World Snow News 9: 30th August 2007

Welcome to our latest weekly summary of ski conditions with prospects for the next seven days from www.snow-forecast.com

European Alps
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A large anticyclone has taken up residence just west of the British Isles leading to the longest settled spell of weather for several months, if rather cloudy and not especially warm. The anticyclone should stay offshore until Sunday allowing moist NW air to continue to stream down its eastern flank towards the Alps. With low pressure over Italy, expect long cloudy periods with heavy and frequent showers, falling as wet snow above about 3500m - that's low enough to reach some of the higher glaciers at places like Zermatt. The week ahead should see the Atlantic anticyclone drifting steadily eastwards bringing increasingly warm and settled conditions to the resorts that are open for summer skiing and eventually warmer conditions for the UK too.

Australia
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Typical spring conditions can be found at the Australian resorts right now with temperatures the highest they have been for several months. All ski areas have good base depths allowing them to tolerate some snow loss due to the present warm conditions. Right now, temperatures are about 6 degrees above freezing at the summits with 70Km/h NW winds. Temperatures should fall dramatically into Friday with snow showers down to about 1500m. The week ahead should see much lighter winds and a another brief period of much lower temperatures and snow showers on Monday before pressure builds over the continent. Expect very variable snow conditions - ranging from icy to soft and heavy, especially off groomed trails and lower down.

New Zealand
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By its usual high standards, New Zealand has not had the best of seasons. It began remarkably cold (-20C in Central Otago), but generally too dry. Mid-season saw prevailing westerly winds bring very variable conditions with only occasional breaks from the cloudy and windy weather at the North Island resorts - some great days to be had, but timing was everything. Further south, where the Southern Alps take the sting out of westerly winds, the weather has been much more settled but there have been relatively few southerlies to freshen up snow conditions and some pretty poor snow
accumulations at some eastern club fields.

Unfortunately, the one really big snow event of the season which arrived a few weeks ago was accompanied by exactly the sequence of weather conditions that leads to an unstable snowpack and a severe avalanche risk. That system, which dropped over 3m of snow on the Main Divide left much of the famous Kiwi back country looking wonderfully inviting but treacherous. Many South Island resorts reported avalanches. It's been the kind of season where the informed travelling skier armed with an excellent value Chill Pass, would probably have had a much better experience than someone with a season pass who stuck to one of the main fields with the possible exception of Rainbow. After a slow start, it has offered some of the best conditions this year - south enough to be mostly cold, north enough to be exposed to the westerly weather.

Many resorts, including Rainbow, have seen fresh snow over the past few days mostly in the range 5-10cm but with Mt Potts reporting 30cm so far. Watch out for a brief spell of very strong and warm NW winds on Friday before it turns much colder. Beyond that, prospects for further snowfalls are excellent. We expect all resorts to see some new snow in the days ahead. In particular, watch out for a deep low forming off the east coast of the lower North Island on Tuesday. This should direct a very snowy SE flow at the eastern ranges from Otago to East Cape before high pressure moves in from the Tasman. If this goes according to plan, many resorts should see ideal conditions in a week’s time.

South America
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A good place to be right now is probably the northern high altitude resort of La Parva in Chile (http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/La-Parva.shtml), not far from Santiago. Not only do they have a 4.7m base, the most reported from any ski resort, but they received half a metre of power last weekend and presently have calm and sunny conditions. In the week ahead, we expect to see further heavy snowfalls and falling temperatures for resorts in the south of the Andes with settled conditions continuing further north at least until mid week.

On a site development note, thanks to everyone for their positive input on our new www.tide-forecast.com site for fans of water sports. Thanks also to everyone who submitted such amazing images for our 2008 Snow Forecast Calendar. Watch out on the site for a sneak preview of the some of the finalists.

Best wishes,

The Snow-Forecast.com Team

World Snow News 8: 23rd August 2007

Welcome to another roundup of worldwide snow conditions together with prospects for the next seven days from the www.snow-forecast.com team.

