What may turn out to be the biggest snowfall of the season so far is underway in the Alps.
Recent weeks has seen rapid changes in forecasts up to just hours before the forecast weather is due to arrive, but after several false dawns, snow is already falling and it doers appear this time we may be getting the big falls forecast over the next 72 hours.
Forecasts are for widespread snowfall, heaviest in the northwestern Alps of France and Switzerland. Here some high slopes could see a metre of snowfall by the end of the weekend and potentially double that by the end of next week.
Snow has already started falling, La Plagne has posted 25cm of fresh in the past 24 hours up high, taking its glacier base to 2 metres. However down in the valley the base has dropped a few centimetres due to thawing. Alpe d'Huez posted 20cm in the same period, Saas Fee 15cm.
The altitude of ski slopes will be a big factor over the next few days with the freezing point varying between 1200m and 2000m altitude. The concern is the heavy snow will be heavy rain below that line.
So while bases could be significantly boosted with some of the biggest falls of the winter to date above about 1800m, lower slopes already dealing with thin cover may have issues maintaining snow cover if the heavy rain has a major impact.
All will become clearer through the weekend. Those travelling to and from the Alps this weekend should be aware of possible weather disruption – a rarity this season.
The Zillertal Arena in Austria is pictured this morning (Thursday 9 March)