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Worldwide Mountain & Snow Sports Discussion 2018/19


J10

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Just back from an excellent week in Cortina D’Ampezzo. Never been before and a interesting week it was! Arrived on the Saturday and little snow in the village though the slopes were fine. 6-8 inches Sunday afternoon through to Monday and a two/ three inch top up Wednesday made a massive difference. However a massive storm starting late Thursday and in to the weekend deposited 80cms plus in the village and a awful lot more on the mountains. We just about got out of Cortina for what should have been a 3 hour journey to Innsbruck. 14 hours later following a blocked Autobahn/Autostrade and avalanches around Innsbruck we flew out of Verona. Making it home 12 hours late! As for the skiing well I thought it was excellent. Slopes are generally quiet to very quiet. Lifts are pretty close to town. Cortina is very pretty and the mountains stunning. However I did not think it’s your typical ski resort. Just a handful of (excellent) bars in the town- Hacker Pschoor, Sport, LP 26, and Cafe la suite being the main ones. Similarly a few cafes supplement this and yes the rich and famous strut the streets at night in their firs and diamonds. Cortina is worth a visit and if you do go nip up or even stay at the Miramonti Grand to get a feel for the 1950s and 60s Hollywood ski world. It’s also pretty easy to catch a bus to Venice if you fancy a break one day. 

When home and on my computer I’ll post some pics of the slopes etc

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Summary
The conditions over the Alps continue to be very good with large amounts of snow widely over the Alps. The downside is the remaining risk of avalanches in off piste area.

Synoptic Pattern
Currently there is a large area of Low Pressure over Scandinavia and this is feeding in a very cold feed on an North Westerly wind across NW Europe. Later today a cold front is likely to bring moderate precipitation across the Alps and much colder temperatures as it does so.

An area of High Pressure is forecast to edge into Western parts of the Alps tomorrow and this is likely to build across all of the Alps by midweek (1035mb), bringing much drier and more settled conditions,

The Centre of the High Pressure is expected to edge eastwards late in the week, however with Pressure over 1030mb still expected over the Alps.  Winds are expected from a more southerly direction, bring in more milder conditions more especially for Western parts of the Alps.

675316046_10022019500.thumb.gif.3f18e654dcc63bb374eae051c8d4249f.gif1248909140_10022019850.thumb.gif.c72e7f964df4c1dc009045788fdd5115.gif

Temperatures

850Hpa
Sunday South 0c to -1c, North +5 to +7c
Monday South -1c to -4c, North -5c
Tuesday South West -1c to +3c, Central -3c to -5c, North and East -6c to -9c
Wednesday West 0c to +4c, Central 0c to -4c, East -6c to -9c
Thursday West/Central 0c to +5c, East -1c to -4c
Friday West/Central 0c to +4c, South East -2c to -5c

Precipitation and Snowfall

As mentioned above, the cold front is edging South East over the Alps today, bringing precipitation initially for NW parts of the Alps [French Alps, Western Switzerland and SW Germany). By midnight tonight precipitation is expected across all of the alps.

1020038105_10Feb1800.thumb.JPG.a0402b7ff18f7fe2f662039c2b83db76.JPG1118070461_11Feb0000.thumb.JPG.3095b39201d5afdfe1a10518181707f6.JPG

Further precipitation expected tomorrow, more especially for Northern and Western areas, so for the French Alps, Switzerland, Southern Germany and North Austria. This only slowing fading through Monday with a drier evening expected in Western parts.  

1551529814_11Feb1500.thumb.JPG.ab0b3124966943c7efb8cac02e1c62cf.JPG314511886_11Feb0900.thumb.JPG.111cfd27ee97ab197b342b359b055450.JPG

For Tuesday dry in western areas, with patchy precipitation expected for Northern Austria, this only slowly fading during the day.

Over the next 3 days, 50-100cm of fresh snow expected in Northern and Western areas, and the following 3 days mostly dry over the Alps.

Snowfall perhaps above 1250m on the front edge of the front, but below 800m thereafter.

951182094_0-3dayssnow.thumb.JPG.b82e89ada4dddc50fcb46d358df54d13.JPG951479180_3-6dayssnow.thumb.JPG.9d756c1504adf0e82b7caebc76dd2765.JPG

Summary
Some snow this weekend, then turning much more settled generally and milder from the West.

