World Snow News 10: 6th September 2007

Welcome to another review of snow conditions with prospects for the next seven days from www.snow-forecast.com.

A few smaller southern resorts have already closed for the season. Tiffindell in South Africa closed on Sept 6th, and in New Zealand Hanmer Springs has also closed this week. Temple Basin has abandoned the 2007 season without even opening. In general though, even smaller and lower Australasian resorts have deep enough bases to pretty much guarantee a few more good weeks. In South America, I guess they will just close when they get bored of the sight of the white stuff. As if to remind us that the Northern winter is nearly upon us, Hintertux in Austria received 55cm of new snow on Thursday and it is still snowing heavily over the Austrian Alps.

New Zealand
=========
Last week we predicted that New Zealand would see a warm NW winds give way
to heavy snowfalls on Tuesday. I'm happy to report that is exactly what happened. Better still, in the days before the storm, our resort forecasts were for 20cm to 30cm of snow at resorts in the Canterbury High country and from the reports, it seems that this was about right too.

Predicting snow depths right is notoriously difficult because the same volume of water can translate into very different volumes of snow according to the humidity and temperature - the ratio can be anything from about 4:1 for wet snow to 30:1 for the cold and dry powder that falls in places like Utah and the wind can be a huge factor too. Getting the depths even roughly right means that you have to be right about the precipitation, temperature and humidity as well. When snow showers are forecast, we don't even try.

Cold and clear air followed chased the clouds North and this has resulted in some great conditions in Canterbury and further south where the snow fell a day or too earlier. In fact, these are probably the best conditions of the season so far.

The week ahead in New Zealand begins fine and cold. A tropical depression has once again formed around New Caledonia but it should stay east of East Cape as it dives SE. Apart from providing fresh snow at Ruapehu on Sunday (with rain on the lower slopes), and the risk of heavy rain (yet again) further north, it will have little effect at other ski fields. Cloud and patchy rain and snow may extend as far south as Canterbury resorts on Monday, but that's all. For resorts further south, staying mostly fine with just a few showers. Watch out for a strengthening NW from Wednesday that
will cover most of the South Island by Friday.

Australia
======
There have been dustings of snow at most Australian resorts over the last week. Spring conditions are widespread with snow firm first thing and becoming heavy by afternoon.

Right now, a strong high over the Tasman is directing moist easterly air over the Australian resorts. It's generally overcast, and there is drizzle on lower slopes and a few snow showers about the top. Pressure is already falling over Western Australia and we expect a depression to form in the Bight and move quickly east with an attendant weather front reaching the Snowy Mountains on Monday. Ahead of the front, freezing levels will remain about the tops and any snow will be confined to peaks but as the front moves away snow showers should penetrate down to about 1600m. High pressure returns mid-week, but will only stay for 2 or 3 days so make the most of the weather window and any fresh snow that falls from this system.

European Alps
==========
Last week, our forecast called for an Atlantic anticyclone to move onto mainland Europe, pushing any cold and snowy air over the Alps away to the east. Luckily for Austria, this has happened a bit slower than we expected and the result has been an extra day or two of snowfall on the glaciers. Air temperatures are about -4 at 3500m which means that snow is falling down to about 2500m. High pressure is already well in control in the UK, France and Switzerland and the snow should clear at last from Austria during the weekend. This presents an ideal opportunity to experience some great winter conditions in September - head east and you will not be disappointed. There is deep fresh snow in Hintertux, Dachstein and Kaprun. High pressure should
dominate the Alps over the next seven days, but watch out for another snowy northerly blast to follow. Meanwhile, if you can't get to the snow, you may be interested to know that a deepening and stationary mid-Atlantic low holds some promise to direct a small but clean long period swell towards the beaches of Western Europe next week - for details visit our sister website surf-forecast.com.

Andes
====
With ski resorts strung along half of the longest mountain chain on the planet, the Andes always presents a difficult prospect for a brief editorial. Today is typically diverse - freezing levels are at 700m in Cerro castor at the South, 4000m at Los Penitentes in the North but the relative altitude of resorts compensates for much of the difference in latitude.

In what continues to be an exceptionally good season for South America, you would be spoilt for choice right now. For example, on Wednesday 150cm of new snow was reported at Cerro Catedral in Argentina and there is the prospect of further snow through the weekend. Mild enough for rain rather than snow to fall at the resort elevation until it turns colder from Sunday. Chapelco received 60cm of fresh snow too and once again there is more snow forecast.

