Snow Forecast Summary - 19th January 2012
Snow Forecast Summary - 19th January 2012
Published : 19-Jan-2012 06:46
The past week has been one of the calmest in the European Alps for a while - with clear and generally cool weather prevailing. Nonetheless, a number of Austrian resorts have had decent snowfall this past week, snow depths at altitude remain impressive in much of Austria, France and Switzerland and there are still some 50 resorts reporting high level bases of 3 metres or more.The drought appears to have broken in the USA now, with Utah and Colorado ski areas reporting heavy snow at times. More is expected over the next few days with extreme weather warnings indicating the imminent arrival of a series of snow storms through those states and more.
European Weather and Snow This Coming Week
Yet more snow is forecast for the next few days in The Alps, with particular attention focussed on the North and East regions. Snow will start to fall today (Thursday), coming into most of the affected area by early evening.
Indications are that temperatures will rise initially, possibly taking the snow line above 1,500 metres (rain below) for a short time in places. Into Friday evening and through Saturday, however, the temperature (and snow line) will fall as it continues to snow. Localized accumulations could, once again, be significant - exceeding half a metre and maybe approaching a metre in some Eastern (Austrian) resorts over the next three days.
Avalanche Risk
The snow pack in many areas remains weakly bonded, despite recent consolidation, and French, Swiss and Austrian authorities have all warned of a continuing risk of "full depth" avalanches with the existing snow. The forecast fresh snow will raise risk levels further, so please take heed of local advice and be aware that the risk of avalanche may increase significantly in the course of a day of snowfall.
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