Alps & Pyrenees Snow Thread 2015/16

[snowray]

Latest cams from Limone, chucking it down again!

Edited February 29, 2016 by snowray

[Blessed Weather]

On 01/02/2016 at 2:33 PM, trevw said:

Heading to La Plagne for the 2nd week of march, slightly worried about the level of warmth at the moment..  Looks like some decent snow currently forecast on Netweather for La Plagne on Sunday? Not sure how reliable that is this far out? (Haven't looked at the charts yet)

Is it this coming weekend you're off to La Plagne trevw? I'm off to Val Cenis and I'm rather excited about how things are shaping up! Last Saturday I posted the Arpege snowfall accumulation chart for Sat/Sun/Mon for the Alps and it was showing over a metre for large swathes of the mountains. Running the same chart this morning, it's showing a further metre plus between this morning and next Saturday morning with the French Alps and our 2 resorts in the sweet spot! Ski Club forecasting 144cm for La Plagne and 101cm for Val Cenis over the next 9 days.

'Zero' hour accum ( with resorts marked)  T114 Sat 05 Mar 07.00

Freezing level a little bit up and down with this week's snowfall, but any resort or slope above 1,700m looking very good. For our arrival weekend freezing level falls below 800m. And at the moment the models are suggesting a cold week for our stay with the -5C 850 hPa isotherm (so approx. 1,500m) over much of the Alps virtually all week. Should be a great week's skiing with plenty of powder to play in on higher slopes (but care needed - avalanche risk likely to be high off piste).

[WINTRY WALES]

Hi All

Well firstly a big thank you to all the suggestions and help towards booking a short ski trip later in March.

I have ended up choosing Austria due to the fab flight prices to Innsbruck (£70 return Per Person) and the number of resorts close to the airport.

The resort I am staying in is Alpbach...accommodation for 4 nights for 2 people at a very reasonable £200. Also have hired a car for the duration of the stay  for £95 so we can do a little exploring with the aid of the car to other resorts. All in all a great price for a Monday to Friday visit....lets just hope the signal of a cold loaded back end to winter/ start to spring comes to fruition to help maintain snow cover.

WW

[J10]

The latest copy and paste from me in relation to the Ski Club GB update.

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

http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/snowreports/overview/default.aspx#.Vm9A1l4vAsU

SNOW NEWS UPDATED 29 FEBRUARY 2016

INTRODUCTION There is plenty of new snow to report across the Alps for Monday 29th February, with the heaviest falls coming in the southern Alpine regions. Resorts across the Dolomites, southern French Alps and Switzerland have seen in excess of half a meter of new snow over the past twenty-four hours, with fantastic riding conditions being reported across these regions. Plenty more snow is expected over the course of the week, so expect conditions to only further improve in the coming days. Snow looks likely to return to the northern Alps once more during the middle of the week, having largely missed out over the weekend.

EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK The snow looks likely to continue falling across much of the Alps over the coming days. The southern Alpine regions look likely to see the heaviest of the snowfall, with upwards of a metre possible in select resorts. The snow will return to the northern Alps during the middle of the week, having largely missed out over the course of the weekend. The snow line will hover around 1500m for the majority of the week, before dropping considerably to around 1000m over the course of Thursday. Temperatures will remain below freezing across many regions, which should ensure that the new snow remain in excellent condition.

The Pyrenees can expect a mixture of sun, cloud and light snow flurries over the course of the week. Friday see the possibility of some significant snowfall in select regions, with a sustained period of snowfall forecast over the weekend. Temperatures will rise over the coming days, with highs of around +4C expected in some areas. Temperatures are set to remain low throughout much of the week ahead. The sun and cloud of Monday will give way to light snowfall for the remainder of the week, with totals of around 15-30cm expected across most regions.

Edited March 1, 2016 by J10

[trevw]

On 3/1/2016 at 10:02 AM, Blessed Weather said:

Is it this coming weekend you're off to La Plagne trevw? I'm off to Val Cenis and I'm rather excited about how things are shaping up! Last Saturday I posted the Arpege snowfall accumulation chart for Sat/Sun/Mon for the Alps and it was showing over a metre for large swathes of the mountains. Running the same chart this morning, it's showing a further metre plus between this morning and next Saturday morning with the French Alps and our 2 resorts in the sweet spot! Ski Club forecasting 144cm for La Plagne and 101cm for Val Cenis over the next 9 days.

'Zero' hour accum ( with resorts marked)  T114 Sat 05 Mar 07.00

Freezing level a little bit up and down with this week's snowfall, but any resort or slope above 1,700m looking very good. For our arrival weekend freezing level falls below 800m. And at the moment the models are suggesting a cold week for our stay with the -5C 850 hPa isotherm (so approx. 1,500m) over much of the Alps virtually all week. Should be a great week's skiing with plenty of powder to play in on higher slopes (but care needed - avalanche risk likely to be high off piste).

