the colder air has sunk further south quicker than predicted maybe, as there was some uncertainty around where that line would be, but the sweet spot/clash of fronts would trigger great precipitation........perhaps we got lucky
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
BobinCH wrote:
A nice 15cm overnight and hopefully another 10cm during the day. And snowing right down to Lac Léman so the snow should be cold, light and fluffy! Bring on the weekend
Like how someone (or the wind) pushes up the snow at the tape measure - adds 5 cm to the real base
the colder air has sunk further south quicker than predicted maybe, as there was some uncertainty around where that line would be, but the sweet spot/clash of fronts would trigger great precipitation........perhaps we got lucky
Where did the sweet spot end up? Is there something like this for France showing actual measured values?
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
13-15th look potentially interesting to my untrained eye (looking at Verbier) although not liking the temp spike at the same time!
After all it is free
After all it is free
Snowing quite nicely here (Wengen) at 1250 metres.
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.
@BobinCH, Meteo France do a dept level measurement, so not very useful, and not updated as quickly as your Swiss ones. Btw how far ahead do SLF look with their forecasts?
Currently the cold / mild boundary is just south of Haute Savoie but moving rapidly lower towards med by this evening. Click on the gifs to play.
Pressure
Precipitation
Can see a brief let up sun/mon before the next low rolls across on tuesday, and this one has potential to be heavier, although with a higher (westerly) snowline, fluctuating 1200-1600m as currently forecast and likely to last a few days.
So what about next weekend.....well quite a few models throwing up a ridge of high pressure thru France / UK, it's a 70/30 split, so really can't make a strong call. As usual, models might be overestimating the demise of northern blocking and defaulting to their westerly bias. And we still have that winter hurricane knocking around in the mid atlantic, with it's ultimate path effecting the ridge / trough formation over western europe.
I'd say right now odds favour a drying out and turning milder next weekend......but low confidence, and of course anything could happen beyond that
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Fri 9-12-22 12:00; edited 2 times in total
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
18cm on our balcony here at 1450m in the 3V, and still snowing.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
polo wrote:
@BobinCH, Meteo France do a dept level measurement, so not very useful, and not updated as quickly as your Swiss ones. Btw how far ahead do SLF look with their forecasts?
6 days and usually more conservative than the others
Compare with 6 day SF
And 10 day YR
Looks good for another decent top up next week
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.
Snow for almost all regions, more for the Western Alps next week
Latest update: 9 Dec 2022 - 12:30
Today we see great images from the Western Alps. In the Northwest Alps, it is snowing as far down as the Swiss alpine foreland. Meanwhile, it is also snowing in more and more places in the Southern and South-Eastern Alps. In the southern Alps, the snowline is still down into many valleys due to the cold air present, with snow in cities such as Meran, Bozen and Trento, for example. Milder air will flow in from the south-west, causing the snowline (especially at the edge of the Alps) to rise to about 1500 metres. Also in the Western Alps, we see that the snowline has risen, especially in the southern areas as expected with the supply of some milder air. Further east on the north side, it is stormy today especially higher up due to the föhn.
More snow for the north-west Alps...
In the southern Alps, this snow will deliver around 10 to 20 centimetres, with most in the southern areas. In the Julian Alps, significantly more may also fall higher up. In the French Alps and western Switzerland, we will see accumulations of around 20 to 40 centimetres. Most of it from the Mont Blanc massif to the Écrins. Inner Alps in the Maurienne Valley a little less.
While the precipitation in the southern Alps quickly recedes, it could snow on the border of these two air masses in the north-western Alps for an extended period. Switzerland and the northernmost areas of the French Alps are still in the cold, keeping the snowline (well) below 1,000 metres. Going further south, we can already expect a rising snowline above 1,500 metres in Savoie and even a bit higher at the alpine edge. Exceptions, especially in the sheltered narrow valleys, are of course always possible.
