The Alps Snow thread Season 2013-14

[Chatel Snow]

I'm posting this weather/snow conditions update for the Savoie region of France for info. I ski every year at a small and friendly resort called Val Cenis. The village is at 1450m and skiing up to 2800m. It's the next valley over from Val D'Isere and from a few miles down the valley you can also get a lift into the 3 Valley's circus. The ski company I go with is run by a Brit who used to teach geography here in Suffolk before setting up his company 21 years ago. Now lives in the resort with his family and his young son trains with the French national ski team (but can't decide which country to ski for if he 'makes it').Interesting that as per our own uncertainty for the upcoming weather next week, the local met office in the Savoie are also struggling with the forecast for beyond Monday 13th Jan. Below, copied from their website:-Thursday January 9th  UNCERTAINThis past week has been exceptionally mild and largely sunny, with very little wind to speak of. The resort was full for New Year and now pistes are almost empty. Combine this with pretty good snow conditions and it’s unsurprising that the atmosphere on the slopes is relaxed and people are enjoying themselves.The snow last weekend has improved off piste conditions considerably and the advanced group has had some adventures in the country, skiing in nice powder at times. Piste skiing has been a real pleasure, with space to cover the full width of slopes, and few skiers to worry about. Again though the mild weather has taken a toll on the south facing side of the valley, and the difference is marked when compared with the snow depth on the north side where our pistes are situated.The forecast is for sunshine to dominate tomorrow and at the weekend, with a gradual fall in temperature. On Monday some snow is expected as a depression moves through the Savoie, but the situation after this is very uncertain as two weather systems are expected to influence our area, but as yet the meteo office in Bourg St Maurice is not clear as to what will happen.What is more certain is that next week should again offer some great skiing on uncrowded slopes, so those arriving on Saturday should be looking forward to plenty of time on the slopes and some tired legs at the end of each day after clocking up plenty of miles!

 

Seconded - big differences between the models for both the Mon/Tues snowfall for the Haute Savioe and for what follows during next week. GFS was very snowy on its 12Z yesterday - but much less so today, whereas ECM and MetO have potential  this morning.

 

Meteo Suisse have upgraded potential snowfall Mon / Tuesday overnight to 20 to 40cm from their raw data (last night was showing 5 to 10cm of snow equivalent precip) and Meteo France updates appear to be good for Mon / Tuesday - so there is the chance of a very useful snowfall.

 

On the mountain, it has been an incredibly mild week, but the snow is holding up remarkably well. On Thursday evening, it was between 8c and 9c on our balcony at bedtime - under cloud cover. Since then, clear skies have led to piste refreezes, despite air temps still generally above 0c.

[J10]

Latest Updates

		    Upper Lower			   Last 7	  Piste      OffResort Name piste piste  Last snowed    days    Quality    Piste    Lifts OpenAlpe d'Huez 200cm  62cm 03 Jan ( 8cm)   34cm     Powder  Limited  55 out of 71Tignes	  130cm  62cm 02 Jan (12cm)   12cm  	 Good   Varied  73 out of 79Wengen	   75cm  25cm 02 Jan ( 5cm)    5cm       Good   Varied  19 out of 19St Moritz   119cm  75cm 02 Jan ( 6cm)    9cm      Fresh   Varied  22 out of 22Mayrhofen    60cm   5cm 29 Dec (15cm)   15cm       Good   Varied  25 out of 25 

Looking at the above quite a mixed week, further snow at all resorts but some mild tempos has meant overall levels remaining about the same and conditions not generally as good as this time last week.

 

I'll start off this weekends round up by looking at Snow Depths at Various Resorts, considering the mild weather this week, snow levels have been retained pretty well.