The weather pattern for the week ahead is especially complex as a small depression crosses the region before high pressure builds over the tip of the continent and directs cloudy easterly Atlantic at the Southern Andes for the first time this season with most snowfall expected at places like La Hoya and Las Lenas. Fairly mild temperatures right now will give way to colder air as the low passes and a rare settled period in prospect for resorts in the deep south.

The Snow-Forecast.com editorial team

World Snow News 12: 20th September 2007

Welcome to another members update of worldwide snow conditions, together
with prospects for the week ahead.

We currently have spring snow conditions across most of the resorts in the
Southern Hemisphere and the number of resorts that have closed for the
season in New Zealand has jumped significantly in the last week. Meanwhile,
the Atlantic weather charts have taken on a distinctly autumnal feel with a
succession of deep lows running through the gap between Iceland and
Scotland. As we forecast a week ago, the icy northerly plunge behind one of
these systems brought maximum temperatures of -3 degrees to the Scottish
summits on Monday, accompanied by 80km/h winds and widespread drifting
snow - it was the first blizzard of the season. There were very similar
winter conditions across Scandinavia too and the cold northerly air briefly
extended far enough South to bring further light snowfalls to the glaciers
of Austria and Switzerland.

New Zealand
=========
The Christchurch Press newspaper recently ran a very gloomy article in which
it claimed that the 2007 ski season had been exceptionally bad. With local
resorts like Olympus opening late and Temple Basin not opening at all, it is
easy to see why the Canterbury regional paper took this line. Even so,
looking across all NZ ski areas, the statistics don't support this
depressing picture and even locally Mt Hutt and Broken River have had a
fair season with a few truly great days. Although 2007 hasn't been anything
like as good as the 2006 El Nino year, you only have to go back to 2005 to
find a season that was worse. Many resorts have had an average season -
Rainbow in particular has had a good one. Last week several more resorts
closed for the season which is normal for the time of year - Mt Lyford,
Hanmer, Temple Basin, Craigieburn, Cheeseman, Porters, Olympus and Dobson
are all closed now - about 25% of resorts. There is still great skiing to be
found elsewhere. North Island resorts of Turoa and Whakapapa are confident
they will stay open until late October and as always, deep snow above the
lifts means that Ruapehu will offer superb back country days for the more
adventurous until Christmas at least.

The next few days sees pressure falling and a complex low pressure area
developing over New Zealand and the nearby Tasman. Initially, the air is
warm - freezing levels are above 2000m and it's cloudy and miserable. As the
low pressure transfers east and deepens it will draw in cool SE air in its
wake. Freezing levels will quickly fall and there should be widespread
fresh snowfalls at most resorts between Monday and Wednesday.

Australia
======
A few days ago I was trying to reconcile the snow report for Thredbo with
the latest web cam image. Whereas the report suggested top to bottom skiing
on a decent base, the camera suggested that resorts level snow was very
patchy - nothing like the 124cm reported. I mention this because the
apparent contradiction is a very common one that is not peculiar to Thredbo.
The reason is that snowmaking has boosted snow depths on the lower pistes
way below the natural levels and it is the snow depth on the piste that is
quoted in the report. As more and more resorts invest in snowmaking, this
creates a statistical headache. The problem is that snowmaking distorts the
record and spoils any historical comparisons that date from before it
existed. Be aware of this possibility if you find yourself concluding that
ski resorts are seeing much more snow than they used to - it may well be
mostly man-made and little consolation if you are an off-piste enthusiast.
Comparing upper snow depths is usually a much more reliable indicator.

Australian resorts are subject to spring conditions right now. The new snow
that fell last week didn't change much and it was soon back to mild weather
and wet heavy snow by afternoons. Right now, they have a real mixed bag of
weather in the Snowy Mountains following a front that is moving away to the
East. Freezing levels are about 2000m (near the summits) but falling. There
are rain, sleet and increasingly snow showers on the westerly breeze. Expect
a clearance in time for the weekend and reasonable skiing. If you stay high
and you may even be lucky enough to find some fresh snow from one of those
passing showers. Becoming milder on Tuesday as pressure builds and a NW wind
becomes established. The next cold front should be much more vigorous than
the recent one when it sweeps in off the Southern Ocean in about a week.
It's a long way off, but there is potential for a reasonable snowfall in
time for next weekend. A few days before it reaches the Ski Fields, that
same cold front may briefly manage a rare dusting of snow at the top of the
remote Stirling Ranges of Western Australia - don't bother taking your
skis - there is scrub almost to the summit, but if you are passing and see
snow, please post any photos of this in our online gallery.

