Powder Alert #8: when to go?

It has begun to snow. In the north-west of France and the west of Switzerland it is already snowing heavily and in the coming hours the precipitation will expand further to the rest of the north-west. A lot of snow is expected until Wednesday evening, it is getting colder and the wind is strong. Whoever wants to ride powder during or just after the storm is best off under the tree line. As of Thursday it will get milder with a snow line that peaks up to 1700-2200 meters from time to time. In this message:

• A lot of snow for the northwest
• Wednesday and Thursday are powder days
• Weekend: mild with a mix of sun, snow and rain
• Avalanche hazard up

Lots of snow for the northwest

It is storm Lolita who is pushing a lot of snow cliuds towards northwest for the next 48 hours. The temperature drops considerably and even below 1000 meters a significant amount of snow will fall.

It is cold, a lot of snow will fall and the wind blows with gale force above the tree line. Today (Tuesday) most snow falls in the west, but on Wednesday it expands to the rest of the northwest.

Wednesday and Thursday are powder days

Because it is getting milder on Thursday, the window to ride some cold smoke blower pow is small. Wednesday afternoons it will be deep enough in many places in the north-west to ride between the trees and that also applies to the Thursday (morning). A much milder front will arrive in the course of Thursday. It then starts to snow with the snow line slowly rising towards the 1600-1900 meters. Treeruns then quickly become mushy and too wet. Fortunately for many areas the mild air does not arrive until the end of the afternoon. Hotspots to ride powder on Wednesday and Thursday are the following regions:

• French Northern Alps
• Western Wallis
• Northwest Aosta
• Swiss Alpine Nordhang
• Vorarlberg

On Wednesday you mainly ride treeruns, on Thursday the terrain above the tree line will also become available due to the improved visibility, but ......

HIGH Avalanche danger

In the coming days, between 50 and 100 cm of fresh snow will fall above the tree line in the northwestern Alps. The mild temperatures that follow with a rising snow line and strong winds will rise the avalanche hazard. For today and tomorrow the avalanche danger will be HIGH in large parts of the northwest. The stoke may be high due to the new snow, but so will the risks. Adjust your plans and prepare yourself by studying the Safety Academy ... 'know before you go!'.

Weekend: mild with a mix of sun, snow and rain

In the night to Friday it rains lower on the mountain and snows above the tree line. On Friday it will be mild but luckely the sun will return and above the tree line the snow will remain cold enough. But the wind has made a mess here and there. The weekend brings a mix of sun, rain and snow. The snow line is rising again on Saturday, around 1800-2000 meters. On Sunday, it temporarily drops to 1300-1700 meters. After Sunday a number of very mild days follow, followed by who knows a Noordstau

A powder alert with a context. First treeruns, later due to the mild temperatures ypu have to search above the tree line. Ride hard, ride smart.

More tomorrow. Morris