 

Latest Updates

		    Upper Lower			   Last 7	  Piste      OffResort Name piste piste  Last snowed    days    Quality    Piste    Lifts OpenAlpe d'Huez 190cm  58cm 05 Jan (21cm)   21cm       Good     Soft  59 out of 70Tignes	  140cm  67cm 05 Jan (11cm)   11cm  Excellent     Hard  72 out of 79Wengen	   80cm  20cm 05 Jan ( 5cm)    5cm       Good     Hard  18 out of 19St Moritz   135cm  88cm 02 Jan ( 6cm)    0cm       Good     Good  22 out of 22Mayrhofen    60cm   5cm 10 Jan ( 5cm)   15cm      Fresh    Fresh  25 out of 25 

Edited January 11, 2014 by J10

[johnholmes]

thanks as always Julian for your tireless work in this thread. It really is a super drop in place for folk to get a good idea of what to expect in the near future and conditions as they are 'now' The input from others is also first class and I would ask that anyone that skies does this if they are able. I will certainly try from 20 January for the 12 days I will be out at Wengen.

[J10]

Synoptics

 

GIF showing 850HPA temps and 500HPA Heights From Sat 11 Jan to Fri 17 Jan

 

The Current pattern for the Alps is High Pressure over Europe with a slack NW Flow for the Alps, the current air mass is Tropical maritime, so remaining on the mild side. However turning a bit colder in Eastern parts on Sunday.

 

For the start of next week, turning a little bit more unsettled form the South West, with fronts pushing in from the west, with 850HPa temps hovering around 0c.  

 

A bit of a battleground developing towards the middle/end of next week, with the Atlantic still trying to push in from the west with a Tropical Maritime air mass. High Pressure centred over Scandinavia, trying to edge a colder Polar Continental air mass in from the North East.

 

There is a large amount of uncertainty at the moment, but signs of the weather turning much colder from the East towards next weekend, more especially for Austria and other Eastern parts of the Alps. However being in between the two air masses it is currently looking mostly dry over the Alps for the second half of next week.

 

850HPa Temps
 
Western Alps – French Alps, Switzerland, Western half Italy and Germany Eastern Alps – Austria, Eastern half of Italy and Germany

Saturday        [West] +2c (N) to +5c (S)		[East]  +2c (N) to +5c (S)		Sunday		  [West] +4c to +5c (generally)	[East] -4c (Far NE) to +4c (Far W)	   Monday          [West] +1c (N) to +5c (S)		[East] +1c (N) to +5c (S)		Tuesday         [West] -2c (SW) to +3c (NE)	  [East] +1c to +3c (generally)	   Wednesday	   [West] +1c (N) to +3c (S)		[East] +1c (N) to +3c (S)		Thursday	    [West] +3c to +4c (generally)	[East] -1c (Far NE) to +4c (Far W)	   Friday		  [West] +1c to +3c (generally)	[East] -5c (Far E) to +3c (W) 

Precipitation /Snowfall

 

Light to moderate precipitation for Germany and Northern parts of Austria and Switzerland for a time later Saturday afternoon and into the evening.

 

Frontal Precipitation edging in from the West, Monday afternoon for France, parts of Switzerland and Western Italy late Monday, heavy at times over France. This continuing into the morning for France and Southern Switzerland, lasting  until early evening in Italy before dying out.  There will be some heavy bursts built for France in the morning and into western Italy for the morning and early afternoon.

 

Looking Mostly Dry For the rest of the week.

 

 

The above shows most precipitation is for the start of the week and concentrated in Western areas.

 

Freezing Levels when Snow is forecast

Western Alps – French Alps, Switzerland, Western half Italy and Germany Eastern Alps – Austria, Eastern half of Italy and Germany

Saturday Evening	 [West] 1500m (Central) to 2000m (Far N) [East] 1500m (Central) to 2000m (Far N)Monday Afternoon 	[West] 1200m (SE) to 1800m (W)  [East] not applicable Monday Overnight 	[West] 1200m to 1400m (generally)[East] 1000m-1400m Eastern Italy  Tuesday Afternoon    [West] 1400m (W) to 1800m (E)  [East] 1600m-1800m Eastern Italy 

Summary

 

A mixed summary this week, not as mild as last week, some decent snowfalls to quite low levels for Western areas and into Italy, Monday into Tuesday, and then perhaps turning much cold for the  end of next week.

