Alps & Pyrenees Snow Thread 2015/16

[Coopsy]

My father in law just facetimed from Val Thorens and its dumping snow there right now. They've probably already had 10cm this morning. Lucky devil 

[carinthian]

Dream synoptics for Austrian Ski Resorts. Of course if it ever came off !

C

[J10]

A belated copy and paste from me in relation to the Ski Club GB update, and this shows the improvement currently under way.

SNOW NEWS UPDATED 31 DECEMBER 2015

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

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

INTRODUCTION Change is well underway in the Alps with clouds moving in from the west, with the first real signs of snowfall in over a month forecast to hit overnight into New Year's Day. Little more than 5cm is expected and most resorts are likely to see a dusting at best, but what follows is set to be much more significant and potentially season-changing for the Alps. This is much needed as the pistes are suffering from the holiday crowds and snow is really needed. The various weather models are beginning to converge and some big snowfall totals are looking more and more likely in the New Year. The heaviest falls are currently set for the western and northern Alps, but the intensity of the storms should spread some decent falls of powder further south and east. Do keep an eye out on the very latest forecasts however as the situation is constantly evolving, but the signs are certainly looking very positive.

EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK The weather was already changing on New Year's Eve in the Alps, with colder and more unstable air moving in from the west. A little light snow was falling in places, although little more than 5cm is expected by Friday 1st January in most places. The bigger change is predicted for the New Year, starting on Saturday 2nd January when up to 30cm is possible in the western Alps. From Monday 4th January onwards things become much more unstable, with the potential for some very large snowfall totals as a series of storms sweep in from the northwest. Keep an eye on the very latest forecasts as the situation is constantly evolving, but the forecasts are certainly converging into something that is looking very favourable in terms of snowfall and temperatures. A similar pattern is likely in the Pyrenees, although any snowfall looks set to be lighter in nature and temperatures are less likely to drop as far.

That being said some decent snowfall totals are expected which should help to improve conditions considerably following the high volumes of traffic over New Year. The cold change has already hit the Eastern Europe, with temperatures dropping well below freezing overnight into New Year's Eve. Cold but mostly sunny weather is then forecast over the holiday weekend before the air becomes more unstable, resulting in some snow appearing in the forecast, particularly on Sunday and Tuesday. Bitterly cold conditions are set to move into Scandinavia over the weekend, dropping temperatures to as low as -10C by Saturday and perhaps as low as -15C in places by midweek. New snow is also forecast, with all of our featured resorts set to receive between 15 and 30cm over the coming days.

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By the way, I sometimes don't know when to shut up, so if I am annoying anyone with my updates please let me know.

Edited January 2, 2016 by J10

[Blessed Weather]

1 hour ago, J10 said:

A belated copy and paste from me in relation to the Ski Club GB update, and this shows the improvement currently under way.

SNOW NEWS UPDATED 31 DECEMBER 2015

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

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

INTRODUCTION Change is well underway.....

(SNIPPED)

By the way, I sometimes don't know when to shut up, so if I am annoying anyone with my updates please let me know.

Lol. When I read the comment in bold I first of all thought "that's a funny comment from the Ski Club rep"!  So assuming it was from you Julian, absolutely NOT.

Well as Nemesis posts above, here comes the snow into the French Alps. The webcam is showing Arc1950 in Les Arcs, and considering it's at 1,950 altitude, the image from yesterday shows the lack of snow even at that altitude. Today looking better!

Yesterday   Today

 

Edit: Just picked up this report from the French media - obviously the arrival of the snow is newsworthy! And just to keep up the 'habit' from last season, it's occurring on change-over day!

The snow arrives in the Alps: Images of stations
She was eagerly awaited - snow finally arrives. In the Alps, according to Météo France, we expect a layer of 15-30 centimeters in mountain snow. This afternoon, snowfall is announced from 1100 meters.

La Plagne 

http://www.ledauphine.com/montagne/2016/01/02/meteo-la-neige-arrive-en-stations

Edited January 2, 2016 by Blessed Weather
Tidied post up and added news report.

[J10]

Now changed my post to make it clear it was my comment.

Just to back up the comments about the conditions in the Western Alps;. Looking at the web cams in the Portes du Soleil today, it has been snow all day at Avoriaz with a thick blanket of snow.

More encouragingly it is also snowing down at Les Gets and Morzine, and starting to settle a bit at resort level, and readily on the slopes there. As the days has progressed you can see the snow level dropping.

