PA #20: the details

PA #20: the details

The Hautes Alpes this morning

According to a French mountain guide the winter starts after February the 15th. This is the moment that the French Alps are getting in shape, the higher alpine is getting better and better, the winds are getting less strong and you can start riding better and steeper couloirs. Today is a sunny day, more freshies will come down tomorrow.

Looking back

Around 20-40 centimeters, locally even 50 centimeters of freshies came down in the French Alps since Tuesday evening. The further east, the less precipitation. The snowfall succeeded in reaching the Piemonte and southern Alps central, where they locally had 10-20 centimeters, but nothing at other places. The current was coming longer from a western angle than expected and this made this PowderAlert a French party. And more snow is on its way.

Some webcam images of this morning:

Les 3 Vallées
Les 3 Vallées
Méribel
Méribel
La Grave
La Grave
Reallon (Your tracks?)
Reallon (Your tracks?)
Les 7 Laux
Les 7 Laux

The sun is out in the western Alps today and will come out in the other regions in the Alps later today. Don’t wait too long. High clouds will come in from the west again during the afternoon. The first signs of PowderAlert #20.

Powder advice Thursday

PowderAlert #20

Storm Andrea is ready at the Atlantic accompanied by many storm depressions. A set of depressions that will determine the weather in the Alps next week and that will bring lots of snow.Storm Andrea and her friends

I’ve checked yesterdays scenario: a new low pressure area is passing on Friday from the west of the Alps. You can expect lots of snow in the French Alps and the west of Switzerland. This snowfall will expand to the southern Alps in the night from Friday to Saturday. More snow from the northwest from Grenoble to Dachstein on Sunday. It’s hard to predict the centimeters, but I see a scenario happening where it will snow in the entire Alps.

More details on this scenario today:

Phase 1: snowfall in the night from Thursday to Friday. A first front is passing in the night from Thursday to Friday. It will snow between Grenoble and the Arlberg. Phase two starts shortly after phase one.

Purple front is phase 1
Purple front is phase 1

Phase 2: snow for the western Alps: It will start snowing again on Friday morning from the west. It will snow the whole day in the complete French Alps and the western parts of Switzerland. If a Genua-low will form during the evening, we’ll enter phase three.

Phase 2 = Andrea with a front for the western Alps

Phase 3: Genua-low on Saturday. This is the phase where the models don’t agree yet. After the passing of the front from the west a retour d’est could start in the night from Friday to Saturday bringing snow to the Piemonte and Lombardia. The models don’t agree on the exact position, even though it looks promising.

Phase 3 = Genua-low

I think that the most snow will fall in the Piemonte on Saturday, even though our snow maps aren’t showing this. It will take till Sunday night before the snow expands into the rest of the southern Alps. This is my powder advice for the weekend:

Powder advice weekend

Friday:

Saturday:

Sunday:

More snow for the western Alps on Monday. The snowfall will expand into the southern and northern Alps. More details this weekend, but more snow is on its way to the Alps.

Stay stoked

Morris

meteomorris
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