South America
==========
Last week stayed pretty cold across most Andean resorts and that has helped
preserve the snow. With an anticyclone taking up residence over the nearby
Pacific, the week ahead begins cold and slowly warms up. The only
significant snow forecast is for resorts in the far South that are exposed
to fronts embedded the Westerly flow around the bottom of the high pressure.
Nothing too exciting, but I imagine most skiers down there have had such a
great season that they are losing interest now anyway. It's a huge area so
please refer to our detailed forecasts and reports for details.

European Alps
==========
There was more fresh snow on the Swiss and Austrian glaciers last week -
nothing like the 70cm plus falls of the week before, but very welcome just
the same. Typically 10cm in Austria and 2cm in Switzerland. High pressure
will provide a few more sunny days with light winds before cold northerly
air brings the possibility for another light fall of snow in the middle of
the week. Once again Scotland and Scandinavia should also see another cold
and wintry blast. Let's just hope this weather pattern lasts all winter and
breaks the recent pattern of high pressure over the Alps and a mild SW flow
for Northern Europe.

World Snow News 11: 13th September 2007

Welcome to the latest update of worldwide snow conditions and prospects for the week ahead.

There are just seven days to go until the equinox but it is too early for Southern Hemisphere skiers to abandon winter sports just yet. The season there is at the Northern equivalent of mid-March, and as everyone knows, spring skiing can be best of all - long sunny days, short lift-lines and great skiing at any resorts that are high enough to hold a good base. It may be officially the end of winter but the Southern Ocean takes a long time to warm up and spring down under is typically punctuated by pulses of cold air from frozen south that can bring fresh falls to relatively low altitudes. Unfortunately, Australian mountains are about 500m too low to ensure reliable skiing for very much longer - indeed two resorts have already closed. Meanwhile, across the Tasman, the high altitude big North Island resorts of Whakapapa and Turoa are usually a safe bet at this time of year and their combined spring passes represent excellent value if you plan on staying more than a few days. When Australian resorts suffer from spring conditions and fast melting snow beneath the high sun, a trip to New Zealand may very well appeal to the residents of Sydney and Melbourne. However, for European skiers, the cold summer in NW Europe offers an alternative with great snow conditions much closer at hand. Several Austrian Glacier resorts are reporting as much as 80cm of fresh snow. With conditions like this on offer even the superb Andean conditions are not all that tempting, let alone the even more distant Antipodean resorts.

Australia
=======
Several resorts had a dusting of snow last week. A front is approaching, accompanied by increasing NW winds, right now, soon gusting to gale or even storm force about the tops. The better news is that as the winds swing Westerly, temperatures will fall and there should be snow showers down to about 1500m tomorrow. Further showers and rather variable freezing levels over the next few days as the weather pattern quickly repeats means that it is a good idea to study the detailed forecasts and snow reports to make the most of conditions because they will be very mixed for a few days. Tending to settle down after that. Unfortunately, any new snow will come too late for Ben Lomond and Selwyn Snowfields which have now closed for the season.

New Zealand
==========
Not for the first time this season, the small resort of Rainbow has seen more new snow than most during the past few days, but even there only 8cm fell on Tuesday. The NW wind that we warned about last time duly closed Mt Hutt and Dobson on Thursday and has affected lifts at Turoa and Whakapapa too. A thundery weather front is presently moving up South Island and will reach north Island around lunchtime Friday. Unfortunately, the air behind it isn't especially cold and so precipitation on the mountains will tend to be rain rather than snow,especially at lower elevations - freezing levels typically not far from 2000m but the problem with aiming high enough to get the fresh snow will be the wind. Fairly moist and showery W or NW winds over the weekend should give way to more settled conditions from early next week - hopefully leading to excellent conditions on the upper slopes of Ruapehu in particular.

