The Alps Snow thread Season 2013-14

[carinthian]

 

Snowfall arrived on time. Predictions of 70cm fresh snow for today making 350cm depth on the berg.

C

[J10]

Seeing as Paul has already done an excellent blog for the week ahead, there seems little point in repeating the exercise.

 

However I will post the usual snow depths and post a few webcams to show the snow fallen over the past 48 hours or so.

[J10]

Forgot about this last week

Latest Snow Depths update		    Upper Lower			   Last 7	  Piste        OffResort Name piste piste  Last snowed    days    Quality      Piste   Lifts OpenAlpe d'Huez 230cm 119cm 05 Mar (15cm)   0cm   Excellent    Tracked 69 out of 70Tignes	  220cm 114cm 04 Mar (20cm)   0cm        Good     Varied 78 out of 79Wengen	  130cm  30cm 04 Mar (05cm)   0cm   Spring Sn    Limited 18 out of 19St Moritz   186cm 125cm 03 Mar (02cm)   0cm        Good      Heavy 22 out of 22Mayrhofen    55cm   0cm 04 Mar (05cm)   0cm        Good  Spring Sn 24 out of 25Cervinia    330cm  80cm 04 Mar (25cm)   0cm   Excellent       Crud 14 out of 14

Given the lack of snow this week, conditions have taken a bit of a downturn.

Latest Snow Depths update		    Upper Lower			   Last 7	  Piste     OffResort Name piste piste  Last snowed    days Quality       Piste   Lifts OpenAlpe d'Huez 210cm 100cm 05 Mar (15cm)   0cm  Excellent   Limited 61 out of 70Tignes	  200cm  98cm 22 Mar  (5cm)   5cm  Good        Limited 77 out of 79Wengen	  110cm  10cm 22 Mar (02cm)   2cm  Good        Limited 18 out of 19St Moritz   174cm  86cm 03 Mar (02cm)   0cm  Good         Varied 22 out of 22Mayrhofen    49cm   0cm 04 Mar (05cm)   0cm  Spring Sn Spring Sn 24 out of 25Cervinia    310cm  60cm 22 Mar (15cm)  15cm  Powder        Fresh 14 out of 14

The past week or so has seen good weather for skiing with warm sunshine, but not so good for long term snow base.

 

As forecast, this has turned about a bit with some fresh snow over a number of resorts over the past 48 hrs.

 

Further Snow can be expected as per the NAE charts,

 

[GIF  - Click to Animate From Sunday 12 noon to Monday 6pm ]

 

 

To finalise my update this week - a few webcams to show the fresh snow .

 

Tignes

 

Wengen

 

Alpe D Heuz

Edited March 23, 2014 by J10

[Blessed Weather]

 

The past week or so has seen good weather for skiing with warm sunshine, but not so good for long term snow base.

 

As forecast, this has turned about a bit with some fresh snow over a number of resorts over the past 48 hrs.

 

Further Snow can be expected.....

 

Good to see this weeks colder, snowy spell in the Alps. It's come at just the right time to allow the resorts to repair pistes and top-up their snow stock-piles to get them through to Easter. In fairness, the models, particularly GFS, have been forecasting a cold spell for around the 22nd for some time - and for once the FI forecasts appear to have verified.

 

What was fascinating to watch in Val Cenis was how the pisteurs had built up massive piles of snow around the mountain during the good times (usually under a snow cannon) and then, as required, pushed the stock-pile around the piste to repair thin/muddy areas, thus maintaining the piste in good condition.

 

By the way, can anyone tell me what's happened to the "like" button? And what are the new "reputation" and "vote post up" buttons for. Thanks.

[carinthian]

 

70cm fall of fresh powder snow. Just amazing conditions, temp -3C in village, much lower on berg.

350cm of snow depth at 2200m, 200cm in village.

c

[johnholmes]

1621924_10152365367493628_826506873_n.jpg

 

70cm fall of fresh powder snow. Just amazing conditions, temp -3C in village, much lower on berg.

