PA #10: Up to 150 cm of freshies!
The first Genua-low of this winter is coming up! It will snow heavily in the southern Alps this weekend, but we can enjoy some freshies that came down with PowderAlert #9. It's hard to believe that it was 20 degrees in the Alps on Monday. It's snowing again in the northwest of the Alps since Monday evening. The snow line was going up and down at first, but it's now snowing deep into the valleys. Friday will be a great day in the Alps. If you are traveling to the Alps the next couple of days and you want to support wePowder and this forecast, book your accommodation using this link. We receive a small percentage of every booking made through this link and this helps us a lot to improve wePowder and advice you even better. Thanks in advance! In this forecast:
- Another 10-30 cm of freshies on Thursday
- PowderAdvice for Friday
- PowderAlert #10: storm Zissi on its way!
- It will be WINTER in the southern Alps on Saturday and Sunday
Another 10-30 cm of freshies on Thursday
It's been snowing heavily in the northwest of the Alps since Monday evening. The snow line went up and down due to the jetstream that was moving south very slowly. It's cold right now and it's snowing above 1000 meters (and sometimes even at lower altitude). You can expect around 10-30 cm of freshies in the northwest of the Alps today. And already 10-40 cm of freshies came down since Monday evening. The most snow will come down the next couple of hours in the Berner Oberland, the west of Wallis and the northwest of the Savoie. The sun will come out on Friday and it will be a great day to ride powder before the southern Föhn kicks in.
PowderAdvice for Friday
One look at the map above says it all and you can have a look here for more details. You'll find the most snow in the following regions tomorrow:
- At the border of the Haute Savoie and Wallis. Especially resorts like Les Marécottes, Flaine and the higher parts of the PDS got quite some snow.
- The Berner Oberland.. Especially resorts like Engelberg and Hasliberg had a lot of freshies.
Of course you can also find good snow in other resorts in the northwest and it's even snowing in the Austrian Vorarlberg right now. But the resorts above will have the most freshies on Friday. *
PowderAlert #10: storm Zissi on its way!
The current will move to the south on Friday and the first snow will come down in the Italian Piedmont in the night to Saturday. But this is just an appetizer, because the real storm (yes Zissi, that's you) will arrive in the Alps on Saturday. This will result in a strong southern Föhn in the regions north of the main alpine ridge. This means heavy wind and high temperatures on the northern side of the Alps.
It will be WINTER in the southern Alps on Saturday and Sunday
The arrival of Zissi will intensify the snowfall in the southern Alps. It will snow heavily in the south of the French southern Alps, the western and southern Piedmont, but especially the northern Italian Piedmont. The snow line will drop to 600 meters or even lower in the Piedmont. I expect 60-100 cm, locally even more than 150 cm of freshies in this region from Saturday to Sunday afternoon. The most snow will fall east of the Monte Rosa (Alagna will get more snow than the other resorts in the Monte Rosa ski area), but you can also expect lots of freshies east of the Mont Viso and the Gran Paradiso. Even Limone Piemonte and Isola 2000 will get some snow. Because of the heavy snowfall it might be a good idea to arrive in this region on Saturday (just before the storm), but expect some lifts (and even resorts) to be closed on Sunday.
The snowfall will expand into the rest of the southern Alps on Sunday. The Dolomites and bordering regions will also get some freshies. The snow line will be around 700-1000 meter and it will snow heavily till Monday. But... warmer air will arrive in the Alps on Sunday thanks to Zissi. She's moving to the east, and I expect the current to move to the north and as a result warmer air arrives in the Alps. The snow line might rise up to 1200-1800 meters in the southern Alps on Sunday afternoon. But it's too early for the details. The current will turn to the northeast after Sunday and the northern Alps will get some freshies again.
As always the devil is in the detail and there is still a chance that things change. Getting there on Saturday and being there when the dump starts probably is the best advice. You can ride in the trees on Sunday and Monday (if the lifts are open) and you'll just have to wait and see what happens next.
