 Poster: A snowHead
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phillip33, alas I will be back in the UK. But if you can't get up to La Tania in a winter tyred Q7 the snow's going to be fricken awesome so we will all be grateful for your self-sacrifice to the snowgods.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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A good point, it's just a shame I,m not good enough to ski the bloody stuff !
At home eh ? Just stopping over to earn a few quid to pay for that pad of yours? Guess you never travel by car up the mountain?!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| phillip33 wrote: |
| At home eh ? Just stopping over to earn a few quid to pay for that pad of yours? Guess you never travel by car up the mountain?! |
Usually by car, but it's the chauffeur that drives it 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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rob@rar,
Game set and match !
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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according to the Val D'Isere website forecast..........they are expecting at least 60cms tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday December 29th, 2011 Friday December 30th, 2011
Forecast Cloudy morning with light snow falls. Sunny spells are expected in the afternoon. Heavy snow falls all day long, we are waiting for at least 60 cm of snow
Ste Foy being just down the road hopefully will get much of the same.
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i guess the rain/snow limit will be the main issue over the next few days precipitation, meteo france has freezing levels over 2000m on sunday 
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^ yeah, looks like some heavy rain in lower resorts. "Best conditions can be found on the upper slopes" haha.
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As flagged up on the skipass.com forum (and a number of others) the strength of the Azores High is certainly becoming one of the major features of the first part of winter. You can see it clearly in today's UKMO chart (or indeed any number of recent charts).
This is having a number of effects (beyond delivering us a very high NAO).
- It is blocking off low pressure from pushing into the Mediterranean, meaning it is much drier in the Southern Alps.
- It is bringing storm systems down from the north west, bringing additional snow into the Northern Alps.
- Amongst other things it (and the jet racing over the top of it) is preventing really cold air from piling down from the Arctic. So far not too much of a problem, but meaning we are having overall a relatively average to mild start in terms of temperatures.
Over the coming days the Azores High sits further to the west (and cold weather pushes in from the north west), as it nudges it's way east later the flow of snow is cut off and temperatures rise.
As we go into FI there is uncertainty over how far east the high will push across (see the different GFS and ECM examples from yesterday morning) and far south low pressure will dig. Last night's 18z had the low pressure pushing down from the north with a disrupted polar vortex, this morning's keep high pressure in charge. So a great deal of uncertainty remains.
In terms of the next few days in the northern Alps.
- Heavy snow tomorrow and New Year's Eve, high winds at times. Temperatures rising towards the end of this period so rain lower down.
- New Year's Day will be mild. Though fortunately looks relatively dry.
- 02 January snow returning and temperatures falling (so rain to snow at lower altitudes).
- Much lower confidence has snow returning to low levels on or around 05 January.
In terms of contrasts it still looks just possible that Bourg St Maurice could record the wettest December on record. Out west by comparison rainfall in the last couple of days means Seattle has just narrowly missed a record for the driest ever December...
There is snow coming into northern parts of the US, but this shows how below average a start they have been having in a number of places.
NOAA current precipitation against normal for western US
Here are some ensembles:
Les Deux Alpes.
Chamonix.
The Arlberg.
Hintertux.
Sestriere.
Folgaria.
Zermatt.
Cairngorm.
Eastern Pyrenees.
Bad Gastein.
Last edited by After all it is free  on Tue 17-01-12 12:51; edited 1 time in total
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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nozawaonsen, really interesting update, thank you.
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NOZA - I'm sure you've been asked before, but can you explain what the thick blue control line is on the ensembles, what does it represent?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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ZAMG's December 2011 preliminary round up for Austria.
Mild, wenig Sonne, im Westen feuchtester Dezember seit 20 Jahren
- Large East/West split. Parts of the Arlberg and Tirol had their wettest December since 1991, with two to three times average rain/snow. In parts of eastern Austria however, there was less than half the average rainfall.
- Sunshine was below December averages. Temperatures generally above average.
- After the driest November on record and the wet weather in the west, snowpacks in the west are roughly average for the time of year. The deepest measured snowpack was is Galzig am Arlberg 190cm.
Arteta10, it's a control run, at slightly lower resolution than the operational. You want to look for the control and operational reaching similar conclusions.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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nozawaonsen, Mmm. Lots of food for thought there, thanks.
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With strong to stormy winds coming in over next couple of days, accompanied by heavy snow and increasing avalanche risk there could be quite a few lift closures. Potentially worth staking that spot in the bar by the fireplace early.
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You know it makes sense.
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nozawaonsen, thanks again for your time in posting weather updates in detail...a great read !
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Heavy snow showers ganging up and barrelling down into W Switz & N French Alps tonight 
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Poster: A snowHead
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12z GFS pushes up potential snowfall in the Alps on 04/05 January quite considerably.
ECM agrees. Though it's still too far to have a real sense of how heavy this may or may not be.
Here's SLF on the next few days.
Avalanche danger is increasing, amidst snowfall and storm
- "The snow depths are far greater than average, particularly in northern and in western regions."
- "Thursday night in western and northern regions, snowfall will set in. During the afternoon on Friday, the precipitation will slacken off. In the furthermost southern regions it will be partly sunny." [20 to 30cms in places and up to 40cm locally]
- "... northwesterly wind will be blowing at strong to storm velocity."
- "On Saturday, continuous and intermittently intense snowfall is anticipated in all regions of the Swiss Alps except the furthermost south. The northwesterly wind will be blowing at strong velocity."
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The Jan 5th snowfall looks like it will be another biggie (for the Alps).
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Certainly a lot more snow due at altitude in the northern Alps over the next 48 hours.
Slightly less good and tricky to be exact, but it does look like heavy rain could be falling at times tomorrow below about 1500 to 1800m along with strong winds in places.