Edited January 2, 2016 by J10

[Pipine]

Glad the snow has finally arrived, though we won't be boarding this season we have several groups of friends headed for the alps today who will appreciate the change in weather.  

Cant wait til our little ones are old enough to strap on some skis! 

[carinthian]

If you ever come to Katschberg to ski, this is one of my favourite back runs  along the Polla Valley towards St Peters village. Usually a nice easy gliding descent through the trees hardly with any other skiers to be seen. Can be connected by Freiberglift and always in the sunshine.

 C

[Norrona2015]

Great news from the Alps today with further significant snowfall forecast for over the weekend and next week.

Flights booked to Geneva next Thursday, one week but more than likely a fortnights boarding in Nendaz. A welcome break from the dreary UK weather!

Happy days!

[Blessed Weather]

6 hours ago, carinthian said:

Dream synoptics for Austrian Ski Resorts. Of course if it ever came off !

C

Lol Paul. The twists and turns of the far reaches of GFS runs!! Look at today's forecasts for the 18th Jan. We know which one we'd like.....

The morning's 06z?   Or this afternoon's 12z?

[dubmuffin]

On ‎29‎/‎12‎/‎2015 at 8:32 PM, Blessed Weather said:

Zell's a wonderful resort - I hope you're having a terrific week, despite skiing on artificial snow. Yes, looking like 4 to 6cm of snow Thurs night into Fri morning, although this may fall as wet snow/sleet down in the town. So don't get too pickled on New Year's Eve and get up the mountain early on Friday to enjoy a great last day's skiing on real snow with everywhere finally looking white!

Forecast at 1,379m altitude from Snowforecast.com:

Hi Malcolm, your forecast was spot on! The snow radar in my head woke me at 7am on 1st Jan to see snow falling heavily so we did get 4-6cm and a bit of cautious skiing on fresh snow (as much as my slight hangover and beginners nerves allowed!) It also gave us a chance to see the mountains in a different light, light, less green, with broken clouds, shifting fog patches and the odd flurry, very picturesque. We had a great week anyway and a trip to the glacier on Wednesday gave me a taste of the real stuff too. Looks like anyone going over now will have more snow to look forward to.

[Blessed Weather]

34 minutes ago, dubmuffin said:

Hi Malcolm, your forecast was spot on! The snow radar in my head woke me at 7am on 1st Jan to see snow falling heavily so we did get 4-6cm and a bit of cautious skiing on fresh snow (as much as my slight hangover and beginners nerves allowed!) It also gave us a chance to see the mountains in a different light, light, less green, with broken clouds, shifting fog patches and the odd flurry, very picturesque. We had a great week anyway and a trip to the glacier on Wednesday gave me a taste of the real stuff too. Looks like anyone going over now will have more snow to look forward to.

Fantastic dubmuffin. I'm so pleased you had a great time and that the snow finally arrived before you left! Great that you got up on the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier too. Brilliant up there! And thank you for the feedback - always appreciated. I hope you're now a fully fledged ski addict and are already thinking about your next trip!

Edited January 3, 2016 by Blessed Weather
Typo

[Blessed Weather]

It's been great to see the snow arrive in the Alps this weekend. A few days back I posted some snow-bare webcam shots of the Kitzbuhel area; well today it's looking more like it.

And this evening's radar at 17.45 from Meteo-France shows the next band of snow about to hit the western Alps.

Here's the expected snowfall accumulation from Euro4 (to Tues midday) and NMM (to Wed 07.00) which suggests up to 70cm for parts of the French/Swiss Alps and the Tyrol of Austria, but less further east. But worth noting that in the west freezing level is around 1,200m while in the east it's much colder, so any snow will accumulate to much low levels.

Euro4   NMM

[carinthian]

Morning, a few cms of fresh snowfall. Most of the heavier snow is to the south of here. All a bit messy with a wedge of very cold surface just to the east and an overriding westerly coming from the Tyrol. Some milder uppers forecast later in the week from west to east with local fohn affects. Boundary layers ( between cold and mild ) will be critical to snow heights . A evolution to a more disturbed pattern in the Alps has taken place with added moisture at all layers which must be good, however, we really need to see some Arctic air mass to produce the widespread snowfields down to 400 m asl to get the ski season up and running. At least Euro highs seems to be taking a break.

 C

[Summer Sun]

How's Adelboden doing for snow? Ski Sunday is back this weekend and due to broadcast from there

[Paul]

Pretty good now  

http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=ski;resort=S606~Adelboden;sess=#forecast

[carinthian]

Torch relay and firework display over Katschberg village, New Years Eve 2015.

