Posted on: 2025-12-21 17:35:10 by davidof

Below average snow cover in France but some hope

Météo-France reports that:

General synopsis

After a reasonably snowy start to December, the recent warm spell over the past 10 days has reduced snow cover, especially on southern exposures and at lower elevations. As a result, snow cover is often below normal for this time of year, and to find a deep snowpack you generally have to be high in the Alps.

Northern Alps

Snow cover is near normal overall, slightly above average in parts of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, and slightly below in Isère. Lower-elevation, non-ski areas may only have snow above ~1 400 m on north slopes and ~1 600 m on south slopes. At around ~1 800 m, snow depths are roughly 50 cm to 1 m depending on the massif. The very south of the area (Oisans etc) will see about 5 to 10cm of fresh snow at 1400 meters altitude.

Southern Alps

Snow cover is deficient to very deficient, especially in Hautes-Alpes and Ubaye. Valleys below ~1 500 m are mostly snow-free. Snow is closer to normal in the southern most massifs (Haut Verdon to Mercantour) where a few active systems occurred earlier this month; some places around 1 550 m have ~55 cm. The Haut-Verdon and Mercantour are also expecting 30 to 80cm of fresh snow over the next 24 hours in a "retour d'est" weather system. The rest of the area will see 10 to 25cm of fresh snow at 1800 meters altitude; the snow line will be around 1400 meters.

Other Regions

In the Pyrenees, snow is also below normal; snow exists mainly above ~1 500–2 000 m with ~20–40 cm around ~2 000 m. The central to western half of the mountain range will see up to half a meter of snow above 1200 meters over the next 48 hours. Corsica has poor snow cover and is expecting heavy rain over the next 48 hours. In lower mountain ranges like the Vosges, Jura, and Massif Central, snow has largely melted but fresh snow is expeced in the Massif Central over the next 48 hours above 1000 meters altitude.

https://meteofrance.com/actualites-et-dossiers/actualites/montagne-un-enneigement-souvent-deficitaire

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