carinthian

Stop there at 168t . GFS similar to earlier extended UKMO Atlantic charts . Atlantic really struggling against the block. Surface wind flow should start to back across much of England and Wales. We need to still see heights falling over Biscay and recent runs still continue to show that. C

Daughter just sent this picture . Northern Sweden. C

Sounds depressing. What a waste of long dark nights! Sludge pump Christmas. Think the German markets that festoon inn cities must just want to pack up and return to the Rhineland and hoar frost awaits. Numerous ice days so far in central and southern Germany. Makes me sad that you lot have to endure those horrible mucky mild days. The promise of cold that never comes and when it does, just a token wimp of an effort. Come on Santa,deliver a real Christmas,deep snow, cruel frosts, its not a lot to wish for is it? From C sat under Euro_high, feeling fed up,at least the sun is shining and frost at night.

Morgen,another cloudless day. Mild in the sunshine after overnight light frost here at altitude, current temp +7c at 1650m asl. 20 min drive down into the valley, freezing fog and -7c. Still no sign of snowfall, runs open but limited to main pistes. C

Yes , a glimmer of hope there. The latest extended N Atlantic charts from UKMO out to 168t, does show the deep Atlantic low starting to spin back NW and the pressure gradient towards Biscay has hallmarks towards some form of trough distruption on the advancing front associated with the Atlantic Low. Still the flow is of a maritime nature for the North and West of the British, but the SE/E could start to see a colder continental feed as the wind flow backs. Not over yet. C

Just an up date from the post this time yesterday. Now at the critical time 240t the GFS charts are the best route to cold. Remember it beat all the other models at this time span in recently sinking the UK high into Central Europe, now it has shown consistency in relocating the high centre again back with retrogression shown in its out puts in F1. Cross Polar high pressure link from Siberia to Western Canada is still shown post 240h. Eventually a fall in heights in Euroland will follow and then we will be in true -AO charts. I much prefer the GFS charts en- route to proper cold as opposed to this mornings ECM. The extended UKMO Atlantic charts out to 168h , possibly going with ECM but not sure how this will pan out. We do not want Atlantic zonal flow to take charge, so I am happy with the American models this morning. C

Hi there, you must be a early bird. Temperature profile around that period would suggest freezing level around 2000m , so you should be ok in Val Thorens with some good glacier ski-ing under deep blue skies I would think . Not the best prospects for snowfall but you probably picked one of the most snow sure resort in the Alps at this time of year. Not sure what the state of the piste will be on the runs to the lower resorts. Have a great time and let us know how it went, at least the beer will taste good in the sunshine 1 C

Yes booferking, best retrogressive SW then link as you say with the Mid Atlantic Ridge, this would allow the important fall in heights over Europe and the flood gates for an increasingly cold Arctic airmass. We need to start for looking towards important changes at 240 hours from today. I am more up beat about developments today looking at the NH upper flow pattern and can see us into _AO territory in the week prior to Christmas. That will cheer a few up on here! C C

Funny how the latest run from GFS fires up the zonal train at 240 hours and then drops it 36 hour later ( as shown on this picture ) All very uncertain. C

The piste boys already to go. We need more snow , sooner than later. Nice that it is in the sunshine of Euro high, freezing at night, I would wish it go elsewhere ! C

Hard frost last night. Now the sun rising, a super day with deep blue sky and feeling warm. We need more snow though ! C

Morning this bigger picture of the 500mb flow from UKMO at 144 hours is not bad. Note the cross Polar high pressure link from Siberia to Western Canada with a extensive -AO flow ( east to west/north to south ) with little zonal flow across the Atlantic. Looks like a split in the Polar Vortex , one in the NE Canada but the main one resident in Northern Russia. So height rises again on the cards to dominate much of Europe in 6 days time, signs of heights start to fall in the South Med. If that comes off we could get the Atlantic trough to dig SE wards and then bingo retrogression of the Euro high can take place. Keep the faith, we will get there . Its very much a different pattern to last years Zonal train. C

Yes Nick, I think you are right. A glimmer of hope there on the UKMO 144t chart. Clearly picks up a trough formation over Southern Scandinvia and its alignment would under cut the developing high further to the north. All about getting the jig saw pieces in the right place. We need to see that high over Southern England now sink quickly. Lets see what the ECM chart shows . C

First snow of the winter in Kitslano on Pacific coast near Vancouver. Grand daughters first taste of the stuff. I think she will love it . C

I hope so Bryan. If ECM is to be correct, sends a polar trough into the Eastern Alps. Forecast 10 to 15 cm of fresh snow . However confidence level is only 30% from the Portal Service. Higher pressure value quickly to take over again but its worth watching for more runs later today if it still goes along with this prog from ECM. c