South America
===========
In last weeks forecast we mentioned that high pressure would develop over the southern tip of the continent and direct Atlantic easterly winds further North. Right now, that's exactly what we have and cool winds should deliver localized fresh snow to places like Chapelco that are open to the east. This unusual state of affairs will last about three more days before low pressure and prevailing westerlies return to the far South with more settled conditions elsewhere. The resorts near Santiago boast the most impressive snow depths of any ski resorts (around 4m) and this should ensure excellent spring skiing for several more weeks.

European Alps
===========
Austria is certainly the place to be right now following heavy snowfalls on most glaciers last week - over 50cm fell over wide areas. Settled conditions have followed and apart from a brief northerly on Tuesday, the week ahead looks mostly fine too. The Swiss and French summer skiing resorts will enjoy the same fair weather, but these were too far west to have benefited from much of the recent snow. As if to further remind us that winter will soon be here, Norway offers a wild-card prospect for back country skiing in the days ahead as deep and autumnal lows track nearby. On Monday and Tuesday there is every possibility that a cold northerly blast will bring the first snow of autumn across the Scottish Highlands. Even the high Lakeland fells may see a dusting!

For any surfers, prospects for the North Coast of Scotland and the North Sea Coast are really excellent for the time of year - winter swell conditions, but with summer sea temperatures.

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
==========
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
======
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
=========
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
==========
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
=========
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
======
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
==========
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
=====
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

=========

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
=======
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
===========
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
===========
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
==========
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
======
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
===========
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
==========
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
==========
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
=======
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
=====
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
==========
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
==========
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:

2-4-1 Lift Passes in Jan & Feb
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Early booking discounts - Save up to £50 per person
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Best wishes,

Rob
www.snow-forecast.com

World Snow News 4: 26th July 2007

Welcome to another roundup of global snow conditions and prospects for the next seven days from www.snow-forecast.com.

July is almost over, and any Southern Hemisphere resorts that do not yet have a decent base get anxious about now. This year, all resorts in Australia and South America are in the clear with deep bases that will last through the season, but a few resorts in New Zealand still need more snow before they can open and many other resorts have limited or zero off-piste because the cover is too thin. Of course, if you are an off piste junkie there are always options if you don't mind putting in some leg-work - from the upper slopes of Ruapehu to Mt Brewster above Haast Pass and at several great Heli-operations in between, even in a mediocre season, New Zealand has fine snow beyond the confines of the resorts.

European Alps

===========

This week, for a change, I'll start with the European Alps where a mixed week of weather included a cold snap that caused fatalities on Mt. Blanc. While much of Europe suffers record heat, it is easy to forget that the higher peaks of The Alps (typically 1000m above the glaciers) are very rarely below the freezing level and this makes them subject to summer blizzards.

In France Tignes and Les Deux Alpes are skiing really well with sunshine and low summer temperatures. It is a similar story in Switzerland on the glaciers at Saas Fee and Zermatt. Cervinia in Italy is holding up well while the conditions at Val Senales are not great. The week ahead looks like it will bring scattered rain and snow showers at first, then mostly fine days and freezing levels between 3500 and 4000m with light to moderate westerly breezes- cold enough for the snow to freeze at night but with heavy conditions by late-morning. Several glacier resorts have closed for the summer - most recently, the summer ski season on the Pissaillas Glacier at Val d'Isere ended on Saturday 21st July and this is the last week of summer skiing at Blackcomb glacier in Whistler.

Apart from the Mt Blanc tragedy, The Alps were in the news for another reason last week. Pretty much everyone knows that last winter (06/07) was a poor one in Europe, but was it really as bad as all that? Nobody can dispute that around Christmas and New Year, snow conditions were desperate. I images of grassy slopes and idle snow cannons made the news around the globe, as if they provided certain evidence of Global Warming. However, it wasn't long before the snow arrived and although it was rarely deep at low altitudes, higher resorts did pretty well and snow depths above 2000m were average or better than average. Apart from a late start, the season was typical of the prevailing North Atlantic Oscillation that brought a lot of warm and moist air off the Atlantic. If you are in any doubt, just take a look at the record of snow-depths at a resort like Tignes (http://www.snow-forecast.com/c/resorts/Tignes/history) over the past 15 years and the NAO pattern is obvious.

Lately, several tour operators have been blaming the media for sensationalist and inaccurate reporting. Nothing new there, you may think, but what’s unusual is that most of the anger is directed towards the BBC who have been accused of running images of green slopes in news reports long after they were covered in snow and of course this probably led to cancellations and falling bookings even after snow had fallen.