It is! very excited :-) Thanks for the above - it looks like we will have a great snow... My kids have been a couple of years running but always with 'old snow' and frozen off piste areas.. not enjoyed the pleasure of floundering around in deep powder - am hoping for a week of 'clear-ish' weather (the odd top up snowfall evening/night would be nice of course :-)  )

My only concern at the moment is getting to the resort given the forecast on Saturday!

Good point on avalanche risk, I might skirt the edges but don't do much real off piste so should be okay.

Looks a bit wet low down on the webcams at the moment, looks like from tomorrow it will be colder..

 

Have a great week!

 

Edited March 2, 2016 by trevw
addition

[J10]

Looking at the webcams today, the snow has really been belting down over the western Alps.

Even down to Morzine level they have had a shed load, it has been strange looking at the webcam for there this week, one day green, the next day white, freezing levels are up and down like a yoyo.

[dubmuffin]

Off to La Rosiere on 13th, and hoping for our first proper snowy ski holiday. If today's webcams are anything to go by we should be in luck! Can you ever have too much snow?

[Blessed Weather]

6 hours ago, J10 said:

6 hours ago, J10 said:

Looking at the webcams today, the snow has really been belting down over the western Alps.

Even down to Morzine level they have had a shed load, it has been strange looking at the webcam for there this week, one day green, the next day white, freezing levels are up and down like a yoyo.

Yes Julian, it has been a rather up and down week for freezing levels. Morzine, at 1,000m, is just a little bit too low for the current unsettled weather hitting the Alps, so seeing snow one minute and rain the next.

Lots more precipitation around tomorrow and Saturday and Meteo-France are forecasting freezing level will be around 1,700m to start Friday, falling to 1,100m by Saturday afternoon and 700m by the evening.

3 hours ago, dubmuffin said:

Off to La Rosiere on 13th, and hoping for our first proper snowy ski holiday. If today's webcams are anything to go by we should be in luck! Can you ever have too much snow?

La Rosiere at 1,850m is currently laughing dubmuffin. And with another 60 + cm of snow forecast over the next few days, followed by a cold week next week (Meteo-France forecasting it stays below 0C even down at village level), it should be in great condition for when you arrive.

Can you have too much snow? Well I'd prefer too much than not enough, but sometimes you've got to accept losing skiing time if the weather really sets in. Last year in Flaine I lost two days with white-out conditions and strong winds!

Anyway, I hope you have a great holiday when you get there!!

 

[J10]

Another Snowy week in prospect for the Alps, more especially for the Southern areas. More consistent freezing levels this week too.

Hope Malcolm and everyone else off the Alps this week has a good time, and have some lovely pics when they return.

[Blessed Weather]

1 hour ago, J10 said:

Another Snowy week in prospect for the Alps, more especially for the Southern areas. More consistent freezing levels this week too.

Hope Malcolm and everyone else off the Alps this week has a good time, and have some lovely pics when they return.

As always, thank you for your time in putting together the Alps Forecast Blog Julian. Much appreciated. It's great to be able to say that I hope to be reporting back in real-time about how the weather and snow conditions pan out over here in Val Cenis in the southern French Alps!

This evening my friends and I booked into our hotel for an overnight stay in Dole, France, which is just a couple of hours drive from the foothills of the Alps. The drive through northern France earlier today was dry and sunny, but as we moved south the rain started and it's got heavier and heavier. We are anticipating an interesting drive up to the resort later tomorrow morning. Hopefully we can make it without the hassle of putting snow chains on!

[wawaw]

Hi all I'm a new poster and I'm on my way to les Arcs at the end of March and I was wondering if anyone knows what impact the predicted SSW will have on the Alps.

[Blessed Weather]

Arrived here in Val Cenis on Saturday without having to use chains, thankfully. The spectacular motorway over the Jura mountains heading towards Geneva (the "White Motorway") was actually trickier than the last leg up the mountain. The outside lane of the motorway was closed with the heavy overnight snowfall and we crawled along for an hour.

Terrific first day's skiing here in the resort. Snow conditions are superb for March with plenty of powder off-piste (at the top of the mountain) and every single pisted run in the resort in great shape. It's been sunshine and snow showers on and off all day and these have continued into the evening giving another few cm. The forecast for the next few days is for much of the same, with max temps around -2C in the resort,  -10C at mid-mountain and -14C at the top.

The photo is from the piste-front in the vlllage, looking up the mountain. You might be able to pick out some of the runs back down through the trees, but the best skiing is to be found on the slopes above the tree line.

[ncjones]

Looks/sounds fantastic.  We're heading out to Aussois on Good Friday for a week.  Please don't use up all the snow!