New Zealand
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Since the last editorial, the weather pattern evolved much as expected with a cool southerly flow delivering mostly light showers - typically just a few cm of fresh snow around Queenstown and Wanaka resorts last weekend with 10cm of fresh snow on the upper slopes of Ruapehu. The snow showers have mostly died away and Turoa and Whakapapa are enjoying the best conditions of the season so far. Late on Sunday and into Monday there is a risk that a tropical low, currently near New Caledonia, will reach North Island. It looks rather likely that Northland will endure yet another spell of very wet easterly winds, once again with a risk of flooding. Right now the southern progress of that low is uncertain and it is certainly possible that it will reach Turoa and Whakapapa on Monday before the SW flow becomes established again. If the tropical air makes it that far, expect a period of NE winds and freezing levels rising to above the top of the lifts with wet snow high up and rain lower down. This risks making things icy as the cold air returns. Hopefully not, but our advice is to make the most of the next 2 or 3 days just in case. Conditions in the rest of NZ have changed very little in the past week and it could stay similar for the next several days too - cool, SW with a few showery bands. Much better news is the threat of a much stronger cold and snowy SW flow developing late in the week. Stay tuned to forecasts because the prospect of a tropical low meeting polar air can cause significant snowy weather to develop suddenly, but only if it tracks much further south than models currently predict.

Australia
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Much as in New Zealand, snow fell last weekend, but not in sufficient quantity to really change conditions. There is settled weather across all Australian resorts right now and it should stay this way for another five or six days. After that, look forward to the prospect of a disturbed and snowy SW flow to be established by Thursday.

European Alps
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Last week the European Alps turned much colder but there was less snowfall about than we expected because the Northerly flow didn't develop as strongly as forecast. With an anticyclone expected to stay off the French coast for the next seven days, the Alps should continue to see rather low temperatures for the time of year. Meanwhile, Britain should at last see some welcome summer sunshine. Around the middle of next week there is a reasonable chance that a deepening low pressure over central Europe will direct a strong NW flow accompanied by heavy snow over the Alpine glaciers, this falling mainly on the northern side of the divide. Strong winds and poor visibility look like being an unwanted side effect, but there could be some wintry conditions as the weather settles down again at the end of the week.

Andes
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South America continues to be THE place to be this summer. Pretty much everywhere saw significant new snow over the past week falling on bases that are typically twice as deep as the best on offer in Australia and New Zealand. Expect yet more of the same in the week ahead as a disturbed westerly airstream delivers snow showers and bands of continuous snow. No problem finding fresh snow, but keep a close eye on the forecast to identify the best of any weather windows - they may be quite brief.

Other News

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For those of you who live or spend your time by the sea, we have launched a new service specifically aimed at 7 day tidal predictions – currently for over 3600 locations worldwide. Checkout www.tide-forecast.com

Best wishes,

Rob – www.snow-forecast.com

World Snow News 7: 17th August 2007

Welcome to another review of snow conditions from around the World, together with prospects for the week ahead from www.snow-forecast.com.

Since tumbling stock markets are making headlines worldwide, I'll kick off this week with a financial diversion that has could benefit snow lovers. For skiers from America, Europe and Japan, pleasant side effects of turmoil in the markets are substantially weakened Australian and Kiwi dollars. They have fallen by about 10-15% against your currencies so if you don't want to wait another 4 or 5 months before the northern season is underway, consider an Antipodean trip to take advantage of more affordable prices and excellent snow conditions! For a long trip, begin at the resorts that tend to close soonest - usually those in Australia or the Southern Lakes of New Zealand, then head north through New Zealand as the season advances, taking in the unique atmosphere of the Club Fields (purchase an excellent value Chill pass and explore many different resorts). Hopefully you can end with superb uncrowded skiing on Mt. Ruapehu in late October and November, fully 3 months away.