For our readers in the Northern Hemisphere, we have two great offers if you are thinking of booking a holiday over the coming Christmas or New Year. Thanks to our friends at Iglu:

Save £50 pp on a huge range of Christmas holidays in Europe & USA (click here for info.)

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Of course most snow reports tend to be biased the other way - resort managers are prone to a bit of positive spin when it comes to reporting and who can blame them. Thankfully, the advent of webcams has made it difficult to stray too far from reality. As far as possible, we try and use reports from the Ski Club of Great Britain because these are independent. However, they only cover about 300 resorts worldwide and our website covers 1920 at the last count, so we rely greatly on users who provide snow reports in return for free membership. We also allow resort managers to update information on our site to provide them with a chance to say don't believe the forecast, we are above the cloud! Indeed, the reason we provide links to every resort page that we can find is so that users can quickly check what is really happening - predicting mountain weather is incredibly difficult and it can vary enormously over short distances and small changes in altitude.

Andes

=====

In a word – stunning! Last weeks’ forecast seems to have been fairly accurate, with widespread and heavy new snow falling last weekend and into the week, followed by a several fine days. Las Lenas is much improved, and Portillo just gets better and better with 70cm of fresh snow both here and at Chapa Verde. An amazing weekend to be heading to the Three Valleys in ChileColorado (170/295cm) providing excellent riding conditions. With a sunny weekend in prospect everywhere, the next heavy snowfall looks set to arrive early next week, and more especially further south. This should clear away mid-week as another anticyclone edges in off the Pacific. Sadly the unusually cold winter elsewhere in South America has been responsible for many deaths. In high altitude Peruvian villages, temperatures have fallen to -20C and many adults and children have died as a result of cold, pneumonia and other respiratory infections. Even in nearby rain forests, temperatures have fallen below 10C. thanks to the amount of snow falling over the last week. La Parva (240/290cm) is reporting 134cm of snow arriving in the last seven days alone. The sun is now shining and this will continue into the weekend. 70cm of fresh snow has fallen at El

New Zealand

=========

The past week brought a change in the weather with a fresh westerly wind blowing away the cold and frosty air from Inland Otago and for the first week this winter, nowhere seems to have been subjected to a Biblical deluge (apologies to any Kiwis who left for Britain last week - bad call…). The weather progressed much as forecast with bits and pieces of fresh snow about, but locals are still waiting for a big dump to kick-start the season at several club fields. It's not that these places don't have snow, they just don't have enough. The greywacke rock that erodes down to make the characteristic gullies that the eastern slopes of the Southern Alps are famous for really need about a metre of snow to cover the rocks. Places like Mt Olympus have half this depth and are still waiting, however closer to the divide, westerly winds have brought enough snow to greatly improve the upper slopes at Temple Basin and also enough to at least freshen up the pistes at Rainbow, Mt Lyford.

The Southern Lakes have typically benefited from 10-15cm of fresh wind blown snow and although this isn't enough to open up the off-piste options, it is very welcome - not least because it arrived much earlier than we had expected in last Thursday's forecast. The weather models didn't predict very much of the NW moisture getting over the Southern Alps and into central Otago which makes a change because they often predict more snow than actually falls by not modelling the rain shadow effect well enough. Let's hope that continues to be the case because for the week ahead, the same models suggest modest falls - a few centimetres now and again, but no big dumps. Mount Dobson is another casualty of the dry winter weather while at nearby Fox Peak (open at weekends) they suggest you only use old skis. Being located even further east of the Main Divide than places like Cardrona, these resorts are very sheltered from Westerly moisture. Hopefully a brief spell of NE wind forecast for Monday will deliver much needed snow.

Ruapehu managed about 25cm out of last weekend's depression, the best in NZ and it already had the deepest base too. However, the freezing level has drifted high enough at times to make the upper pistes icy and the lower runs soft whilst off piste is best avoided with a dangerous mix of ice and exposed rocks. Prospects are for a fairly similar week ahead and while there will be fresh snow about, and some sun too. Winds will be from a mild NW direction and freezing levels will be mostly above 2000m. Timing will be everything if you want to catch fresh snow and fine weather on the mountain. Meanwhile, over on Taranaki, the same system also brought snow last Friday but the warm westerlies that followed it have melted most of the new snow. There is not enough depth to open for skiing at Manganui and I’m sorry to say that the week ahead holds little grounds for optimism with yet more rain at resort level and no prospect of the kind of SW flow that gets things moving in this corner of NZ.