 

Edited January 12, 2014 by J10

[J10]

There always was uncertainty about the forecast for the end of the upcoming week, however it appears that things have changed again with the colder air originally forecast to move into the Eastern Alps now being kept in Scandinavia.

 

So that Upper air temps In Eastern Europe are currently forecast to be +1 to +4c. However there is a large deal of uncertainty at the moment.

[Paul]

Just put a ski / snowboard blog online - cooler with some snow for the Alps this week and some big dumps in the USA of late.

 

http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=news;storyid=5621;sess=

[J10]

Just put a ski / snowboard blog online - cooler with some snow for the Alps this week and some big dumps in the USA of late.

 

http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=news;storyid=5621;sess=

 

Hi Paul

 

Do you want the forecasts I do to be made blogs again, I'll keep doing them in here in any case.

[alexaris1985]

Happy New Year Guys! Hope you are all well and healthy. First of all, I would like to thank you for the incredible information you deliver above. it is very helpful for all ski and snowboard lovers! I am new to that thread, so I am sure I have a lot of reading to do

 

Now, I need your help on maybe an off-topic subject, but I would appreciate it if you could guide me in the following: I am planning a ski trip early-middle March and I want to be sure that I will not face snow coverage and depth difficulties..Could you recommend me some resorts to look at in French Alps (as they are closer to the UK) or in any other country if you have been and you think its great?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Alex

[Blessed Weather]

Happy New Year Guys! Hope you are all well and healthy. First of all, I would like to thank you for the incredible information you deliver above. it is very helpful for all ski and snowboard lovers! I am new to that thread, so I am sure I have a lot of reading to do

 

Now, I need your help on maybe an off-topic subject, but I would appreciate it if you could guide me in the following: I am planning a ski trip early-middle March and I want to be sure that I will not face snow coverage and depth difficulties..Could you recommend me some resorts to look at in French Alps (as they are closer to the UK) or in any other country if you have been and you think its great?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Alex

Hi Alex,

I too am new to this thread and share your thoughts about the great info posted in here!

I'm a great fan of the skiing to be had in the high French Alps, I just wish the resorts were as pretty as Austria/Switzerland and the French did après-ski as well as the Austrians!  I've got two recommendations for you. I've had great skiing holidays in both Val Thoren and Tignes and both are very high resorts with seasons that last until late April/early May.

 

Val Thoren is France's highest resort at 2,300 metres so should be pretty snow-sure in March. The resort centre is reasonably compact and there are plenty of bars and restaurants. And as part of the 3 Valleys (linked with Courchevel, Meribel and Les Menuires) there is almost limitless skiing to be had. Val Thoren is the only European resort I've been to with NO drag lifts (good for boarders?).

 

Tignes is at 2,100 metres and also has a glacier at 3,100 metres which is accessible by cable car or funicular railway from the resort. Tignes is so confident about its' snow, it stays open into May. There's a high speed chairlift that links Tignes with Val D'Isere, so again you have massive amounts of fantastic skiing. And as Val D'Isere is rather expensive, many people choose to stay in Tignes but enjoy skiing both resorts. Note that Tignes is not quite as compact as Val Thoren, with two separate centres, Le Lac and Val Claret (you can ski between them by day, or use the ski bus shuttle, but they are rather far apart to walk between at night). Plenty of bars and restaurants in either centres though.

Anyway, hope that's enough info to give you a feel for the two resorts. PM me if you wish to discuss further.

[alexaris1985]

Thanks a lot mate! You have given me a good sense of the resorts! I will discuss with my friends and if I need more info I will let you know!!

[Tom Jarvis]

Hi there I'm going to be going to morzine in France on the 2nd of feb. How is the weather looking for that period??

[J10]

Hi there I'm going to be going to morzine in France on the 2nd of feb. How is the weather looking for that period??

 

Here is the current webcam for Morzine.

 

Not looking the most snowy, there was resort snow a few days back but much of this has since thawed

 

 

however, there is snow on the Pleney and quite a bit higher up.