350cm of snow depth at 2200m, 200cm in village.

c

 

 

wonderful, a song springs to mind for those lucky enough to be in the Alps at the moment

'Im in heaven ..........'

I often hum that to myself on one particular run dowm from Kleinne Scheidegg through the trees.

[carinthian]

wonderful, a song springs to mind for those lucky enough to be in the Alps at the moment

'Im in heaven ..........'

I often hum that to myself on one particular run dowm from Kleinne Scheidegg through the trees.

Yes John, just one of those days you dream about. Powder snow, snow flurries and wispy sunshine. Very quiet today on the runs, no speedies to contend with and as you say its heaven through the trees..

Cheers, you will have to come out here one day.

[johnholmes]

Yes John, just one of those days you dream about. Powder snow, snow flurries and wispy sunshine. Very quiet today on the runs, no speedies to contend with and as you say its heaven through the trees..

Cheers, you will have to come out here one day.

 

would love to but Wengen first so have to see if enough pennies left after that?

[J10]

Good to see this weeks colder, snowy spell in the Alps. It's come at just the right time to allow the resorts to repair pistes and top-up their snow stock-piles to get them through to Easter. In fairness, the models, particularly GFS, have been forecasting a cold spell for around the 22nd for some time - and for once the FI forecasts appear to have verified.

 

What was fascinating to watch in Val Cenis was how the pisteurs had built up massive piles of snow around the mountain during the good times (usually under a snow cannon) and then, as required, pushed the stock-pile around the piste to repair thin/muddy areas, thus maintaining the piste in good condition.

 

By the way, can anyone tell me what's happened to the "like" button? And what are the new "reputation" and "vote post up" buttons for. Thanks.

 

the reputation button is in effect the new like button.

[Blessed Weather]

the reputation button is in effect the new like button.

Many thanks J10. I understand. So when you hit the "vote post up" button it gives the poster a count of one on their "reputation" score. Must be software from the good old US of America!! I think the "Like" button was better - did what it said on the tin! And you could see who liked a post. Anyway, cheers for replying.

[Blessed Weather]

A mild week coming up for the Alps. The first half of the week will be sunny with day time highs easily reaching +12c to +14c in many resorts, max's peaking mid-week. But at least overnight lows will drop to 0c or below at the start of the week, allowing runs to be pisted and freeze overnight, so enjoyable skiing to be had in the mornings. However, from mid-week the weather looks set to turn more unsettled with showers or patchy outbreaks of rain possible at resort level. Whilst day-time highs will drop to single figures, this unsettled weather may unfortunately stop overnight lows from dropping below freezing. Not such good news for maintaining lower pistes.

But as other posters have reported, there's great snow depths in many resorts, so if you are heading off to the mountains in the closing weeks of the season, all is far from lost!

 

Tonight's ECM 850 Hpa chart for mid-week shows the +10c isotherm widely across the Alps.

 

Edited March 29, 2014 by Blessed Weather

[J10]

A bit late to do a  full forecast this weekend. However in many ways not a particularly difficult week to forecast.

 

This is often a trade off between Alps weather which is good in the short term skiing, warm and sunny and long term snow conditions with cold and snowy. This week has no such issues as Blessed Weather above points out it is set to be a very mild week across the Alps, with some sunny spells in between afternoon showers. .

 

 

Winds generally from the South West to South, mild to start turning very mild for a time midweek, before reverting back to just mild by the weekend.

 

In terms of precipitation, dry to start, but some moderate to heavy afternoon showers developing by midweek, with no dominant weather pattern type in charge.

However towards the weekend, low pressure edges in with more general frontal precipitation from the west.

 

 

This shows the scatter gun approach of the showers, however showers are likely to be less defined in location as suggested above.

 

In terms of freezing levels, there is very little variation this week, generally maxing at around 2500m across the Alps, to start the week, freezing levels dropping rapidly across the  Alps, less so towards the weekend, with freezing levels remaining above 2000m.