C

[Norrona2015]

40cm in the last 24 hours for Nendaz Switzerland - heading there on Thursday.

[J10]

The latest  copy and paste from me in relation to the Ski Club GB update, and this continues to show the improvement currently under way.

SNOW NEWS UPDATED 4 JANUARY 2016

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

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

INTRODUCTION Heavy snow finally swept through the Alps over the weekend, dropping over half a metre of fresh powder in places. The new snow was desperately needed following the very poor start to the season, although unfortunately it did not arrive until Saturday 2nd January when the New Year crowds were beginning to disperse.

EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK The outlook once again is a positive one for the Alps which is great news, snow is forecast almost every day. Fresh snow is forecast to land at every one of our featured resorts, although the heaviest falls are once again expected in the northern French and western Swiss Alps. Around a metre is possible by the end of the week, with totals decreasing to around 20cm in Italy and eastern Austria. Do note that the freezing level is set to fluctuate somewhat with the arrival of numerous cold/warm fronts, with the biggest change set for Friday/Saturday when the freezing level may hit as high as 2,500m for a short time before dropping back down on Sunday. It is also looking positive in the Pyrenees, with lots of new snow forecast between Monday and Wednesday in particular. Parts of the Spanish and French Pyrenees may see upwards of 50cm before the freezing level nudges up above 2,500m on Friday and light rain falls for a time.

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J10 - additional comment

In additions to the snippet above, the heaviest of the snow has been for the west of the Alps , especially for France and Switzerland, with slopes over 1500m fairing best, with more of a wintry mix at lower altitiudes. Off piste conditions are improving but in some cases are still not where they should be, and there is an avalanche risk in parts of Switzerland. Austria has generally not received as much snow, however there have been top-ups of snow and the freezing level has been lower.

Edited January 4, 2016 by J10

[Blessed Weather]

One unfortunate consequence of the heavy falls of snow over the last couple of days is that avalanches are now starting to occur. For the French Alps Meteo-France have issued a Medium Risk 3 warning below 2,200m and High Risk 4 for higher altitudes. The following was reported this afternoon in the French media. It is important to note that all three avalanches were caused by people skiing off piste, where extreme caution is now required. Skiers sticking to the pistes have no reason to be concerned.

Two avalanches were recorded in Val d'Isere making 1 dead and 2 injured. In another avalanche a skier died at Saint Colomban des Villards.

Photo: Benoit LAUNAY

Report in French: http://www.ledauphine.com/savoie/2016/01/05/deux-avalanches-en-hors-piste-un-mort-et-deux-blesses

[J10]

The latest copy and paste from me in relation to the Ski Club GB update, and this continues to show the improvement currently under way. However as Malcolm pointed out there is some unstable snow out there with some avalanche warnings. The next blog update will be on Saturday, hopefully it will be on-line around noon-1pm.

A bit more on avalanches. https://www.meted.ucar.edu/afwa/avalanche/navmenu.php?tab=1&page=2.11.0

SNOW NEWS UPDATED 7 JANUARY 2016

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

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

INTRODUCTION Heavy snow was once again falling in the Alps on Thursday 7th January, especially in northern France and western Switzerland. Since the weather changed after New Year's Day, in excess of a metre has been picked up in places. Ski resorts across the Alps are being transformed by the new snow, with more terrain opening up on a near daily basis, but please be careful out there as the avalanche danger has reached Level 4 out of 5 in places and the snowpack is very unstable.

EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK Lots more snow is on the horizon for the Alps as we head into the second full week of 2016. The freezing level is set to temporarily rise on Thursday night and into Friday, raising the snow/rain limit to as high as 1,400-1,800m in places. Above this however lots of fresh powder is forecast. A brief lull over the weekend where little more than 10cm is expected, is looking likely to be followed by some significantly colder and some very stormy weather. The freezing level looks set to plummet below 1,000m on Monday and in excess of a metre of further snow is possible in the northern and western Alps. This is great news for base depths but not such good news for the avalanche risk which is likely to remain high throughout the next seven days. Snow is also forecast for the Pyrenees, although totals here should be slightly less than in the Alps. Expect a brief rise in temperatures through into Friday, before dropping down once again over the weekend. More snow is then expected next week too so expect further improvements in the conditions.

[Norrona2015]

Greetings from Switerland!

Arrived in Sion yesterday to heavy snow and the clear up operations in full swing - very efficent! The bus ride from Sion up to Houte Nandez was a bit hairy at times, thank God the bus had snow chains fitted. Once we reached high Nendaz village it became clear that they had received a fair dump of the white stuff - approx 10-12 inches yesterday alone.