 

Le Gets is looking more snowy, and Avoriaz much more snowy.

 

2 weeks away is a long time, however signs on A North Easterly associated with the Scandi High some time next week, but a lot of uncertainty.

Edited January 16, 2014 by J10

[johnholmes]

not looking good for the 3 races in Wengen Thursday thro' to Sunday, I suspect no problem on Sunday with the slalom when visibility is not the crucial element it is in the combined or the downhill, fairly stron winds as well as cloud and snow predicted for the top on each day. Got to hope for enough gaps to run the first two?

[carinthian]

20cm welcome new snowfall in Wengen.

C

[johnholmes]

yes fingers crossed Paul that the downhill part of the combined can be run this afternoon, they switched it round after the Swiss forecast 36 hours ago, and even more fingers crossed for tomorrow and the Lauberhorn itself. They certainly will not run that if visibility or wind is a major problem. I doubt the Swiss Patrouille have been able to do any practices over the past 4-5 days either. Almost as good as the Red Arrows, and very very impressive when you see it live on a clear day, with their aerobatics between the major 12,000+ peaks in that area.

Huge amounts of money invested by Wengen and surrounding areas in this weekend, some very glum faces if there are serious problems for sure when I get there Monday evening.

the link below shows what it is like alongside the downhill ski hut start-it is much better than earlier this morning so they may get the race in?

http://panocam.panomax.at/lauberhorn

 

If you look at other webcams, the problem looks to be part way down the mountain with low cloud obscuring parts of the mountain.

Edited January 17, 2014 by johnholmes

[carinthian]

yes fingers crossed Paul that the downhill part of the combined can be run this afternoon, they switched it round after the Swiss forecast 36 hours ago, and even more fingers crossed for tomorrow and the Lauberhorn itself. They certainly will not run that if visibility or wind is a major problem. I doubt the Swiss Patrouille have been able to do any practices over the past 4-5 days either. Almost as good as the Red Arrows, and very very impressive when you see it live on a clear day, with their aerobatics between the major 12,000+ peaks in that area.

Huge amounts of money invested by Wengen and surrounding areas in this weekend, some very glum faces if there are serious problems for sure when I get there Monday evening.

the link below shows what it is like alongside the downhill ski hut start-it is much better than earlier this morning so they may get the race in?

http://panocam.panomax.at/lauberhorn

 

If you look at other webcams, the problem looks to be part way down the mountain with low cloud obscuring parts of the mountain.

 

Hi John,

 Always a lot of interest here in the running of the 84th  ? Wengen Lauberhorn. Most of the bars will be packed to watch the main race,weather permitting. Not nice here today, poor visibility and wet snow, but probably not as wet as the Sussex Bog !

A big weekend on the social calendar next weekend for the Kitzbuhel downhill race. A coach load from the village going, looks like a excess of beer is on the menu.

 Enjoy your time in Wengen, looks like getting colder there soon after you arrive. Look forward to any reports you send.

 

Cheers

[johnholmes]

thanks Paul, hope we get some sun as well as I rarely ski unless I can see shadows, I find it hard to pick the surface out. Have agreat time at K, I would imagine its pretty boozy, I only went to Wengen one year to watch the downhill and slalom the following day. The village on the Saturday evening looked like Doncaster town centre-not a pretty sight!

[J10]

This weeks update will be split into 3 parts,

1. The usual cut and paste from Ski Club GB latest round-up

2. Recent Snow Depths

3. Forecast for the week ahead.

 

 

http://www.snow-forecast.com/overviews/tips_full

 

SNOW NEWS UPDATED 16 JANUARY 2014

INTRODUCTION There are great snow conditions across the Alps at the moment after good snowfall this week in France, Switzerland, Italy and Austria.

