SnowNews

Some Snow Respite for French Alps

For those anxiously looking skywards in anticipation of their Christmas break in the French Alps the weather system has brought up to 50cm of snow in places. However the low pressure didn't bring as much of its bounty as hoped. The Northern Alps saw a classic "retour d'est" autumn weather pattern caused by a low pressure sitting just off the northern Italian coast. The winds whip over the Mediteranean sea, picking up moisture before heading northwards into Italy. They then turn east (Lombard wind) to dump snow on the Italian side of the Alps. Good for Italian resorts such as La Thuile, less good for the French. The areas close to the Franco-Italian border have benefitted from some 50cm of fresh snow but the bounty was largely spent further to the east in the Vanoise where only some 10cm of fresh has been recorded.



The wind is shifting around to the south (Foehn) and the isotherm will rise to around 2000 meters which will bring a bit more snow or rain to the rest of the French Alps later in the week.

Related Links: Snow and avalanche report

posted by davidof @ 6:18 PM