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
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