It all seemed so positive last weekend. We were ski touring in the Belledonne. The resorts of Alpe d’Huez, la Clusaz, Montgenevre and Courchevel had opened ahead of schedule. The mountains were white down to 1500 meters.
What a difference 7 days make. The above resorts remain closed with green replacing white below 2000 meters. Thanks to good early season snow Serre Chevalier did manage to join Tignes, Val d’Isere, les Deux Alpes and Val Thorens in opening on Saturday. Or at least that was the plan. Val d’Isere was only able to offer the high Pisaillas glacier but were giving free lift passes but the lifts remained closed all day Saturday by a storm force foehn wind. Val Thorens also suffered disruption. Tignes has some very muddy looking skiing down to Val Claret. Both Courchevel and Val d’Isere are worried about early season ski competitions.
So, with the zero isotherm above 3000 meters altitude today in the French Alps it is hard to believe it is the start of winter tomorrow. However Météo France promises a “normal” winter with more snow than in 2013/14 but we may have to wait to the end of December for things to really get going. The start of December is forecast to be dry and sunny, at least at altitude with snow arriving at valley level just before Christmas with a storm cycle blowing in from the Atlantic replacing the mediterranean storms we’ve seen all autumn and that have wreaked havoc in France, Italy and Switzerland.
January will start warm and wet but turn colder in the second half of the month with heavy snow at high and mid altitudes. Watch out if these weather systems hit on a week-end. The crystal ball is cloudy any further out but Météo France and other forecasters think it could be another month of cold, snowy weather with the thaw coming late, perhaps not before April.