Current snow level, 5-day forecast, main peaks and ski resort status in Sierra de Aitana. Highest peak: Aitana (1558 m).
| Peak | Elevation | Lat/Lon | Status vs snow level |
|---|
Sierra de Aitana is the highest peak in Alicante province (1558 m) and the main coastal Mediterranean mountain in the southeast peninsula. The snow season is very short and limited to exceptional events: November cold drops with cold upper air, or January-February Siberian outbreaks reaching the coast. Typical snow level is high (1100-1400 m) due to maritime influence, but a recent record: February 2018, 600 m in Sierra de Mariola with cold easterly winds. Maximum depth on Aitana rarely exceeds 30 cm, with a historical record of around 70 cm in January 1985. There are no active ski resorts; a small lift-less facility existed in the 1960s. Avalanche risk is practically zero given low accumulations. Aitana is a notable viewpoint over the Mediterranean: on clear days it sees from Ibiza to Sierra de Mariola and Penyagolosa. It is protected habitat for the Bonelli eagle, hazel grouse and Mediterranean ibex. The Aitana Air Force radar on the summit limits access to the highest peak. The range is part of the namesake Natural Park and the Natura 2000 network.
Aitana, at 1,558 metres, is the highest point in the province of Alicante and one of the very few mountains on the Mediterranean side of Spain that sees snow with any regularity. It needs a very specific set-up: cold air aloft and a Mediterranean depression coming in from the east. When the two coincide, it snows at surprisingly low levels for where it stands.
Between December and March the 0 °C isotherm over the Sierra de Aitana sits on average at 2,055 metres. With the summit at 1,558 metres, snow can fall on the summit on about 65 days of each winter. Further down things change fast: the level drops below 2,000 metres on about 106 days each winter, below 1,500 on about 59, and reaches 1,000 metres or less on 17.
In the coldest episode of the 30-year series, on 29 January 2006, 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 Sierra de Aitana went from 2,062 metres in 1995-2004 to 2,148 metres in 2015-2024. That is 86 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra de Aitana | 1,892 | 1,998 | 2,306 | 2,629 | 3,142 | 3,815 | 4,256 | 4,274 | 3,764 | 3,211 | 2,449 | 2,018 |
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 Sierra de Aitana 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 422 metres.
Two caveats worth keeping in mind. The first is that ERA5 smooths the mountain: its cell represents 422 metres where the real summit reaches 1,558, 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.