Australia

=======

Australia was once again was the right side of the Tasman to be with some superb conditions on offer last week. The next few days look like delivering more of the same. High freezing levels right now (Thursday night) are close to the tops and a front crossing the area is giving a mix of rain and sleet with snow above about 2000m and westerly gales on the summits. Temperatures however are falling, and before the front clears away, we should see widespread new snow at most levels over the next couple of days though staying breezy. Apart from a risk of a rather warm NW airstream doing some damage to snow cover mid-week, it returns to business as usual with a snowy end to the week expected.

Finally, thanks to those users of snow-forecast.com for their positive feedback on our weekly editorials. This has prompted us to publish them and maintain an archive at http://snow-forecast.blogspot.com/

Best wishes,

Rob

www.snow-forecast.com team

World Snow News 3: 19th July 2007

Welcome to another www.snow-forecast.com weekly weather round up.

Australia
======
Last week's forecast for Australia worked out almost exactly as planned with new snow for all resorts and a very welcome 30cm dump at Ben Lomond in Tasmania to kick-start the season there. That same system typically dumped 20cm of snow on the mainland mountains and accompanying low temperatures have resulted in widespread reports of powder - which sounds wonderful. I can't help being a bit sceptical about the idea of powder in Australia and I really need to hear it from a visiting Canadian before I believe it! Of course this is all sour grapes really because while you lot were having a great time making fresh tracks in OZ, over on this side of the Tasman we were missing out altogether and the only powder in Kiwi resorts last week came out of a snow cannon. Meanwhile the endless frost in central Otago basins notched up another 7 days - the frost must be nearly thick enough to ski on by now…

It looks like the next week will see things settling down over Australia with high pressure dominating the forecast period. A small and intense low may brush Tasmania mid-week, but at this stage it does not look like its attendant fronts will travel far north of Melbourne but there is certainly a fair chance that the forecast track will shift enough to bring another snowy spell - so watch the forecast carefully as it gets closer. Check out the dynamic map animation at http://www.snow-forecast.com/maps/aus_dynamical.shtml

New Zealand
=========
For New Zealand, last week I had high hopes that with a cold high over the South Island and warm moist air to the North and East, some place in eastern New Zealand would get a decent fall of snow from the moist Easterly air
squeezed between and the charts suggested the top of South Island would be the favored spot. In the event, the mixing zone was further North than expected and it brought severe flooding to Hawkes Bay instead with only
light snow to places like the Kaikouras and presumably heavy snowfall to the tops of the Ruhaines and Kawekas but with no resorts there to take advantage. Only light snow spilled over the ranges as far as Turoa.

The good news is that the same system that brought snow to Australia has since crossed the Tasman and is quickly approaching New Zealand, so ironically the long-range part of last weeks forecast for NZ has proved more accurate than the wayward middle bit. The not so good news is that attendant snowfall quantities from this system look like they will be generally less than they were in Australia, especially for the Southern Lakes area where it has been cold and settled for more than 2 weeks. Places like Cardrona are very skilled at maintaining perfect piste and park conditions, but by the end of next week the off-piste in particular is going to need new snow quite badly.

Instead, the heaviest snow out of the current system will should be around Taranaki, Ruapehu, Nelson, Marlbrough and Caneterbury with the heaviest snowfalls for the upper slopes of Taranaki and higher tops of Kahurangi
today. It looks like some very cold southerly winds will dig under this low on Saturday with a risk snow to low levels right along the east coast of both Islands, clearing away North on Monday. A westerly airstream should
establish itself over most of New Zealand on Tuesday with mostly fine weather and rising freezing levels. There is just a chance that the mid-week low forecast for Tasmania will pass close enough to Southland to deliver
snow to Southern Ski fields late in the week and it may also be sufficient to send an attendant cold flick up the East Coast around the weekend. Fingers crossed.

Andes
====
No matter how good it seems in Australia right now, South America is undeniably the place to be this season with 2m+ bases at several resorts. Last week saw plenty of fresh snow at resorts in Chile but in Argentina, only Chapelco benefited, with a relatively modest 7cm fall there. Most surprisingly, it is the giant and normally snow sure resort of Las-Lenas that has missed out on the big dumps so far - not that the skiing there is at all bad - it's just not the best of the bunch right now because this year the weather fronts have been partially blocked by the mountains.

