PA #5: Where to go?

It's time for some finetuning in this forecast. The big question is what the best resorts will be to ride great snow this weekend. Check out the forecast from yesterday with the more general information about the forecast from this weekend. Thursday was the last quiet day in the Alps and the weather will be quite turbulent from tomorrow. In this forecast:

• Forecast for the weekend
• Finetuning: where to go?
• A new storm coming in on Sunday

Forecast for the weekend

Storm Walter determines the weather in the Alps the next couple of days. It's pushing very cold air to the Alps with a strong northwestern (and later northern) current. At the same time, there is a small low-pressure area on the south side of the Alps that will bring snow on the border between Slovenia, Italy and Austria, but especially in the Balkans.

This weekend will look like this:

• The warm front arrives in the night to Friday and the cold front will come in right after. The snow line drops from 1800 to 1500 meters and it will drop to 1000 meters (and even lower) by the morning.
• Friday: You can expect some heavy snowfall from the north of the French southern Alps, via the French northern Alps, the west and north of Switzerland and the west of Austria. The snow line will drop to 600 meters (and later even into the deepest valleys) in the northwest. The wind will be strong and the sun will come out every now and then, but don't expect too much from the sun. At the same time it snows in the west of the Dolomites, but especially on the border of Italy, Slovenia and Austria. There will be a second front from the north coming in during the afternoon and it will start to snow in the northern Alps. The night to Saturday will be really cold and the wind will be strong in the main alpine ridge.
• Saturday: It will continue to snow in the northern Alps from time to time on Saturday. It will especially snow in the morning, with some sunny spells every now and then in the afternoon. The sun shines on the south side of the main alpine ridge. It is cold in the entire Alps and it will feel even colder in the main alpine ridge thanks to that bloody wind.
• Sunday: The day starts with room for the sun in the entire Alps. But a new front will hit the Alps in the afternoon. You can expect a Föhn on the north side of the Alps, but the clouds will come in in the west and the south and it will start to snow. It's the prelude to a new storm.

Finetuning: where to go?

The map above clearly shows where it will snow the most for the next 48 hours. Since the second storm will hit the Alps in the course of Sunday, the weekend warriors will have to deal with the snowfall above. Most snow comes down in the French northern Alps and the west of Switzerland, but also northern Switzerland and Vorarlberg will have great conditions. Here you will find the most fresh snow. Stormy tips for coming weekend are:

France, already open: 

• Tignes/val d’Isère
• La Clusaz
• Les Grands Montets
• Chamrousse
• Alpe d’Huez

France, opening this weekend:

• Avoriaz
• Flaine
• La Rosière
• Les 3 Vallées
• Le Grand Bornand
• Contamine Montjoie

Switzerland

• Gstaad
• Jungfrau region
• Meieringen-Hasliberg
• Glacier 3000
• Engelberg
• Hoch-Ybrig
• Flumserberg
• Toggenburg
• Davos Klosters

Austria, Vorarlberg

• Silvretta Montafon
• Brandnertal
• Lech-Zürs, Ski Arlberg
• Damüls
• Golm
• Andelsbuch

Asutria, Carinthia

• Nassfeld

Slovenia

• Vogel Ski Center
• Sella Nevea

A new storm coming in on Sunday

A new storm will break loose from an immense low pressure area between Greenland and Canada on Saturday and will head towards the Alps. This storm will cross the Atlantic in less than 36 hours and its warm front is expected in the French Alps on Sunday. It will first start to snow deep into the alpine valleys (thanks to the cold air that's still around), but the snow line will rise to 1000 meters on Sunday evening.

The latest calculations for Monday are spectacular but not necessarily positive. The current is turning more to the south than expected. This will result in a lot of snow on the south side of the main alpine ridge, while the temperature on the north side of the Alps will rise significantly under the influence of the Föhn from the south, possibly with a freezing level rising towards the 2000 meters or even higher. At the same time it will snow heavily on the south side of the main alpine ridge.

Cold air will hit the Alps on Tuesday and it will start to snow deep into the valleys again. Quite possibly we'll see the same pattern on Wednesday/Thursday, when the Föhn from the south is probably less intense. Because of the intensity of the storms on Monday/Tuesday and Wednesday/Thursday, the rapidly shifting temperatures, the strong winds from various directions and the fact that the exact path of both storms is difficult to forecast, I would wait a bit before I book accommodation for next week.

Well, I wrote 'not necessarily positive', but if we just go through the above scenario it's quite positive right? This storm will bring a lot of snow to the entire Alps, although the snow line will rise a little, but there are still plenty of ski areas in the southern Alps that need a lot of snow. Next update this weekend!

Stay stoked Morris