Conditions in New Zealand are on the up: About a week ago, a warm NW gale briefly did serious damage to the snow cover of many South Island resorts. First, the 120kph wind blew exposed slopes bare and then it rained heavily to about 1700m, soaking the remaining base with water. The rain turned to wet snow that froze solid below mid stations and got loaded with avalanche-prone unbonded new snow high up. New snow varied from about 30cm at most ski fields to 3m of fresh snow at the Main Divide - Treble Cone had over 50cm and off-piste there was a high risk of avalanches. On Monday, much colder air brought slow moving snow showers across much of the Southern Alps and even to inland parts of the Canterbury Plains. Monday's snow was drier and powdery but very variable in distribution with the heaviest falls at Broken River and Craigieburn (15 cm) but relatively little for nearby Porters. Excellent conditions followed the snow at the club fields, but with a high risk of avalanches.

The same snow showers moved away to the north and delivered dry snow to Mt Lyford and Rainbow - both enjoying the best conditions of the season so far. On Thursday night another low moved in off the Tasman and brought about 10cm of fresh snow to many resorts but it mostly missed the Southern Lakes. The great news is that Mt Olympus will be opening on Saturday but the not so good news is that Temple Basin may not open this season at all - a great shame. The week ahead looks like it will be dominated by a cool SW airstream around a Tasman high, with periods of snow showers, more especially between now and Wednesday. There will be good snow-making conditions throughout.

Australia
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Last week for Australia saw light snowfalls at most ski resorts. Mount Baw Baw fared better than most with 16cm of snow falling over the last week. In general, the theme was for cold nights providing good snow-making conditions and hard pistes first thing that soon softened during the morning. The week ended on a more showery note and on Thursday night, Thredbo saw 5cm of fresh snow with a perfect sunny day to follow. As the thundery trough clears into the Tasman, expect a couple of days of low temperatures and snow showers, with the snow level lowering to about 1300m before the showers die away on Sunday afternoon. Pressure will then slowly build across the Alpine region with a settled week in prospect.

South America
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The biggest snow event of last week was a deep depression that hit the Andes much as predicted. As expected, it turned especially cold and snowy across the southern Andes. Snow coated the fields of Chile's normally temperate central valley wine and farm region for the first time in half a century on Wednesday, causing officials to declare an emergency to avoid traffic accidents. There were even reports of 4 hours of snow falling in Santiago City which is fairly unusual because of the low altitude; about 500m. Even so, it was nothing like as bad as the snowstorm of 1970 that collapsed roofs across the city. Nearby Chilean resorts, already enjoying an exceptional ski season saw further heavy snow and La Parva is currently reporting an accumulation of well over 4m. Chile is enduring its coldest winter in 30 years.

Over the border in Argentina, Cerro Catedral received the most snow with over 50cm falling on Monday and Tuesday, while 30cm of new snow enhanced the cover at Chapelco. Not for the first time this season, Las Lenas missed out altogether. Right now the Andes are enjoying the tail end of a settled spell but the week ahead promises to be an unsettled one - once again with heavy snow. Initially, strong, gusty and reasonably mild NW winds will develop ahead of an approaching Pacific depression. A series of fronts in a disturbed westerly air flow will cross the region between Monday and Wednesday, each one introducing colder weather as the wind turns more SW. A bitterly cold and potentially very snowy southerly blast should arrive late in the week, hopefully clearing away by next weekend to provide perfect skiing conditions once again.

European Alps
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As forecast, last week tended warm and wet with rain closing many glaciers across Europe. The week ahead will be very different. High pressure developing off SW Ireland will direct a northerly airflow over the Alps so much lower temperatures are expected. By mid-week the freezing level over the Austrian Alps will fall well below 3000m. The further away you get from the centre of the anticyclone, the more chance you have of seeing snow showers but even the glacier at Tignes in the French Alps should at least see a dusting of new snow. Eventually the high pressure should topple onto the continent making for a fine and settled end to the week with some great high altitude skiing to be found for those who are lucky enough to be there.