 

AUSTRIA There are currently excellent conditions at our featured resorts after good snowfall during the middle of this week. Temperatures have dropped after the warm and sunny spring weather of last week. There are brilliant conditions at Obergurgl (75/180cm) after 15cm of fresh snow fell on Wednesday 15th January. When it hasn't been snowing at the resort skiers and snowboarders have experienced perfect, sunny weather, great for enjoying the powder Lech (70/75cm), Zurs (70/75cm) and St Anton (25/95cm) were all hit by between 15cm and 20cm on Wednesday and were treated to clear skies the following day. The most snow this week fell at Pitztal (159/265cm) and Solden (10/223cm) where 35cm and 28cm of powder respectively fell on Wednesday. Resorts in the Ski Welt, including Soll (20/40cm) and Scheffau (20/40cm), have improving conditions following a particularly warm period last week. 10cm of fresh snow topped up the pistes on Wednesday.

 

FRANCE A great week of snow has left many of our featured resorts in great shape, with excellent on-piste skiing and soft powder off piste.Le Toussuire (45/90cm) received the freshest powder this week with 40cm of new snow falling on Monday 13th January. Most other resorts also enjoyed fantastic skiing the following day. Les Gets (35/130cm) was hit by 27cm on Tuesday 14th January and Les Saisies (70/120cm) enjoyed 30cm the same day. There is good skiing to be had in the Three Valleys where Meribel (65/90cm) woke up to 20cm on Tuesday. Val Thorens had similar amounts and also benefited from a top up of 5cm on Wednesday 15th January. Soft powder can still be found in places at Tignes (73/150cm) and Val d'Isere (73/113cm) after both resorts enjoyed 15cm on Tuesday. Fresh snow also fell at some ski areas as late in the week as Thursday 16th January. Orcieres (80/120cm), Pra Loup (35/105cm) and Les Carroz (20/100cm) all had dustings of 5cm in the morning with more in the forecast.

 

SWITZERLAND Heavy snow at our featured resorts on Tuesday 14th January have greatly improved conditions. Andermatt (75/380cm) is still boasting a fantastic snow base for this time of year and received a further 35cm of powder on Tuesday Davos (44/108cm) and Klosters (33/108cm) also enjoyed good snowfall this week. 25cm fell at both resorts overnight on Tuesday making for excellent skiing the following day. The most snow this week fell at Leysin (40/70cm) which was hit by 60cm on Wednesday 15th January. Zermatt (40/185cm) also has brilliant conditions on offer after around 40cm fell during the middle of this week.

 

ITALY Heavy snowfall made for excellent skiing at our featured resorts this week. Passo Tonale (70/420cm) added to their massive snow base when 20cm fell overnight on Tuesday 14th January. Madesimo (290/380cm) and Macugnaga (130/250cm) were both hit by between 40cm and 60cm on the same day. All three resorts enjoyed bright and sunny skiing the following day. Sestriere (90/130cm) and Sauze d'Oulx (90/130cm) have received slightly less snow so far this season but did not miss out this week. Both resorts enjoyed 20cm on Tuesday making for great powder skiing all week. There was also massive snowfall at Bardonecchia (120/170cm) on Thursday 16th January when skiers and snowboarders woke up to 60cm of fresh powder.

 

ANDORRA Conditions are improving at our resorts with another light dusting of snow in Grandvalira and the Vallnord region this week. There was 5cm of new snow on Tuesday 14th January at Pas de la Casa (90/120cm) and Soldeu (90/160cm). The top-up made for good skiing on refreshed, groomed pistes.Pal/Arinsal (90/120cm) and Arcalis (100/180cm) also received a few centimetres of fresh snow on Tuesday and heavy cloud cover over the following two days indicated that more could be on the way.

 

GERMANY Conditions are improving at our featured resorts this week with new snowfall at most ski areas. The best conditions can be found at Garmisch (70/145cm) where 10cm of fresh snow fell overnight on Wednesday 15th January. At high altitudes on the Zugspitze glacier there are particularly good piste conditions.There was also good snowfall elsewhere with 15cm of fresh snow hitting Oberstdorf (30/105cm), Lenggries (20/59cm) and Spitzingsee (50/67cm) on Wednesday.

