This week will see both blue skies and bright sunshine, followed by white skies and heavy snowfall — which is essentially a perfect week in the mountains.
The snow is making its way back to the Alps after a couple weeks of sunshine, with a reasonable amount of snow forecast to begin on Thursday, following a few more days of sunshine. France appears to be boasting the biggest dumps in Europe, with Morzine and Avoriaz expecting 43cm of snow in just 48 hours, at the end of the week. Meribel and Courchevel are again benefitting from some decent snow with 24cm on the radar.
Les Arcs and La Plagne should see around 23cm of fresh snow falling on Thursday and Friday, with nearby La Rosiere expecting around 28cm of snow. Further up the Tarantaise Valley and heading to the Espace Killy and the forecast is for 16cm in Val d'Isere and 18cm in Tignes. Alpe d'Huez is another resort expecting around 24cm of snow and Les Deux Alpes is forecast 22cm of fresh powder.
Switzerland is also in for some great snow before the weekend, and like France will remain sunny for the next couple of days. Thursday and Friday a combined 37cm of snow is forecast in Flims Laax, 36cm in Engelberg and 35cm in Les Diablerets. Crans Montana is forecast around 29cm to top up its slopes while Verbier, Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Wengen and Grindelwald are all forecast around 28cm of fresh snow.
Austria is also in for some good snow, following exactly the same pattern with sunshine up until Thursday, when Ullr's finest creation is due to hit the slopes. St. Anton should see around 23cm of snow, taking snow depths over the 6m mark! Lech boasts 26cm and Ischgl is expecting around 22cm. Mayrhofen's slopes are also expecting some snow, with 23cm on the radar and the stunning village of Kitzbuhel should see around 25cm of snow arriving before this weekends world cup race on the famous Hahnenkamm — well worth checking out on this week's Ski Sunday.
There is also snow forecast in Italy, though a little lighter, with around 17cm in Cervinia, 12cm expected in Arabba and Selva and 6cm in Sauze d'Oulx and Sestriere.
North America is also well and truly back into the snow gods' good books, with a whopping 99cm forecast in Mt. Hood and 92cm in Whistler. Canada is continuing on with last week's decent snowfall as 55cm is forecast in Kimberley, 53cm in Kicking Horse and 46cm in Fernie. There is also around 25cm expected in Banff and Lake Louise.
Heading stateside and Jackson Hole should see 52cm falling, with the first flakes arriving today and Sun Valley should see 35cm of snow. Steamboat is forecast a respectful 28cm of snow, Squaw Valley has 26cm of California powder on its way and Aspen should see around 26cm on snow in the next few days.
All in all we are looking at another good week in the mountains and if the long range forecasts are to be believed the next dump in Europe should last for around four days, so all through the weekend.
Are we looking at a record breaking winter? Could we surpass the incredible snow of '99? We'll have to wait and see.
The Snowman
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