 

So if you are on the slopes this week, the best conditions in the morning, and take your sun cream, and while it may not be wall to wall sunshine , it should still come in handy

 

Latest Snow Depths update		    Upper Lower			   Last 7	  Piste     OffResort Name piste piste  Last snowed    days Quality       Piste   Lifts OpenAlpe d'Huez 210cm 100cm 05 Mar (15cm)   0cm  Excellent   Limited 61 out of 70Tignes	  200cm  98cm 22 Mar  (5cm)   5cm  Good        Limited 77 out of 79Wengen	  110cm  10cm 22 Mar (02cm)   2cm  Good        Limited 18 out of 19St Moritz   174cm  86cm 03 Mar (02cm)   0cm  Good         Varied 22 out of 22Mayrhofen    49cm   0cm 04 Mar (05cm)   0cm  Spring Sn Spring Sn 24 out of 25Cervinia    310cm  60cm 22 Mar (15cm)  15cm  Powder        Fresh 14 out of 14

Latest Snow Depths update		    Upper Lower			   Last 7	  Piste     OffResort Name piste piste  Last snowed    days Quality    Piste   Lifts OpenAlpe d'Huez 210cm 100cm 26 Mar (02cm)  17cm  Excellent Spring Sn 28 out of 32Tignes	  220cm  93cm 25 Mar (05cm)  15cm  Excellent    Varied 78 out of 79Wengen	  120cm   0cm 24 Mar (25cm)  25cm     Packed     Crust 18 out of 19St Moritz   205cm 110cm 24 Mar (28cm)  28cm  Excellent    Varied 21 out of 22Mayrhofen    50cm   0cm 24 Mar (20cm)  20cm       Good Spring Sn 24 out of 25Cervinia    320cm  60cm 27 Mar (15cm)  25cm  Excellent    Varied 14 out of 14 

Edited March 30, 2014 by J10

[Blessed Weather]

With pollution and Sahara dust making the headlines this week, I was wondering if any other visitors to the Alps this last month have noticed any discolouration of the snow? When I was in Val Cenis (Savoie, France) in mid-March it was very noticeable, with a severe discolouration making the snow look a browny, pink colour. This was very noticeable from high chair lifts or telecabins as the pistes were white due to pisting effectively churning up the snow, whilst surrounding mountain side was coloured.

In 45 years of skiing I've not seen anything like it before.

I found the following research that suggests the effect of this is a faster snow melt as the particles absorb heat from the sun. (Open in a new tab or the link will take you away from NW website - sorry, using iPad and can't see option for link to open new page).

http://ncar.ucar.edu/press/behind-the-scenes-pollution-speeds-up-snow-melt-in-europe-asia

[Blessed Weather]

The mild weather in the Alps is starting to take its toll. After the last week of double digit temperatures for most resorts the coming week looks equally as mild. Snow is disappearing fast on lower slopes and some resorts will now struggle to stay open. Indeed, some lower resorts have now closed for the season. Higher resorts still have an abundance of depth on their upper slopes, so good skiing still to be enjoyed at resorts such as Tignes, Val Thorens and Obergurgl.

 

So a mixed picture for people heading to the Alps for Easter - hopefully you've booked a high altitude resort!

 

Below, tonight's ECM 850 Hpa chart for next Tues showing the +10c isotherm covering the Alps (which will probably be the warmest day of the week, but unfortunately no cold air to reverse the thaw expected all week).

 

Edited April 4, 2014 by Blessed Weather

[J10]

In summary, despite the warm sunny weather, some good conditions  available, although spring snow conditionsin many places for the afternoon, however at many resorts there remains ample snow cover.

 

 

Courtesy of SKi CLub GB and http://www.snow-forecast.com/overviews/tips_full

 

SNOW NEWS UPDATED 3 APRIL 2014

INTRODUCTION It has-been a hot and sunny week in the Alps, with high temperatures but excellent spring snow on offer in France, Switzerland, Italy and Austria. However some light fresh snow is expected at higher altitudes over the weekend, which will freshen things up a bit.