 

BULGARIA There has been no new snow recently at our featured resorts and conditions are mostly hard-packed. Pamporovo (50/90cm) and Borovets (70/80cm) experienced overcast conditions that restricted visibility on Thursday 16th January Bansko (10/70cm), where the best skiing can be found on the upper slopes, could receive some light snowfall over the weekend.

 

EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK The snow is due to keep on falling next week with consistent cloud cover all week. Alpe d'Huez, Argentiere and La Plagne are all expecting over a half metre. The forecast is looking good in Switzerland as well. Light snow is expected throughout next week with Zermatt anticipating around 70cm Austria is expecting slightly less snow with some clear and sunny days starting off next week. Italy however will continue to receive good snowfall with most of our featured resorts hoping for around a half metre over the next nine days.

Edited January 18, 2014 by J10

[J10]

 

I'll start off this weekends round up by looking at Snow Depths at Various Resorts, considering the mild weather this week, snow levels have been retained pretty well.

 

Latest Updates

		    Upper Lower			   Last 7	  Piste      OffResort Name piste piste  Last snowed    days    Quality    Piste    Lifts OpenAlpe d'Huez 190cm  58cm 05 Jan (21cm)   21cm       Good     Soft  59 out of 70Tignes	  140cm  67cm 05 Jan (11cm)   11cm  Excellent     Hard  72 out of 79Wengen	   80cm  20cm 05 Jan ( 5cm)    5cm       Good     Hard  18 out of 19St Moritz   135cm  88cm 02 Jan ( 6cm)    0cm       Good     Good  22 out of 22Mayrhofen    60cm   5cm 10 Jan ( 5cm)   15cm      Fresh    Fresh  25 out of 25 

 

Latest Snow Depths

			 Upper Lower			   Last 7	  Piste      OffResort Name piste piste  Last snowed    days    Quality    Piste    Lifts OpenAlpe d'Huez 200cm  80cm 17 Jan ( 5cm)   34cm  Excellent   Powder  57 out of 70Tignes	  150cm  73cm 17 Jan (10cm)   40cm  Excellent   Powder  71 out of 79Wengen	  100cm  40cm 17 Jan (15cm)   30cm       Soft   Powder  19 out of 19St Moritz   152cm 122cm 17 Jan ( 6cm)   18cm      Fresh    Fresh  19 out of 22Mayrhofen    60cm   5cm 15 Jan (15cm)   15cm       Good   Varied  25 out of 25

All in all a good week for the Alps generally, especially for the western Alps, and things were a bit better snow wise than my forecast last week.

Edited January 18, 2014 by J10

[J10]

Synoptics

 

Click to Animate 18 Jan - 24 Jan (500 HPa and SLP) and (850 HPA Temps)

 

The big theme of the weather pattern this week is a battleground between a very cold air mass under a Scandinavian High and the Atlantic trying to break it down. The Alps is very much in the middle of these two patterns.

 

Onto Alps detail, rather mild SE winds with nearby low pressure, so some snowfall moreso in southern areas and over higher slopes . The low pressure lingering into tomorrow, so staying rather mild even though the SE flow is cut-off, with further snowfall possible at times over higher slopes.

 

Into Next Week, remaining rather unsettled but with winds veering to a Northerly /North Easterly turning colder ( bit not bitterly cold), so further snowfalls likely.

Towards the end of the week, remaining unsettled with winds veering more to a North Westerly direction. Further Snowfalls are possible to quite low resorts.

 

850HPa Temps
 
Western Alps – French Alps, Switzerland, Western half Italy and Germany Eastern Alps – Austria, Eastern half of Italy and Germany

Saturday        [West] +1c  (S) to +5c (N)	   [East] +3c  (S) to +5c (N)		Sunday		  [West] +2c  (S) to +6c (N)	   [East] +3c  (S) to +6c (N)		 Monday          [West]  0c (NW) to +3c (SE)	  [East] +1c (NW) to +3c (SE)		Tuesday         [West] -3c (NW) to +1c (SE)	  [East] -1c (NW) to +1c (SE)	  Wednesday	   [West] -2c (NE) to +1c (S)	   [East] -4c (NE) to -1c (S)	  Thursday	    [West] -1c to 0c (generally)	 [East] -4c  (N) to -1c (SW)	  Friday		  [West] -4c (NW) to -2c (SW)	  [East] -4c (NE) to -1c (SW)	  

So quite mild to start, turning cold widely over the Alps into next week.

