PA#3: 20- 60 cm of fresh snow. The Big Change will come in 2017!

It’s snowing heavily in the northeast of Austria since Tuesday. It’s cold and the snow falls deep into the valleys, but there’s also a lot of wind. The Salzburgerland, Styria and Ober- en Niederösterreich got around 20-60 cm of snow. Thanks to the heavy wind there are some parts of the mountain where it’s hard to find fresh snow, while you’ll find a lot of wind-drifted snow on other parts of the mountain. Something to keep in mind! You can ride some powder today if you have the right knowledge! We’ll have to wait till 2017 for the next dump. The 3rd and the 7th are the dates when we can expect a storm from the north. In this forecast:

• Locally lots of fresh snow
• PowderAlert #3 with conditions
• The Big Change will come in January: storm from the north!

Locally lots of fresh snow

The eastern Alps really needed the snow that came down on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Salzburgerland, Styria and Ober- en Niederösterreich got around 20-60 cm of snow. The most snow came down in the north of Styria. A lot of snow came down around and of east of the Dachstein and that results in some great images:

But the snow only came down in the eastern Alps. If we look at the webcams of a snow magnet like the Kleinwalsertal you see it doesn’t look like winter at all.

PowderAlert #3 with conditions

The new snow will settle on an old hard snow layer, but sometimes on snow crystals without any sort of cohesion. In addition, there is not even a base below 1500 meters in a lot of resorts. Add the strong wind and you understand that this shouldn’t be called a PowderAlert. So… Why? Well, if you know the resorts by heart there is definitely some powder to be found. But if you don’t have any idea of the risks you’d better stay on the slopes. Get up early and ride some fresh snow on the slopes. Simple as that. The fact that there’s no base means branches and rocks are still close to the surface and those nasty things can injure you when you hit them. Above the treeline the wind is a trouble maker. It transports a lot of snow and is the creator of avalanches. If you want to ride off-piste, but you don’t have the knowledge, go out with a mountain guide! This third PowderAlert with a lot of conditions is for this region: northern Alps east.

The Big Change will come in January: storm from the north!

You don’t have to expect any fresh snow in 2016 anymore. It’s sunny and cold in the east of the Alps and sunny and mild in the west. We’ll have to wait till the beginning of 2017 when the jetstream will find its way to the Alps again. Mark the dates below:

• 3rd of January
• 7th of January

The good news is that both the US and European model are indicating snowfall in early 2017 and both are focusing on January 3rd and January 7th. The first signs of winter should come on the third of January when the jetstream will hit the Alps.

The next serious attack will come on January the 7th when the jetstream will hit the Alps full throttle and will bring cold air and moisture from the north towards the Alps.

The Big Change is coming. It won’t be the biggest dump at first, but it will bring snow to the northern Alps. The jetstream will really start moving after January the 3rd. The exact path can still change the next few days, but there is a glimmer of hope. Hang in there!

Stay stoked. Morris