Sudden onset of winter: up to 80 cm of fresh snow in the Alps!

Sudden onset of winter: up to 80 cm of fresh snow in the Alps!

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Deutschland - As out of the blue on midsummer, winter has returned to the Alps last week. Up to 80 cm of fresh snow has fallen in the Zillertal Alps and Hohen Tauern since Monday evening, July 7, 2025. On the Zugspitze, the highest summit in Germany, a violent snow raged. The Venice group was particularly affected, where the highest amounts of snow were registered, while in the Ötztaler Alps up to 20 cm of snow pattered. These winter conditions already caused excitement among tourists and locals who had prepared for summer weather elsewhere. According to Merkur there are also worries about avalanches. The avalanche warning service Tirol warned of loose snow avalanches in the high mountains, which keeps the mountain rescue on a trip.

But the dangers should not be underestimated either. A 19-year-old Frankfurter had to be saved with a helicopter in Tyrol after overestimating his skills in the winter conditions. While the mountain rescue warned of the winter conditions, many hut hosts were surprised by the sudden onset of winter, including a hut owner from Hesse who works in Carinthia.

Winter surprises in the Alps

The snow border temporarily dropped less than 2000 m in the northern lime scenes and on the main Alpine ridge, so that the snow also remained there. Thanks to the strong north wind, the fresh snow was also shipped to the high mountains, which tightened the winter conditions. Interestingly, it is predicted for the higher locations that the fresh snow could remain about 2700 m before it quickly melts off quickly in the lower areas. It will only be shown in the coming winter how the snow conditions will develop, especially with regard to the forecast increase in the winted settings in the Alps by up to 20 percent to 2100, which are primarily expected as rain. This could significantly exacerbate the location for less highly located ski areas, as a report on Geo suggests.

The weather extreme is not only shown in winter burglaries, but also in future forecasts for alpine tourism. With the increasingly unpredictable weather, tourists and alpine athletes have to prepare for planning their vacations at short notice. Flood risk, the more frequent and more intensive heavy rain events as well as possible drying times make preparations for vacation in the alpine room more complicated than ever. Reports about (almost) 3 meters of fresh snow in the Alps in September 2024 illustrate the extreme weather events that apparently increasingly accompany us. [The Weather] (https://www.daswetter.com/nachrichten/massiver-winterinbruch-mit-fast-3-meter-in-alpen-und-das-mitte- and-september-boden-boden-boden-boden-boden-boden-boden-boden-boden-boden-tml) describes the dangers of drifts and smooth roads.

The alpine room will change radically if we are not careful. Climate researcher Harald Kunstmann from Garmisch shows that the temperature in the Alps even increases twice as fast as in the global means. The flora and fauna will change dramatically with less snow and more rain. But what does winter athletes and nature lovers have? A good knack in planning is required to make the best of the changing conditions and continue to enjoy the beauty of the Alps in the future.