A big snowstorm is heading for the western Alps at the end of this weekend. France and Switzerland look set to receive the most snow. Alpe d’Huez in France should see 68cm of snow fall by Tuesday 1st December.
It will be heaviest on Sunday and Monday when 52cm is expected for those days alone. The snowfall will be followed with a sharp drop in the temperature as well. While the snow is falling the freezing level will be between 1800m and 2000m, allowing snow to fall down to around 1500m in most areas.
Come Tuesday the freezing level will be way down at around 600m so it will be very cold in the mountains. Expect -23°C at the top of the glacier at Tignes, at an altitude of 3456m. Switzerland is expecting the same snowstorm to hit. Zermatt should receive around 55cm of fresh snow on the upper slopes. Then the sharp drop in temperature is expected for Tuesday, when it could be -26°C at the highest point in Zermatt.
Western Austria will be the snowiest part of Austria this weekend and at the start of next week. Between 25cm and 30cm of snow should fall in the Arlberg region, which will be greatly welcomed by the locals as they have delayed their original opening dates due to a lack of snow. Colder weather should move in from Tuesday onwards, helping to keep the snow in great condition.
Colder weather should also move into Scandinavia. Until now it has been snowy but fairly mild, with rain falling at resort level for some places. However from Sunday onwards it should get a lot colder. The expected high at the base of Hemsedal in Norway on Sunday is -9°C. This will allow them to get the snow cannons running once again.
There is finally some good news for the east coast of Canada and America. The recent mild and wet weather has forced most resorts to postpone their opening dates due to the lack of snow.
However a welcome start to winter is expected from Friday 27th onwards. 34cm of snow is expected at Smugglers’ Notch with the temperatures forecast to drop as low as -12°C before next Tuesday. All the other resorts in the east of America and Canada are expecting the same fortunes.
This should allow them to achieve their revised opening dates. Colorado should be cold and sunny for at least the next five days. Snow showers are expected at Vail on Saturday but this won’t amount to much.
Cold weather should allow them to keep their snow cannons running however which will keep the pistes in good condition. 10cm of snow is expected to fall at Heavenly on the California/Nevada border on Friday night.
This should provide some fun skiing on Saturday. From Sunday onwards it is expected to turn warmer, with the freezing level rising to around 3600m. Western Canada is expecting colder weather next week. Daytime temperatures of around -15°C are expected at most resorts.
It should also be consistently snowy over the weekend and into next week, keeping the snow in excellent condition. 40cm of snow should fall on the Skeena heli ski area in northern BC but they aren’t yet open for visitors. Big White is also expecting light snow every day, amounting to around 20cm by Tuesday and getting gradually colder.
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