Edited by J10
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Some pictures of Cortina as promised. The one at the bottom is the main road out of Cortina to the south during the storm that hit on the Friday. It was being ploughed continuously. The coach that picked us up had to carry on for 10 minutes until it could find somewhere to turn around without the worry of getting stuck in the ever deepening snow.

F8F81D50-2048-48A1-ABE7-BF0361F36F17.jpeg

8C0113BF-5F56-4F3C-84A5-96998B7B2130.jpeg

279FC01C-E7B5-42C5-9165-40318049C683.jpeg

A5484300-969D-4A7B-BF1A-265366F7CCA1.jpeg

Edited by Betleyblizud
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Posted
  • Location: Cwmbran. South East Wales 300ft ASL
  • Location: Cwmbran. South East Wales 300ft ASL

Travelling to Méribel this coming weekend....was hoping I’d help my snow fix but now getting worried I’ll be needing flip flops and shorts

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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
4 hours ago, WINTRY WALES said:

Travelling to Méribel this coming weekend....was hoping I’d help my snow fix but now getting worried I’ll be needing flip flops and shorts

Are you there for the week? Looks very much like spring skiing with freeze/thaw conditions to start the week. But at least there's a reasonable depth of snow to enjoy skiing in lovely sunshine and sit on restaurant terraces. Here's the official French snow depths for lower/upper slopes showing 105 cms lower and 166 cms upper slopes. All but one of the 64 lifts open too (note the latter figures are for the Nordic skiing trails).

1115846261_MeribelSnowdepths.thumb.jpg.b4593ef133af258a06987a36931a8c14.jpg

https://www.ledauphine.com/meteo/meteo-neige

And keep an eye on the forecasts for the end of your week. GFS 12z today suggesting you might see snow falling on Friday 1st March:

205366977_GFSFri01Mar500hPa.thumb.png.e71dc750b5f2fc8099fdf20b083f13b6.png959928734_GFSFri01MarPrecip.thumb.png.a9d09959626ead304e5dedff371f6abc.png

Hope you have a great week. Don't forget to post some pics. :oldsmile:

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Posted
  • Location: Cwmbran. South East Wales 300ft ASL
  • Location: Cwmbran. South East Wales 300ft ASL

Hi Blessed Weather

Thanks for the reply and info. Unfortunately I’m not there for a full week. Saturday until the Wednesday after. Yes will be nice to enjoy some sunshine in the snow...hoping that wintry weather arrives slightly earlier on my last day or something  but not lookimg likely at the minute. 

Shall post some pics! Can’t grumble at having a beer on the slopes in the sun!!

cheers

 

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This coming week over the Alps increasing settled with high Pressure becoming dominant and increasingly mild.

320027160_17022019500.thumb.gif.f3c9b4d8bae030de3512912a74f9c1ef.gif1027157792_17022019850Anom.thumb.gif.bca064d9b8b23291600f6fb3fdc793be.gif118185980_17022019850.thumb.gif.373f98dcd4d4ba7711036908a973c563.gif

Very dry too as per the snow amounts over

the next 3 days (left) and days 3-6 (right)

1513314959_0-3dayssnow.thumb.JPG.7cd0b25c65c32c21a441104fde4a2ca1.JPG1727055424_3-6dayssnow.thumb.JPG.b335e50ad5fc0785ce527b998b264793.JPG

 

Edited by J10
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Posted
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks

Tragic news of a the avalanche above Crans Montana. It happened across an official piste, almost unheard of

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-47297445

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Posted
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
Just now, johnholmes said:

Tragic news of the avalanche above Crans Montana. It happened across an official piste, almost unheard of

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-47297445

 

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Conditions
The dry theme has continued over the Alps, with much more of a settled theme continuing. On piste conditions remain very good with earlier massive amounts of snow, but conditions ae slushy in the afternoons and off piste a lack of fresh powder is an issue with avalanches remaining a risk.

Synoptics
High Pressure dominant over the Alps this weekend and for the start of next week (1040mb). While high pressure is likely to stick around for much of next week, this slowly weakening to around 1020mb, and at times allowing more of a northly flow for eastern parts. 

