Current snow level, 5-day forecast, main peaks and ski resort status in Central System. Highest peak: Almanzor (2592 m).
| Peak | Elevation | Lat/Lon | Status vs snow level |
|---|
The Central System gathers several ranges: Gredos, Guadarrama, Bejar, Pena de Francia and Gata. The highest peaks are in Gredos (Almanzor 2592 m, Galana 2564 m) and Guadarrama (Penalara 2428 m, Bola del Mundo 2257 m). The snow season runs November to April, peaking in January and February. Typical snow level is 1200 to 1600 m, with frequent drops to 700-900 m in deep Atlantic storms, particularly in Guadarrama. Average snowpack on summits exceeds 1 m in February, with historical maxima around 3 m at Laguna Grande de Gredos. Avalanche risk is low to moderate, but wet snow can form slabs in the north-facing gullies of Gredos. The Central System hosts four ski resorts: Valdesqui and Navacerrada in Guadarrama, La Pinilla in Somosierra and La Covatilla in Bejar. It is the most heavily hiked range in the peninsula thanks to its proximity to Madrid, which multiplies the number of snow rescues each winter. The Sierra de Guadarrama National Park and the Sierra de Gredos Regional Park protect relict alpine ecosystems. Snow feeds the Burguillo, Pinilla and Pedrezuela reservoirs, part of Madrids water supply.
Gredos and Guadarrama divide the two Castilian plateaus, and snow here depends on where the depression comes in. With a northwesterly flow the Segovia and Ávila flank gets the better part; with southwesterly incursions it is the Madrid face that accumulates. This is the range that decides whether the AP-6 motorway and the Navacerrada pass are passable at dawn, which is why its snow level is watched more closely than any other.
Between December and March the 0 °C isotherm over the Central System sits on average at 1,881 metres. With the summit at 2,592 metres, the summit sits above the snow level for practically the whole winter. Further down things change fast: the level drops below 2,000 metres on about 109 days each winter, below 1,500 on about 74, and reaches 1,000 metres or less on 35.
In the coldest episode of the 30-year series, on 1 March 2005, the air was so cold that the 0 °C isotherm sat at sea level: in theory it was snowing from the coast upwards.
It is the underlying question in any range with a ski resort, and the series answers it. The mean winter snow level over the Central System went from 1,912 metres in 1995-2004 to 1,955 metres in 2015-2024. That is 43 metres of rise, moderate but sustained.
The month with the lowest level is January. The curve rising towards summer says how long the season really lasts here.
| Mean level (m) | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central System | 1,641 | 1,845 | 2,245 | 2,618 | 3,217 | 3,994 | 4,503 | 4,476 | 3,791 | 3,061 | 2,173 | 1,786 |
The snow level is the height at which the temperature crosses 0 °C. Here it comes from ERA5, the reanalysis produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, downloaded from the Copernicus Climate Data Store under a CC-BY licence: hourly temperature over the Central System between 1995-01-01 and 2024-12-06, 30 complete years, extrapolated with the standard lapse rate of 6.5 °C per kilometre from the height of the model cell, which here is 1,120 metres.
Two caveats worth keeping in mind. The first is that ERA5 smooths the mountain: its cell represents 1,120 metres where the real summit reaches 2,592, so it describes the air mass well but not the specific terrain. The second is that what is computed is the 0 °C isotherm, which is the theoretical ceiling: snow usually starts to settle 200 to 300 metres below it, because the first flakes cool the air as they melt and pull the real level down. For going into the mountains, AEMET’s official forecast always takes precedence.