(Euro slug right on top of my head for the next 15 days ( Austria ) Wow cannot wait. Feel depressed looking at that chart. No winter wonderland again for the Christmas Markets apart from a bit of frost, probably cold enough to save the Chocolate Santas from dripping, unlike last run up to Christmas. Worried again about lack of snow for our village . Looks like the 3 year snow barren continues across much of Southern Britain ( at least you have seen more frost s so far this season ) probabaly more than the last 2 winters combined . It makes me sad. I think light relief in the pub beckons later on. Enjoy your last day of frost for a wee while ! C

This taken yesterday. First runs of the season. Empty slopes, sunshine, frosty pint of beer, nothing better. The main runs complete but topped with man made snow, so not the best of conditions. Looks le a 10 day snow drought over here so could get worn by next weekend. Hopefully we will see off this Euro High the week after ? C

Hi, no I am now semi retired. Yes , very lucky to have the opportunity to live in such a wonderful part of the world. It certainly feeds my obsession with all things mountain, especially snow, ski-ing, the local pubs. I love the continental climate over here, the summers can get very warm but at altitude rarely gets above 21c but 15 min drive down to the valley often touches 32 c plus. I have a ski pass that covers many resorts nearby , so plenty of nice ski-ing to be had, but I am happiest on the runs around the village. Fiss , is I think the better of the villages especially not having to use the under ground train into Serfaus. It has some nice ski -in/out small hotels. Enjoy your holiday and send some reports and pictures, many on here love to read and view. C

The models today have made me feel very uneasy. Euro high slap bang over the Eastern Alps for the next 10 days. Think I will cancel our snow portal service for this time span. Shame about the UK cold to fade away this week, slowly then with s renewed flood of Tm airmass by Thursday with temps progged for 16c for Eastern Parts. At least not the volume of rain as was the case this time last year for you lot. Fingers crossed for a return to more seasonal winter charts in two weeks time. Sometimes reading the charts leaves you with gut wrenching feeling and this latest run is one of them! C

Probably not a bad thing to do Legritter. I moved to the Alps just over 10 years ago to feed my snow obsession. Even now I still look for snow charts and the next week or so does not hold for good news under middle of that high. Remember there is always the pub to find sanctuary in and forget about charts, but we are in the snow business and that's not easy to manage when there is not much to work with. Thank god for snow cannons. C

Not the picture I was hoping for this morning, especially after yesterday UKMO runs. Here the latest ECM at 168h shows a similar picture as the extended UKMO for the same time. On the face of it appears to sink the high into the WWcontinent and throw out a strong ridge way out into SW Europe. So a snow starved first week of winter for much of Western/ Central Europe/UK, staying dry and mostly cold for many. On the bright side no sign of zonal train and the warm advection flow in the Eastern Atlantic should maintain heights around the British Isles and who knows a relocation to a more favourable position to advect colder temperatures can still easily occur. C

You will be fine. The runs start at 1400m and many top the 2500m level. So I would rank a high level resort. What impressed me was how well groomed the runs were. Enjoyable cruise ski-ing and well connected lift system. Also some nice bars and eateries in the main village. As I live in the ski resort of Katschberg, most of my ski -ing is on the door step, but I will be taking a week away to Gargellen in the Montafon region and do some off piste ski -ing into Kloster over the Madrisa Mountain into Switzerland, that's weather permitting. Also a few days back to Alpbach with my wife. What date are you going out ? and where are you staying ? C C

Further on from my post yesterday , the latest UKMO at 144 hours strengthens the UK high and if anything extends its influence further NE ( not a full retro but a better alignment ). So no sinking on this latest run, however we await the extended charts and watch how ECM performs tonight. This evenings GFS run is no good for maintaining UK cold. We need the high to hold and stay put or retrogress.. Also note the lower pressure values starting to show up over Europe induced by the Iberian Low , this will start to put a squeeze on the continental isobar flow. The recent runs of the American Models continue to discount any fall of pressure over the continent and have the high pressure sinking SE to allowing a quicker return to a milder flow. I am encouraged by this latest UKMO run, see if ECM starts backing it. GFS is horrible for a cold outlook.

Super ski ing there. Made my first visit last year. A real gem not really open to the British market but worth the effort to get there. Ranks as one of my favourite medium size ski resorts along with Lake Louise and Obertauren. Really was a nice surprise. Hope the snow is good when you visit. C

Morning from Austria, Minus 14 c on the Katschberg with snow cannons in full blast. C