 

AUSTRIA Spring conditions continue to dominate across the open resorts, with clouds building on Thursday 3rd April. The forecast is for further cloudy weather as we head into next week, with a change of snow, sleet and rain. The skiing is still generally very good at the open resorts, and typically spring like as you would expect in April. The deepest base depths exist at the higher areas, and especially at the ski areas with a glacier such as Hintertux (30/400cm), Kaunertal (317/355cm), Neustift (35/350cm), Pitztal (263/315cm) and Solden (0/283cm).A number of resorts are now closed for the season including The SkiWelt resorts, St Wolfgang, Seefeld, St Johann in Tirol, Loferer Alm, Filzmoos and Bad Kleinkirchheim. Wildshconau and Waidring are scheduled to close this coming weekend.

 

FRANCE Excellent spring riding conditions can still be enjoyed, and with clouds building on Thursday 3rd April fresh snow could fall over the coming days, especially on the higher slopes.Fresh snowfall was reported on Thursday at Cauterets (330/430cm) and Bareges/La Mongie (140/320cm) in the Pyrenees, adding a light dusting to the slopes. The fresh snow was a nice addition for skiers at Cauterets as the resort was open following the temporary closure of lift on Wednesday due to strong winds. It was raining down on the town at Cauterets on Thursday though Notre Dame de Bellecombe (50/155cm) has patchy snow cover on the lower runs and the resort will close for the season on Sunday 6th April.

 

SWITZERLAND It was a very settled week in Switzerland with very little change to report since the last update. Excellent spring skiing was enjoyed at many resorts, especially those with higher slopes like Saas Fee (68/340cm). The Ski Club leader based there said the upper slopes are in excellent conditions. Light snow is expected at some high resorts in the country on Friday 4th March but it will fall as rain below around 2300m. Next week is expected to be warmer still with freezing levels rising up to 3400m in many areas and temperatures in double figures on the slopes.

 

ITALY Spring weather continues in Italy with excellent conditions on offer at most resorts. The lower slopes are all soft or slushy in the afternoon. Cervinia (50/300cm) has great snow on its higher slopes. The sun softens them after they've frozen overnight, making for excellent skiing. All the links over into Zermatt were open on Thursday 3rd April. Places like Cortina (80/200cm) have lots of snow and the whole ski area it is part of is open with fantastic skiing on offer. Most lower and south facing runs have slushy snow from the word go but this is to be expected as we're almost in April and this snow is still lots of fun to ski.

 

GERMANY It's been a very warm week in Germany and this has taken its toll on the snow conditions and skiing available. Feldberg (4/12cm) has very little snow left but they still managed to run four of their 35 lifts on Thursday. It could be that, given the forecast, they close for the season very soon. Higher resorts are better though and Garmisch (120/270cm) has an excellent snow base, especially higher up. The Zugspitze Glacier had all of its lifts running on Thursday 3rd April and is definitely the pick of the German resorts if you prefer your snow more wintry.

 

BULGARIA This is the final week of skiing at Bansko (0/130cm) for this season, and you cannot ski back to the town due to the absence of snow on the lower half of the mountain. There is still top to bottom cover at Borovets (30/120cm) and Pamporovo (35/60cm).

 

EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK The warm weather this week is set to stay for the weekend and into next week, where it could get even warmer still. However there could be some fresh snow for high altitude resorts in Switzerland and northern France on Friday 4th April. It won't amount to much and will only fall above around 2500m but it will nicely refresh any slopes above that. Anywhere beneath approximately 2500m is likely to receive light rain, which isn't uncommon for the time of year. Next week is likely to be sunnier and the temperature is also expected to rise further. The freezing level will rise to 3400m in most of France and Switzerland, giving double figure temperatures in most resorts.