Temps still largely mild or very mild over the Western half of the Alps and Central areas, with 850Hpa temperatures +4c to +10c generally but dropping back to +1 to +4c for Friday.

Temperatures far more variable for Eastern parts, with some days having 850Hpa close to freezing, others with 850Hpa closer to +5 to +6c again but dropping back to +1 to +5c for Friday.

566066045_24022019500.thumb.gif.e40db4ded8610d5f071d54dfa49d6eed.gif1567963308_24022019850.thumb.gif.99df3b8e70b0dd1dc77e3341cefe40c6.gif

Precipitation
Very dry for the next 3-4 days before some precipitation edges in from the West towards the Weekend.

GFSOPME06_96_49.thumb.png.51dc8fac8d3dbf78555d1f2cf9c802fc.pngGFSOPME06_168_49.thumb.png.953dab68094e8cadb74c8dc10a5c3bb0.png

Snowfall
Some snow across the Alps before next weekend, but not huge amounts, perhaps 20cm over 1800m.

913298222_0-3dayssnow.thumb.JPG.c0592bc7230e4c755f928839efd11ca3.JPG242432573_3-6dayssnow.thumb.JPG.b9a518f664381e70d3cf4dd893f541ca.JPG

 

Edited by J10
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Conditions
In broad brush terms, the winter so far has seen record-breaking snowy weather over parts of the Alps for January. It turned much more settled over the Alps as moved through February with some very mild conditions over the past couple of weeks. The start of March looks different once again with a changeable week currently suggested. 

Synoptics
The current weather pattern over the Alps is a ridge of High Pressure with a mild South Westerly flow. Into the start of next week, the stormy weather over the Uk is set to move Eastwards with some strong Westerly winds over Northern mainland Europe and over the Alps. This also bringing some cooler weather with some precipitation likely.

For the mid part of next week, an area of low pressure is expected over NW Europe, initially feeding in some SW winds on the eastern flank and a mild Tropical Maritime airmass. As this area of low-pressure edges eastwards, winds veering to more of a NW flow, bringing in a much cooler Polar Maritime airmass.

Towards the weekend, a ridge of High Pressure is set to move in from the west, so becoming quieter once again over the Alps.

03032019_500.thumb.gif.bdd551e8eede5050d4870c6e5e44b605.gif03032019_850.thumb.gif.0121acd3e50bd0b7c1ddada96ccccca7.gif

Temperatures
image.thumb.png.f9b4086967a8b3c9e0a0f0620896b559.png

Precipitation / Snowfall

Dry over the alps today, Monday sees a band of precipitation edging in from the West, bringing heavy bursts initially for France and Switzerland but hit moving eastwards quickly on brisk winds so effecting Austria later in the day. Snow initially from 1200m but lowering during the day.

1655531019_03Mara.thumb.png.2cc78b42201d203ab58e657f1220a8ca.png1534733469_03Marb.thumb.png.b2a4a1352a4d3a417c2c05bcfce18fa8.png

Some showery precipitation for Northern parts on Tuesday, but this quickly fading.

Dry in the east on Wednesday but some showers in western fringes of the Alps. Snow level above 2000m.

Thursday sees the next main system as a band of precipitation edges in from the west, with some large precipitation totals for France and Switzerland through the day, edging into Austria later but fragmenting as it does so. Snow Levels 1800m on the front edge but lowering to 1200m behind.

1834983881_06Mara.thumb.png.18f9eb1fd2154b55ef0b062dae08613f.png224850340_06Marb.thumb.png.6147dbb89cb68742b23ba68c756a67f7.png

Further showery outbreaks likely on Friday.

1203382978_0-3dayssnow.thumb.JPG.76c804d607b05f103394351c8cc2ad58.JPGimage.thumb.png.9d87e76f5fcbdf85ed56057224d417cc.png

Moderate snowfalls possible this week, perhaps 50cm above 1800m.

Edited by J10
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Latest Mini blog

Recent Weather

The past week has seen a bit of a change over the Alps, with the spring like conditions over the Alps ending as the clock actually turned into Spring.
There has been a fair bit of fresh snowfall over the Alps with more wintry conditions generally.

