Current snow level, 5-day forecast, main peaks and ski resort status in Pyrenees. Highest peak: Aneto (3404 m).
| Peak | Elevation | Lat/Lon | Status vs snow level |
|---|
The Pyrenees form the tallest and snowiest range in Spain, with 18 peaks above 3000 meters. The snow season runs from November to April, peaking in January and February. The typical snow level is 1400 to 1800 m with Atlantic storms, occasionally dropping to 700 m during Siberian outbreaks (recent record: January 2021, 400 m in the Jacetania). Average snowpack at high altitude exceeds 2 m in midwinter, with historical maxima above 6 m on the northern slope. Avalanche risk is high from December to March: the ARAN avalanche bulletin issues the 1-5 index daily, with level 3 (considerable) the most frequent. North and northeast slopes between 30 and 45 degrees are the most dangerous after fresh snowfall with northerly wind. The French side gets more precipitation (foehn effect to the south), but the largest Spanish accumulations occur in Aigues Tortes, Posets-Maladeta and the Navarre Pyrenees. The Aneto (3404 m), Posets (3375 m) and Monte Perdido (3355 m) still preserve residual glaciers in rapid retreat. The mean snow level has risen about 200 m in the last three decades. Ski resorts typically operate December to April: Baqueira-Beret, Formigal, Cerler, Candanchu, Astun, La Molina, Masella, Vall de Nuria, Vallter and Port Aine.
The Pyrenees are the only Spanish range that works as a continuous barrier above 3,000 metres, and that gives them two flanks with different climates. The Atlantic side, in Navarre and the Aran valley, takes northwesterly depressions loaded with moisture and builds deep snowpack; the Mediterranean side, towards the Cerdanya, is drier and colder, with powder that keeps better. The snow level collapses with northerly incursions and jumps with a southerly, which in winter can set it raining at 2,500 metres within hours.
Between December and March the 0 °C isotherm over the Pyrenees sits on average at 1,603 metres. With the summit at 3,404 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 116 days each winter, below 1,500 on about 94, and reaches 1,000 metres or less on 53.
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 Pyrenees went from 1,564 metres in 1995-2004 to 1,713 metres in 2015-2024. The rise is large: 149 metres in thirty years, which in practice means snow that no longer settles where it used to.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pyrenees | 1,425 | 1,522 | 1,915 | 2,313 | 2,928 | 3,572 | 3,899 | 3,867 | 3,338 | 2,856 | 1,947 | 1,542 |
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 Pyrenees 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 1,578 metres.
Two caveats worth keeping in mind. The first is that ERA5 smooths the mountain: its cell represents 1,578 metres where the real summit reaches 3,404, 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.
