Morzine Dump Alert

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Winter's back : 11th April 2012Snow down to valley floor

Snow has returned to Morzine town after last nights rain turned to the white stuff as the temperatures dropped.
At 8am this morning there is a thin layer of snow, perhaps two centimetres, sitting on the roofs of the cars parked outside my apartment. Some of this snow has managed to lie on the ground without melting despite the floor of the valley being very wet.

Up a little higher, and I'm only guessing here because the clouds are sitting very low at the moment and the hill has almost completely disappeared but judging from the webcams and forecast, I would say there is between 10 and 15 cm of fresh snow at Avoriaz level at 1800m.

There is snow forecast for the rest of the week too, doesn't look like this season is ready to finish just yet.

Winter returns : 19th March 2012

WOW. It has been absolutely chucking it down here.

After weeks of very hot weather and slushy pistes the snow has returned, and returned in full force.

Yesterday it began to snow a little after lunch time and by about five o clock there were huge, and I do mean huge, flakes falling as low as Morzine town. The snow continued to fall all afternoon and into the evening and by 11pm it was starting to leave its mark on the ground at 1000m.

This morning Morzine has once again turned into a winter wonderland. There are 9cm of snow sitting on the roof of my car and the flakes are still falling. The clouds are sitting low over the resort and hopefully the snow will keep coming all day.

As the snow is lying on the roads caution is advised if you are driving out to Morzine or Avoriaz and snow tyres or snow chains may be necessary.

This snow seems to have come down with very little wind so skiing conditions will be great on the hill. At the moment you'll be confined to the trees as there is very low visibility but the forecast is for the sun to come out tomorrow. We could be heading for another contender for best day of the season. I'll let you know.

More snow : 8th March 2012

The snow is falling again in the Portes du Soleil and the temperatures have dropped.

As the sun came up this morning it was clear that there had been a significant snowfall last night and the trees on the sunny Super Morzine side of the valley, which had lost all of Monday's snow, were once again white.

Although the snow is falling here in Morzine it is not lying on the roads so there should be no problem for drivers this weekend.

The snow is coming in with quite strong winds so on the hill we can expect to see some loading of the leeward faces. At the moment there has been about 5-10 centimetres fall but these strong winds will affect the specific snow depths across the mountain meaning that it will be a lot less in some places but there should be good pockets of deep snow in the sheltered areas of the mountain.

I'll let you know exactly how this new snow affects conditions tomorrow in my video report but for now it looks a little cold and windy out there. I'm waiting for the sun to come back tomorrow.

Winter returns : 5th March 2012

After nearly two weeks of hot, sunny weather the clouds came back to the Portes du Soleil last night. The temperature dropped to freezing even down in Morzine and this morning we awoke to cloudy skies and a fresh layer of snow on the ground.

There is, to be fair, only a few centimetres on the floor here in Morzine but above 1500m reports indicate that ten centimetres has fallen.

The pistes were starting to harden after the melt/freeze cycle we've been experiencing recently. This new snow, and the return to colder temperatures, will mean that the pistes will be in excellent condition for the last week of the French holidays.

For the rest of the week the temperatures are set to stay low, even in Morzine (1000m), dropping as low as -16° on Tuesday night and peaking at 4° on Saturday afternoon. As the sun is forecast to remain behind the clouds this week it looks like winter has returned, for a short while at least.

It's snowing! : 15th February 2012

After the ten day long cold snap the temperatures finally rose yesterday and we found ourselves skiing in conditions close to, but not quite, freezing. Then, yesterday afternoon the clouds moved in at about 2pm and as the visibility began to drop there were the first smatterings of snowflakes.

Although the forecast predicted only 1cm would fall in Morzine last night there was 7cm of fresh, very light, dry snow on the roof of my car this morning and these flakes, which are big and light are still falling at 1000m.

By the looks of things this snow has come down with almost no wind and will be sitting nicely on the pistes a little higher up.

Visibility on the hill looks like it will be limited to the trees today but the sun is due to return tomorrow for the rest of the week.

More snow! : 31st January 2012

Once again the residents of Morzine and Avoriaz awoke this morning to the welcome sight of almost nothing at all. Clouds have been hanging over the Portes du Soleil for the last few days but last night they delivered their payload in the form of a blanket of new snow.

Using some of the most sophisticated snow depth measuring techniques, pioneered by the British Arctic Survey (I put my fingers in the snow on the roof of my car and measured them with a ruler) I can report that twelve centimetres of snow fell last night in Morzine and more is coming down now.

Better than the depth of the snow is the quality. As the temperatures have been falling for the last few days and the forecast is for a cold snap at the end of this week the snow is light and dry and creaks under foot like a hallway in a horror movie.

There was very little wind coming in with this snowstorm so the snow on the hill should be lying evenly and when the sun comes back out there's sure to be some great powder on the open faces.