From a meteorological point of view, the Andes situation is roughly equivalent to New Zealand with similar weather patterns leading to snowy winters. The main thing to look for is a blocking high pressure sitting off the
west coast. This directs a cold and snowy SW airstream around the bottom and as the high topples in from the west, a settled spell of weather makes for perfect skiing and riding conditions. No surprise that this is exactly
what is in store for the next week - cold and snowy until Wednesday, then sunny for the back half of the week. Perfect.

With all this fresh snow forecast, conditions on the high glaciers of Europe seem academic and after a very warm week last week as forecast, things are not nearly as enticing as they were earlier in summer when the weather
thought it was still winter. This week should see the remaining storms clearing and should cool down enough for reasonable early morning riding on the Austrian glaciers in particular, otherwise too slushy.

Until next week,

Rob

www.snow-forecast.com

World Snow News 2: 12th July 2007

Welcome again to the www.Snow-Forecast.com weekly weather round up.

We've brought the schedule for these forward a day so that people in New Zealand and Australia get to receive our editorials before the weekend.

The southern winter of 2007 continues to prove itself a very different beast to the 2006 El Nino year. Looking at mid Pacific Ocean temperature anomalies, we are not in a La Nina pattern yet and you would still describe things as neutral, but in terms of Pacific weather patterns, it is as if La Nina is well underway already. In all likelihood a full blown La Nina, as defined by water temperatures, will emerge during the winter.

As far as the prospects for the Southern ski season goes, that's very good news for Australia and South America, less good for New Zealand and probably irrelevant to South Africa. South Africa? Surely we’re joking? Not at all – there’s skiing in the Drakensburg at two small resorts and there were several days in 2006 when the tiny resort of Tiffindell at 3000m had better conditions than most in Australia! It's looking good so far this year too and looking at the cam on snow-forecast.com the resort is open right now. A sunny and fairly mild prospect for the next week, but cold enough for snowmaking at night.

Australia
======
The 2007 season has got off to a great start in Australia and last week saw more of the same with new snow about once again, especially at Perisher Blue where the snow base has topped 1.5m - the deepest in Australasia; it's only marginally less at Thredbo and Mount Hotham. These are fantastic conditions for early July. Expect a few cold but fairly settled days before another system brings more snow in the middle of the week. That's so far out that the only thing we can be certain of is that things won't go according to plan, but if by some miracle the weather does follow the forecast, a deep depression will form just off the NSW coast on Wednesday bringing a major dump, especially to the easternmost resorts like Thredbo. I'm more hopeful
than confident.

New Zealand
=========
Across the ditch, New Zealand continues to have a winter of extremes and the latest weather news came from an intense low that crossed the far North of North Island a few days ago. That came up against a characteristic La Nina anticyclone over the South Island and between the two, the isobars were packed and a band of 150km/h easterly winds battered Northland and Coromandel and locally dumped up to 30cm of rain. Affected towns have barely finished mopping up since a similar flood 6 months ago and no doubt they will now be even less comforted by meteorologists assuring them not to worry because these are “every 1000 year events”... This forecaster was especially worried by that storm because if it had tracked just 200km south, Ruhapehu would have received an incredible snowfall and I would have had egg on my face for forecasting a fairly settled week there. Although that didn't
happen, way ahead of the main front, an unexpected little band of snow parked itself over the Mountains of NW Nelson for 24hrs but since there are no ski resorts there, who cares? Well me actually, because that's my back yard! Elsewhere in NZ, it was cold and frosty with easterly snow showers from Canterbury to Ruhapehu (11cm of fresh snow at Mt Hutt was typical).

There are no similar storms in this weeks forecast. It will start off very cold and frosty but pressure is forecast to fall and snow is expected to develop by around Tuesday on a strengthening SE wind, with places like Mt. Hutt, Mt Olympus, Porters and Mt Lyford best placed to catch most. If (big if) the deep low materialises in the Tasman as forecast, then New Zealand can expect it to arrive right at the end of the week in 8 or 9 days, but given the lack of observations in the Southern Ocean, this is mere speculation.