By the motorway through the Jura mountains do you mean when you when you fork left (east) after Dijon, past Dole towards Lyon??....or is it a different route. 

I was planning to head straight down from Calais - Reims - Dijon - Lyon....but would be interested to hear alternatives.

Have a fantastic holiday.

[carinthian]

Just returned from a tour of some other Austrian resorts over the past 3 weeks. The snow conditions are marvellous with an abundance of snow above 1000m. Skied the new jewel resorts of Alpbachtal, followed by a week in Serfaus, now that's a real hidden gem with wonderful long runs and good apre. Finally, last week 100cm of fresh snow in Obertauren, although it was very cold there but the ski circuit was in excellent condition and the after ski drinking not for the faint hearted. One of our neighbour resorts of Nassfield on the Karten/ Italian borders has an amazing 300cm of snow this morning. Obertauren is open to May this season with big festival ski-ing in April, just a great resort, snow sure at resort height of 1700m plus and top runs from 2300m all interlinked through 360 degree circuit.

 C

[carinthian]

2 minutes ago, carinthian said:

Just returned from a tour of some other Austrian resorts over the past 3 weeks. The snow conditions are marvellous with an abundance of snow above 1000m. Skied the new jewel resorts of Alpbachtal, followed by a week in Serfaus, now that's a real hidden gem with wonderful long runs and good apre. Finally, last week 100cm of fresh snow in Obertauren, although it was very cold there but the ski circuit was in excellent condition and the after ski drinking not for the faint hearted. One of our neighbour resorts of Nassfield on the Karten/ Italian borders has an amazing 300cm of snow this morning. Obertauren is open to May this season with big festival ski-ing in April, just a great resort, snow sure at resort height of 1700m plus and top runs from 2300m all interlinked through 360 degree circuit.

 C

Latest picture from Katschberg before the snow came in again.

[Blessed Weather]

3 hours ago, ncjones said:

Looks/sounds fantastic.  We're heading out to Aussois on Good Friday for a week.  Please don't use up all the snow!

By the motorway through the Jura mountains do you mean when you when you fork left (east) after Dijon, past Dole towards Lyon??....or is it a different route. 

I was planning to head straight down from Calais - Reims - Dijon - Lyon....but would be interested to hear alternatives.

Have a fantastic holiday.

Truly incredible conditions this week, both on and off piste. For the first time in 18 visits to this resort, every single run is open this week. Very cold though with an overnight low of -10C in the village this morning and even colder up high. Couldn't feel my fingers skiing for the first hour or so this morning! 

I've been using the "White Motorway" for several years now as it misses the heavy traffic around Lyon and for the leg down to Chambery. And it's a spectacular drive with less traffic than via Lyon. Not a lot in it distance wise, but a more pleasant, quieter route. After Dijon head for Dole; after Dole head for Annecy; then on to Chambery. Aussois is just down the road from Val Cenis, so would work for you too.

Surprisingly little cloud today, so wonderful skiing.

[ncjones]

34 minutes ago, Blessed Weather said:

Truly incredible conditions this week, both on and off piste. For the first time in 18 visits to this resort, every single run is open this week. Very cold though with an overnight low of -10C in the village this morning and even colder up high. Couldn't feel my fingers skiing for the first hour or so this morning! 

I've been using the "White Motorway" for several years now as it misses the heavy traffic around Lyon and for the leg down to Chambery. And it's a spectacular drive with less traffic than via Lyon. Not a lot in it distance wise, but a more pleasant, quieter route. After Dijon head for Dole; after Dole head for Annecy; then on to Chambery. Aussois is just down the road from Val Cenis, so would work for you too.

Surprisingly little cloud today, so wonderful skiing.

Thanks. I know the route you mean....I've gone that way in the summer, but not tried it in winter.  

I'll see what the traffic is like, I wouldn't be getting to Lyon until quite late so may keep on the big road...but I'll bear that way in mind as it's certainly more scenic.

Conditions look fantastic.  Fingers crossed for a cold Easter!

[J10]

The latest copy and paste from me in relation to the Ski Club GB update. - However the wonderful pictures above paint the picture so beautifully.

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

http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/snowreports/overview/default.aspx#.Vm9A1l4vAsU

SNOW NEWS UPDATED 7 MARCH 2016

INTRODUCTION There is loads of new snow to report across the Alps on Monday 7th February, particularly across the southern alpine regions. Plenty more is expected to fall during the early part of the week, so expect conditions to only further improve over the coming days.

EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK Loads of new snow has fallen across the Alps, particularly in the south, and this looks likely to continue over the coming days. Moderate totals are expected across all regions, with low temperatures ensuring that the new snow stays in excellent condition. The earliest sign of change looks likely to come on Wednesday or Thursday, when good spells of sunshine are expected. Similarly, the Pyrenees can expect to see an extended period of snowfall over the coming days, with Monday and Wednesday likely to see the heaviest falls. Temperatures will remain low for the majority of the week, before seeing a slight increase during the end of the week, when the sun is set to make an appearance.

Edited March 7, 2016 by J10

[carinthian]

Fantastic ski-ing to be had at the moment throughout Austria after some recent heavy falls combined with Arctic source air mass. If we get the sunshine later this weekend will be a pleasure to  be in the mountains. Although we have a lot of snow at present, nothing compares to the record snow accumulations in our region in  Feb 2014. Some pictures below during that month.

C

[York-snow]

Hello, I have just booked a late season holiday in obergurgl (Austria) going on the 2nd April. Does anyone have an extended forecast. Hopefully the cool air can linger on for a few more weeks to keep the snow in good condition.

[NorthYorksWeather]

16 minutes ago, York-snow said:

Hello, I have just booked a late season holiday in obergurgl (Austria) going on the 2nd April. Does anyone have an extended forecast. Hopefully the cool air can linger on for a few more weeks to keep the snow in good condition.

Very difficult to forecast that far ahead, I am in the French Alps the week prior to yourself and am remaining hopeful for some decent conditions. Snow seems pretty good at the moment judging by above posts so aslong as we don't see any early Spring conditions coming from the South which isnt currently being shown we should be ok! Good Luck

[Blessed Weather]

Well what a wonderful week it’s turned out here in Val Cenis, southern French Alps. Not an exact statement, but it feels that the weather on nearly every day has turned out better than forecasts had suggested, with plenty of sunshine, snow showers early in the week giving a few cm each day, and sub-zero temps to maintain snow conditions. Yesterday and today have been wall-to-wall sunshine and today the temp in the village has finally risen a few degrees above zero, making a beer on the piste front finally feel like you’re on March ski trip.

I see from a quick glance at the charts that the occluded front that may have given some mid/end-week snow stalled over mid-France and is now decaying, so ‘weather’ staying west of the Alps leaving the skies clear here.

For people skiing later this season, just to say that the pisting teams here (and no doubt in other resorts) have been taking full advantage of the recent snowy, cold conditions by building up snow ‘stores’ to use when/if needed. At the mo there doesn’t appear to be any silly warm weather on the way for the Alps, so I would be cautiously optimistic that skiing/boarding conditions (certainly above 1,500m) will now be good through to season end.

A few final photos from me that show conditions far better than I could describe. One of them shows my lunch today - a prize for who guesses what it was!

[J10]

Lovely photos there Malcolm , me jealous. As for the food is it a Cheese Tomato panini.

The latest copy and paste from me in relation to the Ski Club GB update. - Conditions continue to be very good and look set to be very good into next week, especially for higher slopes.

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

http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/snowreports/overview/default.aspx#.Vm9A1l4vAsU

SNOW NEWS UPDATED 10 MARCH 2016

INTRODUCTION It was a beautiful day across much of the Alps on Thursday 10th March, with excellent conditions being reported across many regions. The conditions are arguably the best they have been all season currently, with many regions having seen good recent snowfalls, and low temperatures present to keep the snow in fantastic condition. With clouds likely to move in over the coming days, there is the possibility of some light snowfall which could see conditions yet further improve.

EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK It was a beautiful day across much of the Alps on Thursday 10th March, with lots of sunshine and cool temperatures. This is likely to change however, with cloud moving in over the course of the weekend. This will bring the possibility of some light snowfall, although totals will be moderate, with only a few centimetres expected to refresh the pistes. Temperatures will remain a few degrees below freezing over the coming days, with select regions seeing rises during the early part of next week. It was a predominately cloudy day across much of the Pyrenees on Thursday, although this is expected to lift over the coming days to ensure a bright and sunny weekend across many resorts.

 

 

[Blessed Weather]

11 hours ago, J10 said:

 

Lovely photos there Malcolm , me jealous. As for the food is it a Cheese Tomato panini.

 

You win the prize Julian!  I'd better think of what it will be!!

Setting off for the last day's skiing in a mo. Not a cloud in the sky but not so cold overnight, only down to -5C.

[J10]

11 hours ago, Blessed Weather said:

You win the prize Julian!  I'd better think of what it will be!!

Setting off for the last day's skiing in a mo. Not a cloud in the sky but not so cold overnight, only down to -5C.

A few more lovely snow photos from Val Cenis will do me nicely.

The latest forecast is now on-line

A drier week in prospect, however with more in the way of sun, with perhaps afternoon showers, snow to quite low levels generally, Freeze thaw conditions, icy in the morning and spring snow conditions for the afternoon, more especially on lower slopes.