Have a good week,

Rob - www.snow-forecast.com

World Snow News 6: 10th August 2007

Welcome to the latest review of international snow conditions together with the prospects for the week ahead. Today is something of a landmark for Snow-Forecast.com as we add our 2000th ski resort to the site. Those of you who have used our services since the start will recall that until 4 years ago, we didn't actually provide resort-specific forecasts and instead all our content was in the form of weather maps which some people found hard to interpret. Thanks to everyone who has sent in details of missing resorts - please keep this info coming - you can claim a free month of full site membership if your e-mail leads to us adding a new resort. China is one place where we have big gaps in our coverage - we know they are building ski resorts all over the country, but getting information is proving tricky. Any Chinese users out there?

The second week of August is usually the optimum time of year for many Southern Hemisphere ski fields. Most resorts in Australia and New Zealand are at a modest altitude and they are closer to the Equator than many northern resorts which means that the spring thaw tends to arrive just before the spring equinox compared with Northern Hemisphere resorts where snow tends to continue to accumulate into early April. For less snow-sure Antipodean resorts, a typical winter season would normally end in about 4 weeks time but since some New Zealand club fields have barely got going, let's hope that September is better than average. Turoa and Whakapapa are obvious exceptions and conditions there should continue to improve for another 6 or 8 weeks - often at their best just as most Kiwi ski areas are closing for the season.

New Zealand
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A low pressure system crossed Aotearoa through early last week and a few resorts benefited much more than most. The big winners were Stratford, Rainbow and Ruapehu resorts with up to 50cm of fresh snow making for classic mid-week conditions once the clouds lifted. I was lucky enough to be at Rainbow when the lifts opened on Tuesday at noon following a morning of avalanche work. Everyone waited patiently and the afternoon was one to remember. I don't think I can ever recall so few people tracking our so much off-piste terrain in such little time - I guess we were all a bit frustrated by the long wait and had 3 hrs of studying the steeps to figure out what lines looked best. Located near the top of the South Island, Rainbow benefits from localised snowfalls that miss other fields. Although on this occasion Statford, on the slopes of Taranaki, caught the same line of heavy and thundery snow showers. Ski seasons at Rainbow tend to have little correlation with other South Island areas and some seasons this can really work in its favour with much more snow at Rainbow than at more well known resorts further south.

Last week, the same disturbed westerly flow also brought a welcome dump to Temple Basin at the the head of Arthurs Pass too, but not much snow got over the main divide so there were only modest falls at other resorts, say 5-15 cm. The predicted Southerly flick that followed the low was less snowy than we had hoped with just light falls at most South Island resort which leaves a couple of smaller Canterbury club fields still struggling to open. Meanwhile, as is so often the case, Ruapehu fared rather better from the Southerly and the upper field depths are fast approaching 2m - the best in NZ, as usual. Southern Lakes areas have decent bases but mostly just had light snow last week. Right now, all NZ resorts are affected by very strong Westerly winds ahead of another front. Weather-wise, it is a real mixed bag now with 2000m freezing levels and very blustery showers of rain and snow at resort elevations. The good news is that as the front moves through tomorrow night, temperatures will fall and many resorts can expect a significant snowfall at altitude. This will be followed by further snow to low levels in Otago and Southland as the front clears away and winds swing light Southerly on Sunday. The present westerly airstream is packing a lot of moisture and although it is presently quite mild, favoured locations along the main divide, especially from Arthur's Pass south, should see some very heavy snowfalls - obvious candidates are Temple Basin, Ohau and Treble Cone with lesser falls east of these and huge snowfalls for the higher mountains from about Franz to Milford. Early next week, cooler and settled conditions should make for great conditions before another NW builds from Wednesday onwards ahead of another front.

