low on Saturday: the lowest hourly value is, depending on the region, between about 840 and 1,580 metres, lowest above the Jungfraujoch, the Titlis and the Säntis.
On Sunday, 25 October, the next disturbance arrives. It brings a lot of precipitation to north-eastern Switzerland, central Switzerland and the Bernese Alps, and little to the Valais and Graubünden. The freezing level rises to values between about 1,700 and 3,100 metres. Snow therefore falls mainly at high altitudes, and below that it turns to rain at times. Where exactly the line lies changes over the day and from region to region.
For the Titlis, where the glacier opens on Thursday, this means 20 millimetres of precipitation at temperatures between −6.7 and −0.9 degrees. That falls there as snow only. The forecast gives no amount in centimetres, and we deliberately do not convert it here, because the ratio of water to snow depends on temperature and wind.
Tuesday: freezing level above 4,000 metres
After that, Tuesday, 27 October, turns warm: according to the forecast the freezing level rises, depending on the region, to values between about 3,200 and 4,140 metres. The maximum temperature is 16.2 in Engelberg, 16.0 in Zurich and 15.1 degrees in Zermatt. Even on the Titlis (3,045 m) it is +5.2 degrees, on the Säntis +8.8. For the snow at high altitudes that is a bad day, and the Titlis, with its opening date on 29 October, comes just two days after it. Whether the lift company changes anything because of this, we do not know.
Forecast for the Titlis as a table
| Day | Precipitation | Minimum | Maximum | Freezing level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 24 October | 5.1 mm | −11.6 °C | −7.5 °C | 993 to 1,750 m |
| Sunday, 25 October | 20.4 mm | −6.7 °C | −0.9 °C | 1,770 to 2,727 m |
| Monday, 26 October | 0 mm | −6.7 °C | 0.2 °C | 1,770 to 3,482 m |
| Tuesday, 27 October | 0 mm | −0.2 °C | 5.2 °C | 3,362 to 4,055 m |
| Wednesday, 28 October | 0.4 mm | −3.3 °C | −0.7 °C | 2,666 to 3,259 m |
| Thursday, 29 October | 0 mm | −5.5 °C | 0 °C | 3,067 to 3,150 m |
| Friday, 30 October | 0 mm | −6.8 °C | −0.7 °C | 2,925 to 3,116 m |
| Saturday, 31 October | 0 mm | −6.8 °C | −1.4 °C | 2,598 to 2,903 m |
| Sunday, 1 November | 0 mm | −7.0 °C | −1.7 °C | 2,607 to 2,710 m |
Until 1 November: dry, and the nights get cold
After a remnant of precipitation on Wednesday (Säntis 3.7 mm, Titlis 0.4), the forecast stays dry until 1 November. By then the freezing level drops to about 2,150 to 3,000 metres, and on the Säntis (2,501 m) the minimum temperatures are −1 to −3 degrees, on the Titlis −3 to −7. Whether that is enough for snowmaking depends on humidity as well as temperature. We have not calculated that this time.
On November we cannot say anything seriously. The official forecast extends to 2 November, and for the time after that the weather services have only trends, not a forecast. What we know about the winter as a whole is on the winter forecast.
Read on: The big opening weekend · World Cup in Sölden · All open resorts · Winter forecast
Sources
- Precipitation and temperature on 21 October, snow depth on Saturday: MeteoSwiss, SwissMetNet network (ogd-smn), daily values “rka150d0” (precipitation 0 to 24 UTC) and hourly values of snow depth “htoauths”, retrieved on 24 October 2026.
- Snow depth in the high mountains: SLF, IMIS network, half-hourly values of snow depth, 23 October 2026, 14:00 UTC, to 24 October 2026, 13:30 UTC, retrieved on 24 October 2026.
- Forecast: MeteoSwiss, local point forecast (ogd-local-forecasting), run of 24 October 2026, 13:00 UTC. The same forecast as in the MeteoSwiss app; precipitation as a daily total, freezing level as an hourly value.
- Checking the figures:
scripts/wochenende-schnee.mjsin the repository. Running it again gives today’s state, not that of this piece, because all three data sources change hourly. - What is missing: For Sölden and the other resorts in Austria and Italy MeteoSwiss has no point forecast, which is why they are not covered here.
