Heavy snowfall is expected over the coming week at ski areas on both sides of the Atlantic.
Around 20 ski areas are already open in the Alps, Scandinavia and the USA and most should see some snow, whilst others will receive a good start to their snow bases ahead of seasons due to start over the coming eight weeks.
Moderate falls are expected in several ski regions over the coming 48 hours with heavier snow expected from the start of the weekend in the Alps and Pyrenees, continuing on in to at least the start of next week.
The areas where some is currently falling include North Eastern North America where snow is falling on Sunday River, one of six resorts that have opened for the season already in the USA, and in the Austrian Alps, where up to 25cm may accumulate by Friday morning on higher slopes – eight resorts are already open for the season here, most of them glaciers.
However the biggest forecast snowfall should arrive in Europe for the weekend with the most optimistic forecasts prediction up to 1.5 metres of snow at some areas over the four day period from Saturday to Tuesday.
Longer term mountain forecasts are notoriously unpredictable but it does look like many areas should see healthy snowfalls.
The French Alps, where Tignes has just managed to open and Les 2 Alpes has had to cancel a planned late October opening for lack of snow look like major beneficiaries, along with Western Italy and Switzerland where another half dozen areas are already open.
The snowfall should be very widespread with Scotland, the Pyrenees, Dolomites and Eastern Europe also seeing some snowfall. There should also be a little more snow in both Western North American regions, particularly British Columbia where ski areas will start opening next month, and the North East.