First day on the pistes today and conditions are excellent, spent the entire day boarding in heavy snow which has been awesome. The forecast for Monday/Tuesday is for a meter of snow, suffice to say everyone seems super stoked about that prospect.

 

[Blessed Weather]

There's been a lot of discussion in France about the slow decline in their skiing industry over the last few years. The 2014/15 season saw business drop by a further 4%, continuing a recent trend. Not surprisingly, there's worry about the impact that the very poor early season conditions are having. This is the second Christmas holiday period running where snow conditions have been disappointing (to say the least). Yesterday the 'Ski Areas of France' (DSF) issued the following bulletin (extracts):

According to figures that will be released today by ski areas of France (DSF), the Christmas holidays recorded a decline in attendance of 20%. A situation that impacts all professionals. The equation was simple and ruthless: little or no snow since late November, so fewer lift stations (open). Occupancy rates were (already) announced in decline and without a miracle, this decline has widened. 50% of hoteliers complain of cancellations and 20% saw more than half of their customers give up.     http://www.ledauphine.com/montagne/2016/01/08/debut-de-saison-chaotique-pour-les-stations

Discussions continue in France about extending the tail-end of the season in resorts that currently close early, not through poor spring snow conditions, but because of historic dates of French school holidays.

I have no statistical evidence, but my personal experience and observation has been that better conditions are more likely to exist at the end of the season than at the very beginning. In recent years many resorts have reached their 'close by' date and shut, despite good conditions still being available (the exception being the very lowest pistes). Anybody else got a view on whether there's a shift in the season happening?

[J10]

Latest Snow Blog now out.

There is very real chance of very heavy snow across high parts of the Alps this week, with maybe 1m of snow possible say above 1800m.

Edited January 9, 2016 by J10

[J10]

4 hours ago, Blessed Weather said:

There's been a lot of discussion in France about the slow decline in their skiing industry over the last few years. The 2014/15 season saw business drop by a further 4%, continuing a recent trend. Not surprisingly, there's worry about the impact that the very poor early season conditions are having. This is the second Christmas holiday period running where snow conditions have been disappointing (to say the least). Yesterday the 'Ski Areas of France' (DSF) issued the following bulletin (extracts):

According to figures that will be released today by ski areas of France (DSF), the Christmas holidays recorded a decline in attendance of 20%. A situation that impacts all professionals. The equation was simple and ruthless: little or no snow since late November, so fewer lift stations (open). Occupancy rates were (already) announced in decline and without a miracle, this decline has widened. 50% of hoteliers complain of cancellations and 20% saw more than half of their customers give up.     http://www.ledauphine.com/montagne/2016/01/08/debut-de-saison-chaotique-pour-les-stations

Discussions continue in France about extending the tail-end of the season in resorts that currently close early, not through poor spring snow conditions, but because of historic dates of French school holidays.

I have no statistical evidence, but my personal experience and observation has been that better conditions are more likely to exist at the end of the season than at the very beginning. In recent years many resorts have reached their 'close by' date and shut, despite good conditions still being available (the exception being the very lowest pistes). Anybody else got a view on whether there's a shift in the season happening?

Excellent comments Malcolm, if rather depressing.

It does beg the question at the viability of some ski resorts going forward. If the ski season is being shortened this really cannot help businesses as an ongoing concern. Both min terms of the resorts having skiing operations full stop and local shops/restaurant which have largely focussed on the ski trade.

Your point about Holidays is a good one, assuming that Christmas makes a massive contribution towards turnover for the ski business, the loss of this would severely hinder profitability. If there was another holiday late February – March, after the British half term and at a times with more reliable snow. Then this could compensate on a long term basis.

I am not in expert in conditions across the Alps, but after doing this blog for a number of years, it does appear that average temps in Austria are colder than France being in more of a continental type climate as opposed to a maritime one. And as a result 1000m in France gives similar snow conditions to say 800m in Austria, I used that as an example as I not certain if that is overstating or understating the issue.

Edited January 9, 2016 by J10

[carinthian]

Nice start to the day. Had about 10cm new snow in the village and 20cm on the top ( photos taken looking over Katschberg at Aineck mountain top restaurant aprox 2300m asl) Cloud ad mist rolled in later to spoil the day. Expecting some substantial snow as the week progresses. Freezing level still above 1000m but should fall by to much lower levels by the end of the week.

 C