Extremely warm air will hit the Alps from Thursday. A southwesterly current will push warm air from northern Africa to the Alps. Before the warm air arrives in the Alps, we can expect some snow above 1800-2000 meters in the northwest of the Alps on Wednesday. Some positive points:
- Thursday is a powder day at high altitude
- It’s not sure if it will really be that warm on Friday
- The maps for the first Christmas week are going back and forth, so let’s stay positive
You really have to search for powder in the Alps at the moment, but if you’re on your way with a guide you might find some good snow. The snow is still in pretty good condition on north faces in the northwest of the Alps and you can still find some powder above 2200 meters. Do not expect Super Mario Land with thick pillows and white alpine meadows with 50 centimeters of dry snow, but it’s still better than a good day at work!
Thursday will be a powder day
Last Thursday was quite okay and this Thursday will be pretty good as well in the northwest of the Alps. It pays to check the slopes above 2000 meters where you want to ride. Where do you find a good base? Not a lot of sharks? It won’t be epic, but it’s better than nothing. With a snow line between 1500 and 2000 meters the snow will fall in the high alpine. You won’t find that much snow below the tree line and because part of the dump will fall as rain below 2000 meters, the conditions won’t improve. You should be in the high alpine in the northwest of the Alps on Thursday.
Higher temperatures from Friday
The latest calculations assume high temperatures from Friday. It looks like that the front will be situated in the east of the Alps, so France, Switzerland and Italy won’t suffer that much from the higher tempatures and rain. The east of Austria will suffer the most from the heat and rain as high as 2000 meters altitude. Well, Friday is still far away so let’s hope it’s not too bad. But the snow below the treeline won’t improve next week.
Everything is possible in the first Christmas week
The calculations for the Christmas week still go back and forth. Expect nothing and you can only be surprised…
Alternatives for the Alps?
The Alps definitely need to have snowfall for a week to tranform it into a true paradise of powder. And this week is not on the maps yet. If you want to ride powder during Christmas you should head to Canada. They have a great start of the winter. Scandinavia (western Norway in particular) will have to deal with some higher temperatures at the end of this week, but it looks like that cold temperatures and snowfall will return. Disadvantage of Scandinavia are the extremely short days this time of the year.
Stay stoked, Morris