Warmest winter for 50 years!
While the alps is currently basking in some truly beautiful spring weather; blue sky, sunshine and some of the best snow conditions the season has seen so far, Meteo France has recently revealed that this winter has been the warmest in the alps for 50 years! In the Haute Savoie alone, average temperatures this year have been 2.4 degrees higher than normal.
The pattern began after a particularly dry autumn where France received 20-30% less rainfall that is typical for the time of year. Back in November, the Mont Blanc region registered less than half its normal precipitation levels for the month and measured an average temperature of 10.6 degrees (instead of 9.3 degrees) which resulted in a very late start to winter in the area.
Rain/snow limits have also been higher this year than any other, generally hovering around 1300m in February, but earlier in the season they were creeping as high as 2000-2500! As a result, resorts situated 1500m and below have seen an awful lot of rain in town and skiing on the lower slopes has suffered. As an example, Les Gets (1172m) in the Portes du Soleil ski area, normally has between 70-80cms of snow on its lower runs in February but this year there was a base of only 40cms. However, the situation was more than rectified as the resort received 50% more precipitation than normal during March.
Although lower resorts have suffered somewhat this year with the warm temperatures making artificial snow production impossible; where rain falls low down……snow falls higher up and high altitude resorts have enjoyed some bumper snow conditions in the latter stages of the season. In fact current conditions at altitude (1800-2000m and above) are reported to be excellent, with large quantities of snow present. The famous Vallée Blanche in Chamonix, a 17km off piste run, has been more popular than ever this year boasting some excellent snow conditions.
The one advantage of the relatively poor snowfall record this year had been that the avalanche risk has not been a fraction of that of previous years, and as a result there have been considerably fewer avalanche victims. According to ANENA(Association Nationale pour L'Etude de la Neige et des Avalanches) this year 16 lives have been claimed by avalanches compared to 55 at the same time last season.
Conditions really are tip top at the moment and with April showers traditionally depositing large quantities of snow in the Alps, if you're still pondering one last trip before the lifts close – what are you waiting for?!
Source: Le Dauphine