875948432_Last7dayssnow.thumb.JPG.e505a88d6e11ecf44f441b447f2ed39d.JPG

Synoptics

The current weather pattern over the Alps has residual milder weather, but already with a North West wind flow starting to emerge bringing colder conditions.

The coming week is largely dominated by areas of low pressure edging in the North and North West. Winds are generally from a Westerly to north Westerly direction. Temperatures are likely to fluctuate a little as different airmasses push in.

Monday sees very cold weather with 850Hpa temperatures close to -8c.
Tuesday turned milder form the West for a times,

While Wednesday and Thursday 850HPa generally below freezing.

Friday seems temperatures rise a little generally, more especially for the south of the Alps.

10032019_500.thumb.gif.fc88fcb6b2c356538662e7f7fc783f0a.gif10032019_850.thumb.gif.3cc4c2b6f59abc50997a4719e3591b6f.gif

Precipitation / Snowfall

50cm of snow is possible over a swathe of the Alps this coming week, altitude as ever is important, over 1750m most of the precipitation is likely to be snow, above 1500m snow is expected apart from perhaps Tuesday, with some snow down to 1000m at times.

1544535648_0-3dayssnow.thumb.JPG.a63ea40d00cff25abbf589046ceb3fe5.JPG1711659748_3-6dayssnow.thumb.JPG.9c1bb9b97ca487695f2ae0ef0ef4ed68.JPG

Edited by J10
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Posted
  • Location: Paris suburbs
  • Location: Paris suburbs

Yep, March is definitely making sure that February's mild - if not warm - weather won't put an early end to the season, at least in the north western alps. An unexpected and rare fall of snow all the way down at 450m right now and even modest altitudes should see an improvement in the conditions.

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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk

I'm in Val Cenis in the Savoie Region of France, located on the border with Italy. The season has been poor down here in the south western Alps, missing out on the heavy snow falls enjoyed by the northern Alps in January. But as @Harve has posted, could March make up for things?

It was a mild +8C on arrival on Saturday, and Sunday's skiing was in very slushy conditions with runs below 2,000m looking a bit sorry for themselves and a couple of pistes closed.

Brown patches on one of the closed runs to the village: 1957024844_VCMonMarmotte.thumb.jpg.5310a02b44778c8b62ec963f0445d5cf.jpg

Today a totally different story. The cold weather and snow has arrived with a vengeance. In the -5C temp this morning the pistes below 2,000m had frozen solid into groomed ice, so really unpleasant skiing. Then mid-morning it started snowing in a strong, gusty wind. This afternoon some heavy snowfall and the wind even stronger, making for blizzard like conditions on the piste, even down on the nursery slope. The resort finally closed the gondola and the 2 x 6-man chairlifts up the mountain during the lunch period saying the winds were too strong. So weather stopped play, but every cloud has a silver lining and a late lunch and several carafes of red enjoyed in one of the piste-side restaurants.

The narrow band of very strong winds over the French & Swiss Alps showed up nicely on the Arpege wind gust chart for this afternoon; followed by a pic showing the unpleasant conditions even down on the nursery slope: 

1051834580_ArpegeWindGustsAlpsMon11Mar.thumb.png.91c3a3590cd48321a7bb21b912b42e51.png1160409662_VCMonnursery.thumb.jpg.0823b2a3abbf05f31e7c0f53a8cc894c.jpg

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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk

Well what a mixed bag of weather this week in Val Cenis. To be honest, rather disappointing for mid-March. The temperature has been up and down like a yo-yo, there's been several very windy days, several days with frequent light snow showers (some falling as rain in the village), and just the one glorious day with lots of sunshine. Yesterday evening and overnight brought a spell of heavy snow giving around 6 inches in the village and more up top, but today back to mild temps so everything is very slushy and heavy below 2,000m.