Edited April 5, 2014 by J10

[J10]

 

So if you are on the slopes this week, the best conditions in the morning, and take your sun cream, and while it may not be wall to wall sunshine , it should still come in handy

Latest Snow Depths update		    Upper Lower			   Last 7	  Piste     OffResort Name piste piste  Last snowed    days Quality    Piste   Lifts OpenAlpe d'Huez 210cm 100cm 26 Mar (02cm)  17cm  Excellent Spring Sn 28 out of 32Tignes	  220cm  93cm 25 Mar (05cm)  15cm  Excellent    Varied 78 out of 79Wengen	  120cm   0cm 24 Mar (25cm)  25cm     Packed     Crust 18 out of 19St Moritz   205cm 110cm 24 Mar (28cm)  28cm  Excellent    Varied 21 out of 22Mayrhofen    50cm   0cm 24 Mar (20cm)  20cm       Good Spring Sn 24 out of 25Cervinia    320cm  60cm 27 Mar (15cm)  25cm  Excellent    Varied 14 out of 14

Latest Snow Conditions for this ski season.

		    Upper Lower			   Last 7   Piste  	 OffResort Name piste piste  Last snowed   days   Quality     Piste   Lifts OpenAlpe d'Huez 200cm  95cm 26 Mar (02cm)   0cm  Excellent   Limited 27 out of 32Tignes	  200cm  85cm 25 Mar (05cm)   0cm  	 Good    Varied 78 out of 79Wengen	  110cm   0cm 24 Mar (25cm)   0cm 	  Soft      Crud 17 out of 19St Moritz   192cm  78cm 24 Mar (28cm)   0cm  	 Good    Varied 20 out of 22Mayrhofen    40cm   0cm 24 Mar (20cm)   0cm  Spring Sn Spring Sn 24 out of 25Cervinia    310cm  50cm 04 Apr (01cm)   1cm  	 Good    Varied 14 out of 14 

With the milder weather recently and the general lack of fresh snowfall, snow depths have reduced lately, but not that as much as feared. However in most cases, there is still plenty of snow and also in pretty good condition.

So there is still some very good skiing to be had with the mild sunny weather, especially in the morning, as many slopes are showing spring snow conditions into the afternoon. 

 

All in all, for the time of year, we are in pretty good condition, and most resorts seem set to run until their allotted closing weekend.

Edited April 6, 2014 by J10

[J10]

A look ahead to next weeks weather. Obviously we are now in April, and conditions this week are very much spring like, or at least to start as this are signs of colder weather from the North West  trying to edge from midweek onwards.

 

 

850 HPa Temps

 

Sunday +7c (North) to +9c (South)

Monday +9c (East) to +13c (West / Central)

Tuesday +3c (North West) to +12c (South East)

Wednesday +1c (North East) to +10c (South West)

Thursday +7c (Outer Alps) to +13c (Austria / Switzerland border)

Friday +3c (North West) to +11c (South East)

 

So very mild at times, but cooler as fronts from the North West edge in.

 

Precipitation

 

Quite a lot of precipitation possible this week. (T+144 to am Saturday)

 

 

However much of this Friday / Saturday, as the following charts shows the precipitation until 6am Friday (T+120) and not near as much precipitation as the above chart.

 

 

Sunday - showers mostly in Austria, Freezing Level 2400-2500m.

Monday - mostly dry

Tuesday - Frontal Precipitation from the North west, pushing South East quite quickly, possible 10-15mm of precipitation though, Freezing Level 2400m-2600 front edge of front 2000m to follow.

Wednesday - dry after any remaining  precipitation from the fronts clear SE areas..

Thursday - Mostly Dry

Friday - Frontal Precipitation from the North west, pushing South East but tending to linger over Austria and Switzerland,  Freezing Level 2400m-2600 front edge of front 1400-1800m to follow.

 

Summary

 

Mild to start this week, with a good deal of dry and at times sunny weather, from around Tuesday Fronts will push in from the North West, brining brief incursions of colder weather with the risk of some snow mostly above 2000m. Towards the weekend, further incursion of colder weather from the North west, with perhaps an increased risk of snow down to slightly lower levels, however as ever with this type of weather how far south these incursions get is always uncertain this far our.