The Andes
=======
South America is a huge place and even the mighty Southern Alps of New Zealand would be mere foothills next to the Andes, but for all it's vast potential, there are not very many ski resorts and they span such a vast area it is difficult to give a quick synopsis. This is a shame because if Australia is having a great season, then the Andes are having a superb one. Last week was exceptionally cold as Antarctic air made its way north, even reaching Buenos Aires where it caused the first snowfall since 1918! The snow mainly settled on the roofs of cars, so that's where the kids built their snowmen. Further afield, temperatures fell as low as -22C in Rio Negro province of Argentina and -18C in parts of Araucania region in the south of
Chile.

Up in the resorts, the cold air did not bring any big dumps of snow, but with well over 2m of snow already in places like Chapelco and Catedral in Argentina and about 1.5m in most resorts in Chile, nobody is complaining. With plenty of new snow in the forecast this week, things are looking great - check our web pages for the details – and we have had several offers from ski people in this part of the world to help us update our bulletins so watch this space…

Europe
=====
Last week again saw significant new snow on most Alpine glaciers. The weather is much sunnier now and it should stay that way for the next few days, then getting slowly warmer but with an increasing risk of thunderstorms. For those of you who assume that glacier skiing in the Alps consists of a few short T bars on icy slopes, Dachstein in Austria currently has 63km of pistes open on a 4.3m base - most places in Australasia never get that good.

Best wishes - until next week,

Rob Davies - www.snow-forecast.com

World Snow News 1: 6th July 2007

Welcome to the first editorial of the 2007 Southern Ski Season from www.snow-forecast.com. We will try and make it a regular weekly feature for the rest of our season for our active subscribers and recent participants in our free days (congratulations to Tobias in Germany who won a ski book and 12 month membership the latest draw).

The Northern Winter of 2006/2007 was one that Europe and parts of the USA would prefer to forget because it barely happened. Christmas and the New Year in the European Alps felt more like October - the lower and even middle slopes were still green and where the was snow, crowds were horrendous. Afterwards, things improved: the westerly Atlantic air managed some decent dumps especially at higher resorts, but below 2000m, the season was brief. Low altitude resorts in Scotland and along the American Eastern seaboard endured marginal conditions for yet another season and now some face an uncertain future. Even so, it wasn't all bad news by any means because the Canadian Rockies had an incredible season - often with too much snow rather than too little: Some people blamed Global Warming for the odd winter weather, others pointed to El Nino and the North Atlantic Oscillation as more likely causes. We live in interesting times…

In the Southern Hemisphere, winter 2007 has started very differently to 2006, largely because El Nino conditions have faded away and there is a fair chance that there will be a switch to La Nina conditions as the winter progresses, with only a brief spell of "normal" Pacific conditions. Based on historical measures, we would expect a better than average ski season in Australia and fairly ordinary one in New Zealand, perhaps suffering a warmer spring than usual and certainly warmer than last spring when southerlies would have allowed skiing until Christmas were it not for all the construction work at Ruhapehu.

So far, things are going to plan for winter 2007, although the side effects of changing weather patterns have brought mixed fortunes. On the one hand the long drought of SE Australia has broken at last, but on the other, both Australia and New Zealand have seen some pretty wild and destructive weather with widespread floods and in Taranaki, North Island, even a swarm of destructive tornados last night as a depression crossed NZ from the Tasman Sea.

On the hills, things are looking really good in the Australian resorts with a decent base after recent dumps and a settled week in prospect with just a few showers to keep it fresh on the pistes. Conditions are improving quickly in the South Island resorts of New Zealand and it is snowing right now at many resorts from Canterbury north to Ruhapehu - all the way to East Cape in fact, as a bitterly cold SE airstreams dumps the second significant fall of the season.

This should take snow depths close to 1m at most resorts, about average for the date, and meanwhile cause problems on higher roads over the next few days, with snow to near sea level in places like Akaroa and Kaikoura. Carry chains and expect delays for road clearing this weekend, and if you do plan to ski in central NZ and are not too obsessed with making the first tracks, bear in mind there should be better weather conditions through next week. Further south around the Southern Lakes, the snow has already fallen and there is a superb clear and cold weekend in prospect.

Resorts in South America and those in the high glacier resorts of Europe have a cloudy and snowy prospect yet again and an odd combination of a mild winter followed by a cold and wet summer means that conditions in the European glaciers are probably better now than they were in January. Go figure.

To see the benefits of snow-forecast.com membership visit: http://www.snow-forecast.com/membership.php

Best wishes,

The Snow-Forecast.com Team