Australia
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For once, it's not such a great forecast for Australian resorts. In a season that has been increasingly dominated by a mobile westerly flow, it should come as no surprise that the weather arriving in New Zealand this weekend left Australian shores a day ago. Just as strong WNW winds and mild temperatures are affecting NZ resorts right, the same has been happening in places like Thredbo for two or three days and at most Australian resorts, the gales are only just abating. Where temperatures stayed cold (above about 2000m), the 120km/h winds briefly moved the snow about and resulted in deep pockets of fresh stuff. At lower elevations, and let's be honest, that's almost everywhere, something of a thaw took place instead. Piste conditions have remained ok even if lift access has been limited. On Friday, freezing levels were briefly way above the tops. Colder air will sweep in on Friday Night and lighter west or SW winds should bring light snow showers tomorrow and Sunday and a fair weather window on Monday before the wind again strengthens from the NW. It should not be nearly as strong or as mild as last week. At this stage, there is just the hint of a frontal trough bringing another period of snow before next weekend, more especially to the high country of Tasmania and Victoria. Fingers crossed.

South America
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It has been another great week for skiing across the resorts of Chile and Argentina. Upper mountain depths are generally 2 or 3m and last week saw widespread fresh snow. The heaviest snow fell at Cerro Catedral which has been transformed into a powder paradise. Only Chapelco missed out altogether on the last weather system but a good base makes for excellent riding and skiing if you enjoy fast pistes. The week ahead shows a significant storm system hitting the Andes on Monday with 15-40cm of snow falling at most resorts, decreasing with distance from the main divide. Very low temperatures in the strong Southerly airstream that follows the storm will be accompanied by a severe wind chill. Mid-week will see the wind fall light as high pressure moves in off the Pacific providing what should be the best conditions of the season so far. These settled conditions are expected to last into next weekend.

European Alps
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It has been an unsettled summer in Western Europe and last week once again saw fresh snow falling across the glaciers of the Swiss and French Alps but the poor weather conditions have only allowed for limited access. Freezing levels are typically at about 3000m right now and snow is still falling, but slowly freezing levels will climb to 4000m over the next six days - high enough for rain rather than snow to fall by Thursday. Often cloudy throughout the forecast period, but with generally light winds, so perhaps not the best week of the summer to be there.

Until next week...

The Snow-Forecast.com editorial team

World Snow News 5: 3rd August 2007

4Welcome to the latest review of Global snow conditions, together with weather prospects for the next 7 days from the team at www.snow-forecast.com.

El Nino and La Nina conditions have a profound effect on the weather patterns around the Pacific. Last season was dominated by a strong El Nino event which gave Australia a poor season compared to New Zealand where a prevailing southerly brought regular dumps of snow right up until January. This year, the sudden collapse of El Nino looked very likely to lead to only a brief spell of neutral conditions before a moderate La Nina event took over, but lately it seems more likely that the present neutral conditions may hold out for the rest of the winter. August is regarded as peak season for many Southern ski resorts with a notable exception of Turoa and Whakapapa of the North Island of New Zealand where high altitude and a rocky volcanic setting mean that the best conditions are usually in late September or early October (and often lasting into November and even beyond).

New Zealand
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Conditions in New Zealand have improved but they are still a bit patchy. Broadly speaking, the main resorts at either end of the country are in reasonable shape, but around the middle in places like the Canterbury club fields where there is no snowmaking, things are not going according to plan. Although most resorts are now at least partially open, typical 20-40cm natural snow depths are not enough for much off-piste action. While it is not the worst season on record, there have only been three or four worse starts in the past 25 years - indeed, just calling it a bad start is being optimistic - at small club fields the season would normally be two-thirds over by now but this year it has begun very late because early winter was very cold, but dry. Last week, as we expected, most places saw only modest snowfalls, heaviest around Otago - say 10-20cm. Thankfully, this was good enough to allow Mt. Dobson to open at last and to make the piste conditions excellent at most resorts, especially at places like Porters and Cardrona where new snow fell on decent base. The next 7 days promise to bring a low pressure system across South Island and unlike previous storms, this one should hang off the East Coast for long enough to direct a southerly at the Canterbury fields that desperately need it before a high moves off the Tasman mid-week. All resorts with snowmaking facilities will benefit from a week of lower temperatures, but at this stage it does not look as if the low pressure system will drop a great deal of snow - enough to make things excellent on piste but probably still insufficient to allow for extensive back-country skiing and boarding apart from places like Ohau and Treble Cone where there was already a reasonable off-piste base covering rocks before the fresh snow fell. With just a little luck, we should see enough fresh snow for poor Mt Olympus to open at last and as soon as it does, I hope to be there because it really is a great ski area once the rocks are covered.