Edited April 6, 2014 by J10

[Blessed Weather]

As always, excellent posts above from J10 with lots of info and some good news on a number of fronts, including the piste depths holding up despite the temperatures, and colder air making inroads from the north/north west this week. Indeed, today's 850 Hpa charts from model output (GFS and ECM) show the 0c isotherm line getting further south past the Alps than forecasts were suggesting a few days ago. Hopefully the lower temperatures will slow lower piste deterioration and give some fresh snow above 1800 metres.

I think (on reflection) that my earlier post saying "some resorts will now struggle to stay open" gave the wrong impression. Resorts such as Feldberg in Germany and La Bresse in France have no set closing dates, so will close as conditions dictate. And other resorts that have now closed had reached their "close by" date. Other "main stream" resorts with published closing dates yet to be reached are (from what I can see) only struggling with lower pistes.

So, I think what I should have said was that some resorts will struggle to keep some of their lower slopes open. To illustrate what I meant, I've grabbed a few webcam shots from today to illustrate my point, but I must emphasise that even in these resorts, there is still great skiing to be found on the higher pistes.

First of all La Clusaz, were I skied in January of this year. The webcam shows the runs back into the town. This resort is scheduled to stay open until 27th April.

Next Les Menuires in the 3 Valleys. This shot is at the bottom of one of the nicest and longest blue runs in the Alps, starting at the top station (from where the telecabin arrives from Val Thorens) and descending all the way down into the apartments and bars of Les Menuires. This resort is scheduled to stay open until 25th April.

Finally, the piste front at Les Gets. The resort is scheduled to stay open until 13th April, so only a few more days to go here.

To summarise, some lower slopes struggling, but upper slopes still providing good skiing. I for one have great admiration for the guys who maintain the pistes in the resorts we visit - they do a fantastic job, particularly in late season with conditions such as currently being experienced.

Edited April 7, 2014 by Blessed Weather

[J10]

I agree that some slopes are in danger of a closing a little early and it is the upper slopes which are looking better,

 

To me from afar it seems quite a strange season, the snow initially arriving quite late in the day, but when it did come there was plenty of it, however the temps were never massively cold. The the large snow totals meaning that most resorts have done quite well.

[Blessed Weather]

I think you're right J10. In many ways a strange season for the Alps. As you say, the snow arrived late. Then it came thick and fast. But all too often the freezing level was just a little too high to allow lower pistes to accumulate the sort of impressive depths building a few hundred metres higher up the mountain. Then finally we end up with a very mild March in a season that needed to last late into April due to the timing of Easter this year.

Nevertheless, judging from your snow depths reports and looking around the webcams on higher slopes, I'm fairly sure people heading off to the Alps for Easter will still have a fabulous time with plenty of good skiing, even if the final run back into some resorts bears more resemblance to a slush puppy than a piste by the afternoons!

[Blessed Weather]

Having posted about lower slopes struggling in some resorts and how this season's weather & snowfall has played out in the Alps, I recalled the posts earlier in the season from fellow poster, Carinthian, from Katschberg in Austria. At one stage (was it February?) that area was enjoying a real purple patch of weather when low pressure was stuck over Italy and the snow kept falling in the Italian and Southern Alps, giving impressive accumulations.

 

Well having looked at the webcams for Katschberg today, the resort is looking in GREAT shape for this stage of the season! The skiing there must be fantastic, lots of snow and (from what I could see) hardly any people on the slopes. Note to self - must get to Katschberg for a skiing holiday soon!!

 

Here's a couple of webcam shots. The first looking down on the resort showing all the runs looking great. The second at the bottom of one of the runs. Just look at the depth of snow remaining to the right of the piste!

 

 

 

[J10]

Latest Snow Conditions for this ski season.