The diggers are out in force in town clearing the roads and they should be clear before the weekend traffic arrives but if you are coming out before then snow chains are a good idea.

Another dump?! Oh yes indeed.

It's snowing AGAIN! : 20th January 2012

After a week of clear skies the clouds moved in over the Portes du Soleil yesterday and heavy rain fell in Morzine while a layer of fresh snow came down above 1500m. Although the winds up high were quite strong and some lifts were closed this morning the snow does not seem to be blowing off the mountain.

The snow was on-and-off all day in Avoriaz but as the freezing level continued to drop the snow started to fall in Morzine and at 5pm we now have a few centimetres of fresh sitting on the ground outside.

The wind down in Morzine is light and the forecast is for the wind to drop off over the weekend, meaning that the 30cm that is forecast to fall tonight should lie on the slopes, making for perfect skiing conditions.

Another foot of snow?!!? This is just getting silly, long may it continue.

Dump Alert : 5th January 2012There's another 50cm on the way

There was fresh snow at the top of the hill yesterday but it wasn't until this morning that it started to fall in Morzine and Les Gets. This morning we awoke to a complete white out with fairly light but consistent snow fall. By 10 am there was about 10 cm of fresh snow sitting on the roof of my car and the snow shows no signs of letting up. In fact the forecast is for the snow to keep falling all day and by tomorrow morning we can hope to see up to fifty centimetres of snow on the higher ground.

Although at the moment the wind is fairly light the forecast is for it to pick up and by this afternoon the wind may reach as much as 70 km/h at 2460m. As it is coming out of the north west we can expect to see some heavy wind loading on the south east facing slopes. There's going to be plenty of powder but the avalanche risk will almost certianly go up.

In the mean time though IT'S SNOWING!!! 2012 has started well.

The last big fall before the New Year : 30th December 2011

Yippee! The snow is back. We enjoyed the sun while it lasted but we are very excited by the prospect of yet more fresh snow.... 

There is already a good 20 - 30cm of snow in resort, which means there will more than likely be more up top! 

What a fantastic start to 2012. Anyone keen enough to forego the partying on Saturday night, and head up the mountain early, should be rewarded with powder and relatively empty pistes. Enjoy!

Snow falling again in Morzine : 15th December 2011Snow falls at 1000m for the second time in 10 days

There has been alot of rain in Morzine over the last few days. Although it has been snowing in Avoriaz since Monday 12th the freezing level has been too high for snow to fall in Morzine. This morning though the whole town was once again white and as the morning moved into afternoon the clouds moved down lower and the snow started to fall in Morzine town once again.

It is quite wet and slushy at 1000m but there has probably been a good 5-10cm in town and the whole of Avoriaz has disappeared once again behind a veil of cloud. Up on the hill it is dumping down but there is not too much to see so I thought a short clip of what Morzine looked like this morning might whet the appetites of those heading out here soon.

There will be a full video snow report tomorrow when I get back out on the hill. Until then, please enjoy this little edit.

Snow falling in Avoriaz : 12th December 2011Heavy snow fall up top and showers down low

In Morzine it was raining quite hard this morning and the cloud was sitting rather high on the hill but as the morning has turned into the afternoon the clouds and freezing level have dropped and it is now snowing in Morzine town. The snow is just starting to lie on the ground in any significant fashion so it's not really 'dumping' yet in Morzine but up in Avoriaz it has been snowing for about 7 hours straight!

The hill has disappeared behind a blanket of cloud and the snow has been coming down since about 7am. There is an estimated 10-15 centimetres in Avoriaz town at 1800m and possibly more at the summit.

The forecasters are predicting more snow this week with constant, heavy snowfalls at 2465m from Wednesday 'til the end of the week. Fingers crossed the freezing level stays low and we see some more snow down in Morzine.

First dump of the 2011-2012 season : 5th December 2011Finally, it snows!

The first snow fall of the new winter season has arrived! As I type, snow is falling in Morzine town and the top of the Pleney and Avoriaz have disappeared behind the clouds.

Last night we had torrential rain here in Morzine which meant snow up high but nothing skiable below about 1700m. This morning the rain was still falling but so was the temperature and, for the first time in many months, it was cold in town. The temperature and freezing level has continued to drop as the morning has gone on and about 40 mins ago it started snowing in Morzine itself.

At the moment it looks like there is about six inches of snow in Avoriaz town (1800m) with a foot of the white stuff on the higher ground (2400m).

As the ground is wet from last night’s rain the snow is not lying at 1000m yet but the forecast is for the snow to continue to fall for the next few days with the heaviest dump predicted for Tuesday night.

It looks like the clouds might even part in time for the opening of the resort this weekend. To find out about this weekend’s conditions you can watch our video report which will be live on the site on Saturday night and read our snow report from the day too.

See you soon!