...and also for Austria
Tomorrow, this precipitation will gradually spread over the rest of the northern and eastern Alps. Much more than 5 to 10 centimetres does not seem to be in the weather charts at first. The snowline will be around or just below 1,000 metres in the southeast, but down into the valleys on the north side. East of approximately Innsbruck, it may continue snowing longer into Sunday. Especially in Salzburgerland, Upper Austria and northern Styria, around 20 centimetres, with continued stau perhaps as much as 30 centimetres could fall. In the Western Alps, increasing high-pressure influence increasingly clears up over the weekend. In the process, it gets quite cold.
After the weekend?
After the weekend, the Western Alps soon seem to be up for new snow. On Monday, a separate low pressure core detaches from a large low pressure system over the Atlantic and then heads eastwards towards the Western Alps. On Tuesday morning, we can expect the first precipitation in the French Alps. Initially, it is still very cold, but as the core is fairly warm, we will also see a rising snowline anyway. At the moment, around 20 to 40 centimetres are in store, locally maybe even a bit more.
The models still differ a little on what happens next. So don't take the snowfall amounts above too literally yet. In the American model, the Swiss north side could still get quite a bit of total precipitation, but after that the fun will be over. The Austrian areas (east of Vorarlberg) can still benefit from about 10 centimetres, but it won't be much. The ECMWF shows the low-pressure area moving even further east, resulting in a bit less snow in the Austrian Northern Alps on the back of the depression and then a (temporary) cold spell. During the passage of the low-pressure area just north of the Alps, the air pressure difference between the Northern and Southern Alps does increase to the extent that the Northern Alps could possibly face a serious föhnstorm.
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Fri 9-12-22 13:42; edited 1 time in total
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@hd, ha it must have just come out as I was typing....better late than never
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
WePowder wrote:
föhnstorm
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
It’s the first day of the new season for many ski areas. Here is an indication of what’s open:
Surprising how little Tignes and the 3 Valleys have open
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Deep cold only really looks like lasting for a few days, but even after that there is little indication of anything like a sustained mild spell with air temperatures generally going up and down against the seasonal average against a cold backdrop.
Snowfall generally favouring the southern side of the Alps.
Any Föhn not currently too alarming.
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?
Having said that this morning both GFS and ECM slip in a brief warm up on 19/20 December.
06z repeats that signal for what would be really quite a sharp warm up on 19/20 December, though dropping below average again from 22 December (by which time we are well into FI either way).
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
And 12z GFS again throws in a sharp warm up on 19/20 December.
Chucks on another mild spell for Christmas as well, but that’s deep in FI.
On both days, skies will be heavily overcast in the western and in the northern regions. In the southern and eastern regions it will still be partly sunny on Tuesday, in the other regions of Switzerland heavily overcast for the most part.
During the course of the day on Tuesday in the western and northern regions, precipitation is expected to set in, to start with as snowfall extending down to low lying areas. Presumably, the precipitation will intensify on Tuesday night and the snowfall level will ascend to 1500 m subsequently. The development and the amounts of precipitation are still uncertain.
By Wednesday evening in the furthermost western part of Lower Valais, 30 to 40 cm of fresh snow is anticipated, in the other regions of western Switzerland 15 to 30 cm above 1800 m is possible, less in other regions. Winds are expected to intensify on Tuesday and be blowing at moderate to strong velocity from southwesterly to westerly directions, then on Wednesday intermittently at strong to storm-strength.
The avalanche danger levels are not expected to change significantly on Tuesday. On Tuesday night from region to region in the west and in the north, depending on amounts of precipitation, the avalanche danger levels could increase significantly. As a consequence of rainfall at intermediate altitudes, moist slides and gliding avalanches can be expected.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
On both days, skies will be heavily overcast in the western and in the northern regions. In the southern and eastern regions it will still be partly sunny on Tuesday, in the other regions of Switzerland heavily overcast for the most part.
During the course of the day on Tuesday in the western and northern regions, precipitation is expected to set in, to start with as snowfall extending down to low lying areas. Presumably, the precipitation will intensify on Tuesday night and the snowfall level will ascend to 1500 m subsequently. The development and the amounts of precipitation are still uncertain.