		    Upper Lower			   Last 7   Piste  	 OffResort Name piste piste  Last snowed   days   Quality     Piste   Lifts OpenAlpe d'Huez 200cm  95cm 26 Mar (02cm)   0cm  Excellent   Limited 27 out of 32Tignes	  200cm  85cm 25 Mar (05cm)   0cm  	 Good    Varied 78 out of 79Wengen	  110cm   0cm 24 Mar (25cm)   0cm 	  Soft      Crud 17 out of 19St Moritz   192cm  78cm 24 Mar (28cm)   0cm  	 Good    Varied 20 out of 22Mayrhofen    40cm   0cm 24 Mar (20cm)   0cm  Spring Sn Spring Sn 24 out of 25Cervinia    310cm  50cm 04 Apr (01cm)   1cm  	 Good    Varied 14 out of 14 

With the milder weather recently and the general lack of fresh snowfall, snow depths have reduced lately, but not that as much as feared. However in most cases, there is still plenty of snow and also in pretty good condition.

So there is still some very good skiing to be had with the mild sunny weather, especially in the morning, as many slopes are showing spring snow conditions into the afternoon. 

 

All in all, for the time of year, we are in pretty good condition, and most resorts seem set to run until their allotted closing weekend.

Latest Snow Conditions for this ski season.		    Upper Lower			   Last 7   Piste  	  OffResort Name piste piste  Last snowed   days   Quality      Piste   Lifts OpenAlpe d'Huez 200cm  60cm 08 Apr (10cm)  10cm  Spring Sn    Varied 27 out of 32Tignes	  200cm  60cm 08 Apr (06cm)   6cm  	 Good   Limited 75 out of 79Wengen	   80cm   0cm 24 Mar (25cm)   0cm  Spring Sn Spring Sn 13 out of 19St Moritz   140cm  20cm 05 Apr (05cm)   0cm  	 Good   Limited 18 out of 58Mayrhofen    35cm   0cm 09 Apr (05cm)   5cm  Spring Sn    Varied 22 out of 25Cervinia    295cm  35cm 04 Apr (01cm)   0cm  	 Good    Varied 14 out of 14

The past week was again mild or very mild over much of the Alps. There was a little fresh snow, but most of this was reserved for higher altitudes, as the North West wind, did not make as much southerly progress as forecast, in the same way that many North West outbreaks for the UK get downgraded closer to the time.

 

As a result of this, Most resorts have seen some sort of snow level drop off over the past week, the best of the current conditions are on the higher slopes, which is no real surprise to any ski enthusiast into Mid April. 

As Blessed Weather alluded to last week, some lower slopes are really struggling now

 

What does next week have in store and into the Easter Weekend.

 

The North West wind is set to continue at first, but still rather mild. This evening should see precipitation continue for a time, snow to around 2000-2200m. Tomorrow will see the precipitation over Austria, pepping up again into the afternoon, with snow down to 1600-1700m.

 

Dry to start on Monday, but as the winds turn North Easterly associated with High Pressure over the UK and NW Europe, precipitation will build from the North East later in the day. The snow level initially around 2000m, but down to 800-1000m, with heavy falls of snow possible in the Tyrol area of Austria during Monday evening and through Tuesday. Moderate precipitation is also possible in other parts of Austria, mostly dry in western parts of Alps. Further precipitation possible in Austria on Wednesday, but not as heavy as recent days.

 

Mostly dry for the rest of the week, but with a massive temperature contrast for mid week, staying very mild in western alps, but cold in the east, with 850HPa temps of well below zero, and very severe frost overnight. By Friday though signs of the milder air over the west finally spreading back east.

 

850HPA Temps

 

Tuesday / Wednesday +2c (North West), +11c (Far South West), +6c (SW Austria), -3c (North East)

Thursday +7c (North West), +12c (Far South West), +11c (SW Austria ), -1c (North East)

Friday +9c (North West),+12c S Switzerland, France, +11c (SW Austria ), +4c (North East)

 

Precipitation

 

This clearly shows the concentration of precipitation towards Austria.