 

Precipitation / Snowfalls

 

 

Further appreciable snowfalls seem possible over the Alps in the coming week, more especially in Western Alps, but all parts likely to see snow.

 

Snowfall Summaries -

 

Saturday into Sunday - Heavy precipitation over Italy fringing Southern parts of Austria and Switzerland at times. Drier elsewhere

Monday - Showers quite extensive over the Alps, heavy at times

Tuesday - Showers over the Alps, less extensive than Monday, and perhaps drying up later.

Wednesday - looking mostly Dry

Thursday and Friday- Fronts trying to edge in from the west, perhaps moderate precipitation at times

 

Freezing Levels when Snow is forecast

 

Western Alps – French Alps, Switzerland, Western half Italy and Germany Eastern Alps – Austria, Eastern half of Italy and Germany

Saturday /Sunday [Italy, S Austria, S Switzerland 1800m to 2000m (daytime), 1400-1600m (overnight)Monday Afternoon [West]  1200m (NW) to 1800m (SE)  [East] 1400m (NW) to 1900m (SE) Monday Overnight [West]   600m (NW) to 1000m (SE)  [East]  900m (NW) to 1600m (SE) Tuesday Afternoon[West]   700m (NW) to 1400m (SE)  [East]  900m  (N) to 1500m (SE) Thur / Fri After [West]   900m (NW) to 1400m (SE)  [East]  900m (NE) to 1400m (SW) Friday Morning   [West]   200m  to 600m (general)  [East]  200m  to 600m (generally) 

Summary

 

So in summary, after a mild weekend, with some heavy snow over Higher Italian slopes, turning colder generally over the Alps, with further outbreaks of snow to quite low levels, more especially for northern and western areas although most areas seeing some snowfalls.

 

Edited January 18, 2014 by J10

[J10]

The Wengen downhill went ahead yesterday albeit form a lower start gate than usual.

[johnholmes]

yes, I am still puzzling over just where it did start from, forget the place quoted but it did not ring any bells with me. I will find out tomorrow when I get to the village and ask the owners of the Alpenrose where it is?

The slalom is going ahead, see link below

http://www.lauberhorn.ch/en/Livecam

 

quite a small crowd compared to many years, and certainly the year I watched it, in the days of Baxter!. No doubt the dodgy weather is largely to blame, clear skies brings in the huge crowds although the aftermath on the main street on the link below suggests there were still a lot of folk yesterday even though the weather, windy at the top, with lots of cloud milling around over the course.

https://twitter.com/wengenCOM

Edited January 19, 2014 by johnholmes

[minus 9]

Just got back from tignes yesterday. Great conditions on and off piste.last week they had 20cm on tuesday and 15cm on friday morning. I now this because I measured it my self at village level. Much more higher up off piste. A lot more than some other measurements suggest. What a cracking ski area.

[-uksnow-]

Thought I'd mention I'm doing a season in Kitzbuhel this winter, snow up until now has been shoddy to say the least! Had around 20cm+ up top today and still snowing with the snow line finally moving down to the village in the last couple of hours, slushy covering of around a centimetre. Good dumping expected on Friday, will also post pictures of the hanenkahm I took tonight, tomorrow!

[johnholmes]

report from Wengen

yipee today=no wind, cloudless skies and perfect snow, yesterday was like a bad day in Doncaster, mist and fog tempo wet snow, about 2cm.

not that good looking with more snow and poor visibilities, bit colder too, 10 to 15cm from village levl upwards, lots of work ongoing taking down all the stuff for spectators for the 3 races last week and weekend.

managed to get a couple of 500mb anomaly charts so little comfort in the model thread it would seem with no marked change being predicted in the next 6 to 15 days, not sure about putting that in the model thread

 

tara