Snow Forecast Summary - 10th January 2010

Admin wrote:
If driving to The Alps at any point over the next week you should expect winter driving conditions; there is widespread snow and more is forecast. We strongly advise the use of winter tyres and chains are essential - pack them so you can get at them, and don't forget the gloves and the torch (Murphy's Law dictates that the very first time you use chains, it will be -20C and dark).

I think someone else mentioned this recently but don't neglect screen wash, you need loads of it and down to the lowest temperature you can get. I've gone through liters of the stuff in the last two days alone. In fact, I need to top it up again now :roll:

Admin wrote:
AVALANCHE RISK - PLEASE READ

All this snow comes at a price. More than twenty skiers and climbers have lost their lives in avalanches since Christmas; in France, Italy, Scotland and Switzerland.

There is elevated risk in many areas, across Europe, and you should thoroughly assess local conditions before venturing off piste. The general Avalanche Risk Level is currently 3 (Considerable) for large areas of Switzerland and France presently, and may be higher locally. As always, never ski off piste alone and always go equipped.

If in doubt - take another route!

Enjoy the snow, and stay safe,

That's now at 4/5 for many of the main French ski stations :

http://france.meteofrance.com/france/montagne?51206.path=montagnebulletinavalanche

for those that don't read French the bulletin talks about the recent snow falling, or being blown by wind, onto slopes that were already unstable where previous layers hadn't had chance to consolidate as I had tried to warn about several times already.

4/5 is a pretty serious level, at this level avalanches can be spontaneous or require low triggers. The bulletin notes that weather will be improving but you'd not anticipate a significant reduction in risk for some days, the consolidation required is not purely at the surface, visible, layer.

ise wrote:

Admin wrote:
If driving to The Alps at any point over the next week you should expect winter driving conditions; there is widespread snow and more is forecast. We strongly advise the use of winter tyres and chains are essential - pack them so you can get at them, and don't forget the gloves and the torch (Murphy's Law dictates that the very first time you use chains, it will be -20C and dark).

I think someone else mentioned this recently but don't neglect screen wash, you need loads of it and down to the lowest temperature you can get. I've gone through liters of the stuff in the last two days alone. In fact, I need to top it up again now :roll:

Don't forget the domestic matters at home either - like turn off the mains water in the house if you're leaving it empty, and cover your tender outside plants with bubble wrap or straw or whatever you have handy (which is what I have been doing today to my agapanthus which my grandmother got in the Scilly Isles around 1930).

Ally

Wow, all this snow & super cold weather; amazing really considering we are supposedly experiencing/suffering global warming ( or is it now 'climate change' as the warming seems to have stopped/declined for the last 10 years or more) )

frostbite wrote:Wow, all this snow & super cold weather; amazing really considering we are supposedly experiencing/suffering global warming ( or is it now 'climate change' as the warming seems to have stopped/declined for the last 10 years or more) )

The head of the IPCC commented, somewhat wryly I thought, it was going to be a tough year.

Given the epic snow in the UK you could easily think it's going to be translated to the Alpes and it's not. It's been a poor year for lower ski stations, a lot of the Jura for example, where I'm just about to be, is barely open at all. Average temperatures remain high, we are certainly getting day after day of -10'c to -20'c but we're also getting days, and nights, where even at my house at 1700m it's not below freezing.

It's this erratic weather that's made snowpack so unstable and prevented it from consolidating which could be a worrying precedent for future seasons.

I think someone else mentioned this recently but don't neglect screen wash, you need loads of it and down to the lowest temperature you can get. I've gone through liters of the stuff in the last two days alone.:roll:

Yep, got caught with frozen windscreen fluid on the through Germany a few weeks back cuz I didn't have the anti-freeze screen wash. -17c, salt and spray everywhere. Very unpleasant and dangerous. The bandit German service stations were selling 5 litre of -20 at 22EU a bottle. About 5 times normal retail price but there were still queues going out the door.