The powderchase for this week:
- Friday: in the northwest of the Alps
- Saturday and Sunday: to the Piedmont
More details and fine tuning tomorrow. If you already want to book your accommodation: support wePowder and use this link.
Stay stoked, Morris
Comments
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Advancedhansmal op 25 February 2016 · 20:30@meteomorris , thanks again for a great PowderAlert!! We are five experienced skiers flying to Geneva tomorrow. We will stay for a week and have a car.
Any suggestion on best place to go (for powder) also considering that the resorts might close due to avalanche danger? I've been to Gressoney-St-Jean (I see you mention Monterosa, ...North It. Piedmont) before, but I'm not sure if they have the best trees for the heavy snowfall this week-end. Also I guess the terrain is prone for avalanches and might close easily!? Any other tip? Also maybe to place us centrally with regards to after the weekend - we are ready to move around. (We'll do our bookings through your link to booking.com - definately!! 😉 )
Thanks -
AdvancedAdamStekl op 25 February 2016 · 20:49Hello Morris,
As always, thanks for a forecast. What do you think about Arabba or generally Dolomity on Sunday and Monday, there is so much snow in the forecast, but won't there be too warm?
Thanks
Adam -
ExpertTobyMcGreen op 25 February 2016 · 21:39@hansmal I'll be in Frabosa Soprana on Saturday and Sunday. The trees here are nice and the dumo is going to be big! I've been here last year and this was the result:
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Advancedhansmal op 26 February 2016 · 07:41Looks good Toby - enjoy the weekend! 😃
@meteomorris, one more comment is that I see it's a thin base in Monterosa. Any resorts with a sufficient base and good tree skiing, which will get some of the dump? We are very open for less crowded resorts! -
AdvancedStorpotatisen op 26 February 2016 · 08:52Hello @hansmal,
I would suggest Crevacol up high in the Aosta valley, right at the border to Switzerland. Tiny little resort with two lifts and fantastic tree-skiing. They have a great base and are expecting enough for a couple of days fun.. 😃
Tip of the day; Take the red piste No 5, and right after the "col", you leave the piste heading straight down towards the valley. It may look like you will end up in nowhere, and you do. But there is a trail at 1900 meters leading back to the lifts. Make sure your skis are gliding effortlessly and you don't have to use your poles that much. -
chukko op 26 February 2016 · 13:41@Storpotatisen Will you be skiing there? I am going to the area for the weekend and would be nice to have a company. -
AdvancedStorpotatisen op 26 February 2016 · 14:55@chukko I wish I were... but I'm heading for Passo Tonale tomorrow for 9 days. Seems to be coming a lot of snow there as well, but as I'm going with my family it is a bit unclear how much powder I will be able to chase... =)
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Advancedhansmal op 26 February 2016 · 15:09@storpotatisen thanks for the tip! But is there any treesking in Crevacol? It seems like it's in the area between the lifts, lookers left, and a very dense forest lookers right!? Is it easy access to good tree skiing when it's snowing heavily? The top lift seems to be all above tree level!?
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Advancedhansmal op 26 February 2016 · 15:09@storpotatisen thanks for the tip! But is there any treesking in Crevacol? It seems like it's in the area between the lifts, lookers left, and a very dense forest lookers right!? Is it easy access to good tree skiing when it's snowing heavily? The top lift seems to be all above tree level!?
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ExpertMatteo_DG op 26 February 2016 · 16:38Ladies and Gentlemen, the first 4th degree of avalanche risk scale in Dolomites and Sudtirol!
http://www.provincia.bz.it/valanghe/home.asp?ava_fcst=2016-02-28...
http://www.arpa.veneto.it/neve_valanghe/it/html/layoutbeta.php?zona=DO... -
AdvancedStorpotatisen op 26 February 2016 · 21:46@hansmal Two weeks ago... https://www.instagram.com/anderslagerkvist/
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chukko op 29 February 2016 · 15:41@Storpotatisen Is the return trail going through the woods? I went maybe too early to the left and ended up going to the roof of the highway (which is quite long and completely flat).