By Wednesday evening in the furthermost western part of Lower Valais, 30 to 40 cm of fresh snow is anticipated, in the other regions of western Switzerland 15 to 30 cm above 1800 m is possible, less in other regions. Winds are expected to intensify on Tuesday and be blowing at moderate to strong velocity from southwesterly to westerly directions, then on Wednesday intermittently at strong to storm-strength.
The avalanche danger levels are not expected to change significantly on Tuesday. On Tuesday night from region to region in the west and in the north, depending on amounts of precipitation, the avalanche danger levels could increase significantly. As a consequence of rainfall at intermediate altitudes, moist slides and gliding avalanches can be expected.
It’s all good for the base above 1500m. There’ll be another cold snap along soon and 30cm of cold on top and it will be perfect again. Only 20-30cm on Friday/Saturday on a thinnish base and today was amazing!
After all it is free
After all it is free
@BobinCH, yep, at this point warm spells are really not that rare. There‘s even a singularity named after it, Weihnachtstauwetter. All builds higher up.
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.
A few cms in London tonight, the usual travel chaos has begun.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
A weekend warriors wet dream, especially if it’s more like 30cm on Tuesday as per most of the forecasts
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
ster...it was a good deal more than a few cms.......8 inches out here in essex
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.
50 cm in the last 48 hours in our little corner of Austria…waaaayyy more than forecast….and it’s still falling! Great news for our local slopes!
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Looks pretty normal to me actually if anything quite good seeing it really is the first week of the season
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
shannyla wrote:
Just yet more evidence of how poor the snow has been at the start of this season.
Clearly, only resorts higher than Grenoble will be worth skiing at all, and then mainly on rocks. If you can call that skiing.
Can't let that pass without comment. Ignoring the fact that all ski resorts are higher than Grenoble, where are you talking about? I'm in Les Arcs and for the opening week of the season the piste conditions have been very good, and there have been plenty of people enjoying the off-piste even if it's still a bit thin and a risk to their bases. We had another batch of fresh snow overnight so these were the conditions this morning:
If you can't find delight in those conditions, on the 13th of December, then I'm not sure that you enjoy skiing at all.
After all it is free
After all it is free
shannyla wrote:
davidof wrote:
Not much but enough to cause Snowmaggedon on the roads as a lot of people don't have snow tires.
Just yet more evidence of how poor the snow has been at the start of this season.
I know everyone is beating up on you but you are indeed correct, it is generally a slower start to the season in the French Northern Alps compared to the last few years probably due to thermal lag with the very hot summer and autumn which is why a lot of ski areas, including high altitude domains like Val Thorens, had to delay openings. Same in the Pyrenees from what I can see.
I'm not sure my video shows that though, you wouldn't normally expect much snow at valley levels, it was posted more to confirm what was predicted had happened.
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.
davidof wrote:
... it is generally a slower start to the season in the French Northern Alps compared to the last few years ...
I've skied early December, including opening week, for much of the last 20 years and I'd say conditions this week are pretty good in Les Arcs. I've certainly been here with much worse conditions in previous years, with a higher snowline, thin and scratchy pistes with many pebbles coming through, unskiable off-piste and pisteurs having to shovel snow by hand from the side of the pistes to keep key routes open. None of those things are true this week, and today was really very good indeed if you liked skiing powder snow on piste. It's not as epic as the start of the season was last winter but those conditions weren't typical in my experience, nevertheless I'm enjoying the skiing this week a great deal.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
My take on the winter so far is that snow has been later coming which has had an adverse effect on getting pistes ready in some resorts.
However the past seasons when we did have early snow January wasn’t great for some resorts with dry and cold. It’s not a bad start, could be worse could be better.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
forecast was rain/ snow ish but just seen it’s snowing down to Bourg all very odd , might be because of cold air stuck in the valleys
Great news for our local slopes!