 

Summary

 

The best of the skiing very much reserved for higher slopes, with spring snow elsewhere, but the chance of a top-up for parts of Austria, especially around mid week.

Edited April 12, 2014 by J10

[carinthian]

Having posted about lower slopes struggling in some resorts and how this season's weather & snowfall has played out in the Alps, I recalled the posts earlier in the season from fellow poster, Carinthian, from Katschberg in Austria. At one stage (was it February?) that area was enjoying a real purple patch of weather when low pressure was stuck over Italy and the snow kept falling in the Italian and Southern Alps, giving impressive accumulations.

 

Well having looked at the webcams for Katschberg today, the resort is looking in GREAT shape for this stage of the season! The skiing there must be fantastic, lots of snow and (from what I could see) hardly any people on the slopes. Note to self - must get to Katschberg for a skiing holiday soon!!

 

Here's a couple of webcam shots. The first looking down on the resort showing all the runs looking great. The second at the bottom of one of the runs. Just look at the depth of snow remaining to the right of the piste!

 

Katschberg2 10thApril2014.jpg Katschberg1 9thApril2014.jpg

 

Blessed Weather,

Thank you for the tourist boost. First came here 17 years ago. Fell in love with the place and decided to make this my second home. What a wonderful resort this is. Today we have 20 cm of fresh snowfall, sunshine and snow flurries all day but a bitter wind. Fantastic ski-ing today and the lifts will be open until Easter Monday. Expecting a bumber weekend with visitors coming up from the valleys to experience their last fix of a memorable record breaking snowfall season in these parts.

[carinthian]

 

Great conditions today in the sunshine. Temperature never got above -4c in resort.

[Blessed Weather]

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Blessed Weather,

Thank you for the tourist boost. First came here 17 years ago. Fell in love with the place and decided to make this my second home. What a wonderful resort this is. Today we have 20 cm of fresh snowfall, sunshine and snow flurries all day but a bitter wind. Fantastic ski-ing today and the lifts will be open until Easter Monday. Expecting a bumber weekend with visitors coming up from the valleys to experience their last fix of a memorable record breaking snowfall season in these parts.

 

I think many of us are very jealous of you carinthian. It certainly does look a wonderful ski resort. I hope you're enjoying a fantastic last weekend of skiing.

 

For many resorts this is indeed the last weekend of the season. There will soon be only a handful of higher resorts left open, so I guess it's (sadly) time to say goodbye to the 2013/2014 skiing season. As J10 posted earlier, a strange season that got going late, then the snow coming thick and fast, but at the end spoiled somewhat by a milder than average March and April, unfortunately in a year where Easter fell late. 

 

For those resorts that are staying open a while longer, the forecast for the next week is far from perfect. Here is the forecast from the Oberland Wetter service for Austrian resorts. They predict the freezing level will not fall below 2,400m during the week. The Chamonix weather service paints a similar picture for the Haut Savoie region of France.

 

Until next midweek, we find ourselves in front of a low-pressure area located over West Europe in a changeable, partly slightly foehny south-westerly weather current. Mild, but also repeatedly humid, unstably layered air masses will reach us. April-like weather conditions with repeated sunny spells are forecast. In the second half of the week, the low-pressure area will move from West to Central Europe, subsequently the influence of low-pressure will increase in the Alpine regions. Thick clouds will prevail, heavy precipitation is temporarily forecast, however, a significant decrease in temperature is probably not expected.

 

As this is probably my last post of the season could I thank J10 for his excellent weekly weather & ski conditions updates.

 

Finally, my nomination for the "webcam shot of the season" award goes to this beautiful night-time image from the webcam on the mountain across Lake Zell that looks back towards Zell am See ski resort. In the distance on the left you can see the lights from the facilities at the top of the Kitzsteinhorn glacier. A fantastic image and illustrates why, day or night, winter or summer, for me it's always a privilege to be in the mountains. Roll on next season!