But don't get me wrong - I'm always happy to be in the mountains with skis on, whatever the weather! :oldsmile:

A few more pics from the week:

Empty runs through the trees: 1592713879_VCBlue.thumb.jpg.a835397025913b1a238c3598791bf458.jpg  1036726976_VCRed.thumb.jpg.0a5e1f601b9b3be1c73bb2e05baa2f3c.jpg

Flood light tobogganing on the nursery slope: 1330908018_VCTuestoboggannight.thumb.jpg.0285d1a7d480e9317de96d6618bbf9ca.jpg

A glorious sunset one evening: 1613209012_VCTuesSunset.thumb.jpg.ae827e44b6794a615f089f70bfc9d33b.jpg

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Posted
  • Location: Tullynessle/Westhill
  • Weather Preferences: Cold and snowy or warm and dry
  • Location: Tullynessle/Westhill

We're heading to Austria in 2wks time, it'll be the latest I've ever skied in the Alps so it'll be interesting to find out what "spring skiing" is like. Chose Solden as not only does it have height, but more importantly it has a campsite with availability for our motorhome. Piste condition currently look good and despite recent, and forecast, switches between cold snowy to warm bright and back I'm hopeful conditions will stay good into early April. 

Since we made the decision last week I've been on constant webcam and forecast check. 

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Others will be able to help more, but one major advantage that Austral has is the relative lack of Maritime influence that resorts further west have.

Latest forecast suggests a cold and snowy next couple of days, followed by mild and sunny with daytime temps a few degrees above freezing at mid resort level.

image.thumb.png.895ab6ef64f173674911ec2a14203eaf.png

The current pattern is for the settled conditions to remain in charge into next weekend and into the following week.

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Posted
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
  • Weather Preferences: An Alpine climate - snowy winters and sunny summers
  • Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk
On 17/03/2019 at 07:39, Ravelin said:

We're heading to Austria in 2wks time, it'll be the latest I've ever skied in the Alps so it'll be interesting to find out what "spring skiing" is like. Chose Solden as not only does it have height, but more importantly it has a campsite with availability for our motorhome. Piste condition currently look good and despite recent, and forecast, switches between cold snowy to warm bright and back I'm hopeful conditions will stay good into early April. 

Since we made the decision last week I've been on constant webcam and forecast check. 

Great choice. :oldsmile: I learnt to ski in Solden in 1966 on a school trip, so it has a special place in my life and I've been back a couple of times since. The resort has a very good snow record for a late skiing holidays, so fingers crossed you'll be OK on your trip. Some snow stats:

Solden snow depth record, last three seasons:

1980859727_SoldenSnowRecord.thumb.jpg.e5f3dad380ed731c27874638cb59cafa.jpg

Source: https://www.igluski.com/ski-resorts/austria/solden/snow-history

Average precipitation (snow/rain) in the 1st week of April over the period 2007 - 2018:

Base 1,370m 2139715396_SoldenPrecipHistory2007-18.thumb.jpg.e11c21574a16d38c810bf4cdf2dd1574.jpg Mid station 2,310m 1074579555_SoldenPrecipHistory2007-18midmtn.thumb.jpg.9ed7a36b36dc564ef742cf63882304f9.jpg

Source: https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Solden/history

 

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Posted
  • Location: Paris suburbs
  • Location: Paris suburbs

The snow has stopped falling, but it had given a good temporary covering down to 1000m or so, and will have greatly supplemented the snowback at higher altitude. Spring is very much back with sunny and warm temperatures on the horizon for the rest of March.

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A largely settled week expected over the Alps under a dominant High Pressure.

24032019_500.gif

After a mild start over the weekend, with 850Hpa temperatures above +10c, slowly turning colder from the north, with sub zero 850Hpa temperatures for norther areas, but always staying a little milder further south.

Turning a little less cold again even where by Friday, with 850HPa generally around +5c.

24032019_850.gif

Looking at the precipitation maps, some precipitation is possible between days 0-3. This is most likely on Monday as a weak front edges down from the North. Thereafter much of the week looks dry or totally dry.

image.thumb.png.1b0e44280b1811e7792b9616e47ddf31.pngCapture.thumb.JPG.3a25faaf616ca285d734054671b808fe.JPGimage.thumb.png.32870f1fb67007cb5ef1d6e004beeb63.png

With clear conditions expected overnight, the best conditions are expected in the mornings, with spring skiing conditions expected in the afternoon.  

 

 

Edited by J10
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