 Poster: A snowHead
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I've been checking Snow-Forecast on an almost daily basis for the past month. I've noticed the Western Alps get more snow than central and eastern alps. Is this gererally the case every year.
Seperate question, I've heard the Dolomites and Milky way tend to get less snow on average than the rest of the alps ?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Not necessarily true. I'm not someone who follows weather patterns particularly, but this season looks to be a good season all round so far. However, interesting to note that some lower French resorts haven't been doing as well as their Italian and Austrian counterparts, especially since many Austrian resorts tend to be much lower...
There's another thread somewhere saying that Nassfeld in Austria has the deepest snowbase of any Alpine resort so far this season. That's right over on the eastern fringes of the Austrian/Italian border...
The Dolomites and Milky Way also have exceptionally good snow at the moment...
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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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Southern Austria (Kaernten) has had big snow falls this season. If the moist air from the adriatic meets cooler northern air at the point where the alps rise snow will fall. Moist air comming from the south will meet the souther mountains (Italy, Slovenia and Austria) and be forced to rise thus cooling. If the weather comes from the north it will have to pass over the higher norther ranges first. Oftern it blocks the weather and by the time it moved south its dry, warmer air.
Central europe is generally colder in winter that the west. The west gets lots of moist air of the atlantic and the range is higher in the west. With altitude come lower temps and higher percipitation.
In summary, its all about which direction the weather comes from I guess!
All I know is my family all live in BKK Austria (southern Austria) and have had a huge amount of snow this season.
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My feeling (without any scientific foundation) is that my area, around Kitzbühel, has not had as heavy snowfalls as usual (yet) this winter. Thus I would agree that there has been more snow in the western and southern Alps (and northern Germany  ). I don't think that this is necessarily so every year. And I also hope that we will have a big dump of snow some time soon (there seems to have always been snowfalls in March in recent years - but again that is just a gut feeling).
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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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kendub, as gilleski says, it depends which way the weather comes from.
This is usually a generally mild, moist, westerly flow from the Atlantic and the first mountains it hits will generally get the most precipitation. This will fall as snow above a certain altitude where it's cold enough. So, the Western Alps tend to do quite well.
The rain-snow limits tend to be higher in the west (closer to the mild atlantic influence) and south (closer to mild mediterranean influence) and lower in the north and east (closer to cold continental influence), hence Austrian resorts can often get away with being lower than French ones. The cold temps also help preserve the quality of the snow.
The region which claims the highest average snow accumulation in the Alps is the Bregenzerwald area in western Austria, catches a lot of the prevailing W/NW precipitation and far enough east for it to fall as snow from early to late in the season and maybe a bit of lake-effect off Lake Constance:
http://www.skiingaustria.co.uk/blog/au-schoppernau-bregenzerwald-snow-capital/
It's true that the Dolomites do not generally enjoy abundant natural snowfall (on the wrong side to benefit from the prevailing W/NW storms), hence the massive investment in the latest snowmaking technology. This season has been an exception with a lot of moist, southerly weather from the Mediterranean and Adriatic finding it's way all across the southern half of the Alps coupled with some low temps has meant a bumper year for the Southern French Alps, much of the Italian Alps, Dolomites, Southern Austria & Slovenia. Bear in mind also that somewhere like Val Gardena, although being on the southern side of the Alps, is actually further north than all French alpine resorts and a lot of Swiss ones too, because of the way the Alpine chain is oriented.
Local topography can have a big effect on snowfall, a case in point is the Milky Way area. Storms that funnel up from the prevailing W can dump large amounts on the pass at Montgenevre, leaving the Italian side at Sauze/Sestriere in a bit of a 'snow shadow'. Similarly, Flaine in France enjoys a good snow record as the W storms are held up by the huge Mt Blanc massif.
Every season brings it's own peculiar weather patterns that will contradict all the averages and generalisations, so nothing's guaranteed! 
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| kendub wrote: |
I've been checking Snow-Forecast on an almost daily basis for the past month. I've noticed the Western Alps get more snow than central and eastern alps. Is this gererally the case every year.
Seperate question, I've heard the Dolomites and Milky way tend to get less snow on average than the rest of the alps ? |
Lech, in the east-central Alps, gets the most snow on average.
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luigi, apparently it's not going to happen. It's on some thread on here courtesy of stanton from memory. The Rendl part of St Anton to Kappl (same valley as Ischgl) does look like it's going ahead though
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brian
brian
Guest
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Roldal in Western Norway (just east of Bergen) claims the deepest snow in Europe (not the alps i know), they get an average of 440 inches a year (1100cm), which is more than most BC and Colorado resorts. Currently has a base of 190 cm so not bad. Its not a big place and only has about 15k of preppared pistes but there is a lot of freeride terrain to be had, and you can fly from stanstead!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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bart_bdv, excellent maps, I was checking the source directory but couldn't find any info about the period they are measuring, is it one year or an average over a number of years?
That contrast between north and south of Inn Valley is really amazing. The Dolomites look like a desert, glad I took advantage of visiting this year while the snow is abundant. The Jura and Julian Alps look really wet. We'll have to find a map that includes the NE Alps to compare this too.
Also, the summer map from the same directory shows how much wetter that season is right across the Alps.
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