Australia
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Over the Tasman, snow conditions have held up well and most resorts have had a dusting of new snow, with a big dump for Tasmania so that Mt Lomond which was bare just a few weeks ago was the pick of the bunch last week with 40cm of fresh snow. In the last editorial I mentioned a worrying prospect of a warm nor'wester mid-week. In the event it was no worse than freezing levels climbing up to about 2100m so it has made for some heavy afternoon skiing but has not done much damage to the cover. Most resorts should see fresh snowfall from the present showery SW airstream before high pressure builds in around Sunday or Monday with a mostly settled week to follow. Excellent conditions early in the week, but freezing levels rising each day so that things could get quite crusty off piste by late in the week if a freeze-thaw pattern gets established as we expect.

Andes
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The great 2007 season provided another fine week at resorts across South America with several resorts in Chile now reporting more than 3m of cover and modest fresh snowfalls in most resorts last week. The prospects are for a couple of dry days before an unsettled Westerly airstream develops, with the promise of widespread and heavy snowfalls next week - more especially further south with heavy falls on Monday and again on Wednesday/Thursday. Excellent conditions between and after, but with cold and gusty winds. Once again, the Andes offer the best worldwide prospects for skiing this week.

European Alps
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The Mölltal glacier in Austria has now reopened for summer skiing. Tignes is again closed due to strong winds today (Thursday) leaving Les Deux Alpes as the only open French summer skiing resort open. In Switzerland, Saas Fe and Zermatt had some new snow earlier in the week and are open again while the glaciers in Austria are open but tend to be a bit too soft and are losing a bit of snow depth. The week ahead starts ok, but then continues the distinctly unsettled theme with a growing risk of thunderstorms right across the Alps. It's not a great prospect and this week would be a very good one to abandon the snow and head for the Atlantic Coast instead - a distinctly autumnal low storm in the North Atlantic is currently directing a big swell towards the coasts of Northern Spain and SW France.

South Africa
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I would be very surprised if either Morocco or South Africa ever hosts the Winter Olympics, but surprisingly the mountains at either end of the vast continent offer limited skiing. Surfers from Durban head up to Tiffindell, which is 300km away as the crow flies and a lot further by winding road. That may seem like a bit of hike for a weekend, but it compares favourably with the closest "proper" ski resort - Faraya in Lebanon is 7000km away according to our nearest resort listing. Tiffindell lies just below 3000m Ben McDuie and gets by with a mix of natural and carefully managed artificial snow - the cold nights are ideal for the machines and right now they have a good cover despite the warm sun. Some much colder days with a few snow showers in prospect for the week ahead.

All the resorts referred to above and many more can be checked out at www.snow-forecast.com where for each location we provide forecasts, webcams and reports (when available), visitor reviews and much more.

2008 CALENDAR APPEAL
================
We have had an excellent response to our request for photos for our new calendar and some truly stunning shots from our users. We are still looking for a few more to add to our shortlist – particularly images of snow in unusual places (in previous years some of the favourites were snow in Athens and Egypt). Any shots that make it into the 2008 calendar will be rewarded with membership of the site and a selection of snow-forecast merchandise. Please send any shots for consideration to help@snow-forecast.com.

Lastly, our friends at Iglu have prepared some exclusive offers for subscribers of our weekly updates for Christmas and New Year ski breaks:

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Best wishes,

Rob
www.snow-forecast.com