By Monday though the temperature is dropping and further potentially quite substantial snow is looking likely. This will push in from the west so arriving later and finishing later (early Tuesday?) in the east.
Pushing on to Wednesday it looks like the Alps could see further snowfall and colder temperatures, before a stronger system pushes through on Thursday 05/06 January. If 06z is right this is followed by a lighter band of snow on Saturday.
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For tomorrow at 2000m Chamonix meteo is forecasting another 50-70cm. 
Guess that means torrential rain at lower altitudes though, which will wash away a lot of the snow that fell today???
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hd, It will wash away some but help consolidate some too, depending on temperature. Not the end of the world.
More worrying is avalanche, or even mudslide risk.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Keeping an eye on that Bourg St Maurice record. It's crept up to 279.2mm though that's without today's rain/snow (342.2mm is the record).
Short term looking at GFS 12z this evening the picture remains the same.
Looking further ahead the potential for snowfall and lower temperatures in the second half of the week continues to gain support.
- Light snow on 04 January.
- Potentially heavy snow on 05 into 06 January.
Out into FI (so low confidence)
- Light snow on 07 January
- Further snow on 08/09 January.
Here's SLF's update for Switzerland tomorrow.
High avalanche danger in west and north, moist snow avalanches in afternoon
- "Between Thursday morning and Friday afternoon above 1000 m in the Jura, on the northern flank of the Alps, in the Lower Valais, in the Gotthard region and from Prättigau into the northern Engadine, there was 20 to 40 cm of snowfall, locally as much as 50 cm of new fallen snow"
- "On Friday night the precipitation will become more intense again from the west."
- "By Saturday 20 to 40 cm of snowfall is anticipated [in places]... The snowfall level during the night will be 600 m. Over the course of the day, it will ascend to 1500 to 1800 m from the northwest. A northwesterly wind will be blowing at moderate to strong velocity.
- "In all regions of the Swiss Alps, moist snow avalanches and full depth snowslides accompanied by rainfall can be expected below about 1800 m over the course of the day." [and that's likely to be an issue for much of the northern Alps]
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Some wind speeds from "Robert" which hit the UK on Wednesday. Slightly oddly the source is Meteo France.
- 176km/h à Aonach Mor (à 1130m d'altitude).
- 161km/h à Caingorm Summit (1237m).
- 152km/h à Bealach Na Ba (773m)
- 141km/h à Glen Ogle (564m)
- 128km/h à South Uist Range (4m)
- 128km/h à Tiree (9m)
- 120km/h à Loch Glascarnoch (269m)
- 115km/h à Islay - Port Ellen (13m)
Next Tuesday incidentally, currently looks like it could bring further stormy weather to the UK.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Saturday / Sunday could be black days again in certain French resorts I should think
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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nozawaonsen, impressive wind speeds.
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I'm off to Arabba in the Dolomites on the 8th Jan, will any of this snow make it's way that far east??
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You know it makes sense.
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red 27,
Do you mean rain! If that's the case do you think I will not need the winter tyres I have just spent a small fortune on ( la Tania 2nd jan ) , if so robrar can you ask your "chauffeur" to look at your tyres and seebif you need new ones, typical bad luck , the rain on the conservatory is blooming loud, hope it ends up in the alps but on a cold front not warm, cannot complain though as we will be skiing above 1850 most times, time for a drink ,
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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maybe he means 5/5 avalanche risk; more than likely, I'd say. chamonix meteo says 5/5 tomorrow - will inevitably close some pistes, and possibly some roads.
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Poster: A snowHead
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phillip33, wot pam w, says. Black Flag I should have said
You will need chains tomorrow in the French alps regardless of tyres
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Then I need another drink as I have to practice again,please rain on Monday if only for few hours !
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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phillip33, please can we keep this on topic about the weather, rather than your snow chains.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| nozawaonsen wrote: |
luigi, yes Monday/Tuesday in particular. The issue is more about north south than east west. Snow has been pushing through to the Southern Alps, just not in anything like the amounts in the north. |
Good news, it hasn't been a epic start to the season in the Dolomites, good job they're experts with the snowmaking. Just hoping Innsbruck airport will be open for business, the freeze levels are dropping sub-600m next week coinciding with the heavy snowfalls in the Tyrol!
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Noza happy new year your a star
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+1
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Didn't in the end reach the 1965 record for Bourg St Maurice. It reached 324.1mm for December (the record was 342.2mm), although it did equal the December 1965 record for 20 days of December with rain and was just over three times the monthly average of of 107.2mm.
Further snow looks like crossing the Alps tomorrow with temperatures cooling as it does. Looks like around 10-20cm. Could last into Tuesday morning in the east though in general Tuesday looks clearer.
By Wednesday another relatively light band of snow is working it's way through, to be followed by what looks like a substantial (and potentially disruptive) snowfall on 05/06 January in the northern Alps. Possibly slightly more focussed on the east this time round, but that could still shift. It does though look likely to be quite a bit colder than the snow at the end of last week.
Here's WRF for next Thursday midday.
Saturday night looks like a further light band of snow will potentially pass through. With the possibility of further snow pushing into the eastern Alps on 08/09 January.
Beyond that and deeper into FI it continues to look like a period of colder weather may be on the cards.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Hmm. Now I have to decide whether to drive back up to the French alps from Genoa tomorrow, or wait till a nicer day (a very good skiing day....) on Tuesday. Decisions, decisions. But nice ones.  Just saw a sign, out of the taxi window, to say it is forecast to rain in Genoa tomorrow. So I think that suggests heading north, to the snow, tomorrow.
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FAQ
but it seems to be a trend
