Up to 50 cm of Fresh Snow Returns Winter to the Alps

As Europe began to enter summer mode, the Alps decided on a brief return to winter.

A spring storm has brought up to 50 centimeters of fresh snow to various areas of the Alpine arc, blanketing resorts that just days ago were in spring mode.

Snow fell even at elevations near 1,000 meters in some areas, accompanied by a sharp drop in temperatures that completely transformed the Alpine landscape during this second half of May.

Winter reappears in May

In the Northern Alps, accumulations of up to 40 centimeters are expected over the weekend, especially welcome news for the few resorts that remain open and for the glacier domains already preparing for the summer ski season.

Stubai Glacier, in Austria, faces its season close on May 17th with around 45 centimeters of recent snow. A completely wintery end for one of the country's most emblematic glaciers.

Meanwhile, Les Deux Alpes continues to offer skiing and snowboarding amidst a landscape more typical of February than late spring.

Images captured this week show chairlifts covered in powder snow, completely white forests, and revitalized glaciers just before the start of the summer season.

A reprieve for Alpine glaciers

After weeks marked by mild temperatures and scarce precipitation, this snowfall arrives at a crucial time for the Alpine glacier regions.

While a late storm doesn't change the underlying problem, it does help temporarily protect the glacier surface and delays the melt at altitude in anticipation of summer.

Destinations like Saas-Fee, Zermatt, and Cervinia continue to look towards the summer ski season, although meteorological models already point to a new rise in temperatures in the coming days.

For now, the Alps once again offer one of those improbable scenes that only occur in spring: fresh snow, winter silence, and glaciers awakening under a new blanket of white.