Europe Daily Snow

Heads up, there may be fresher snow! Read the latest Europe Daily Snow

By Luke Stone, Forecaster Posted 10 months ago May 29, 2023

Final Post of the 2022-2023 Season

Summary

Thank you so much for reading and following the first year of the Europe Daily Snow. I enjoyed writing this forecast and tracking storms in Europe this Winter. In this post I will review the 2022/2023 Winter, discuss some features OpenSnow offers for your summer adventures, and discuss some details for the Europe Daily Snow next season.

Short Term Forecast

The last few weeks remained cool and wet across the Alps, with additional high elevation snow. Good and powdery conditions continued at many of the glaciers, giving the powder hounds a few more chances for fresh snow. Check out a few pictures below of recent snow across the upper elevations of the Alps.

Regarding the 22/23 Winter across most of Europe, it was NOT one to remember. December through March were both warm and dry. For most, the most noteworthy event was a record breaking winter heat wave around New Year’s. While there were some memorable cold and deep winter storms, they felt few and far between, and not frequently enough to ever build a solid low elevation base.

In the figures below, you can see the temperature and precipitation anomalies for the individual months from December to April. Except for April, most of the Alps were warm and dry, as I’m sure it felt for powder lovers in Europe. On the left side are the monthly temperature anomalies, with red being above normal and blue below. December through March were much warmer than normal with April finally cooling off relatively speaking.

On the right hand side are the precipitation departures from normal, with BELOW normal shown in red and ABOVE normal shown in blue. Most of the Alps, for most of the winter, were drier than normal. The western Alps saw some solid precipitation totals in December and March, but again, the rest of the Alps and Pyrenees were otherwise below normal. In April, as you can see, the majority of the Als saw above normal precipitation.   

Personally, there were a handful of storms that caught my attention, but the lack of snow depth made me hesitate, along with the constant barrage of cold and deep storms in North America and especially my home state of Utah. 

Despite the subpar winter, there were certainly still some memorable and epic days. Below are a few shots from some of the better storms of the season. 

And not to forgot the massive and incredible snow event for Sicily on Mt. Etna, which absolutely unloaded up to 2 m over two days.

There were definitely some wild storms this Winter, even if they weren't that frequent.

Stick with OpenSnow this summer

Here is a little secret that we haven't mentioned before – in early summer 2023, we are bringing the functionality of OpenSummit into OpenSnow.

The OpenSummit app and website will continue to exist for a while, but all of the functionality will now be available in OpenSnow.

In reality, this will mean only two substantive additions to OpenSnow – a new hourly weather forecast view and the ability to flip between a 'Winter' and 'Summer' favorites list.

Otherwise, OpenSnow already has all the features you need to adventure this summer, and you can use just one app, OpenSnow, to get the weather data you want all year.

In the spring, summer, and fall, I think that the most useful features are:

  • Forecast for your Current Location
    Just like 'other' weather apps. Hit the "Weather" tab on your "Favorites" screen and you'll see the current temperature and wind speed at your location. Tap on that to view the forecast.

  • Forecasts Anywhere on Earth
    Just tap on the map then save your point. Great for camping, remote hikes, etc.

  • Live & Forecast Radar
    Be done with your activity before the storm.

  • Air Quality & Wildfire Smoke Forecast Maps
    Hopefully, we don't have to use these maps very often, but when we do need them, the forecast accuracy is quite good, especially for 1-2 days into the future.

  • Current Air Quality Map
    Hopefully, we don't have to use these maps very often, but when we do need them, seeing real-time Air Quality helps to know if outdoor activities are a good idea right now.

  • Hourly Lightning Forecasts
    Lightning cannot be forecast accurately, but we do know the general times and locations when it is possible. Don't get caught above the treeline during a storm!

  • Offline maps for satellite & terrain
    Heading off the grid? Download maps to take with you. My favorite is the satellite map with elevation contour lines. A few taps and you'll be able to access the maps without an internet signal.

Also, remember that your OpenSnow All-Access subscription (list of all features) is good for 365 days and all of the features above are included with your subscription.

In short, OpenSnow is a useful way to track the freeze/thaw cycle for corn snow and peak-bagging this spring, avoid lightning and wildfire smoke this summer, and escape to the desert next fall. All in one app:-)

Find powder across the globe this 'summer'

If your 'summer' pursuits take you to a snowy spot, you can use OpenSnow to track powder across the globe.

Our forecasts work on any land area on Earth for 365 days a year, and you can quickly see where it's snowing with our Powder Finder.

The map below is set to "Next 10 Days" of snowfall and in the "Customize" button I selected the "Global" region and location types as "All". Here is a direct link to the map:

https://opensnow.com/explore/powder/map?compare=-snow-forecast-10d

Beginning next Fall, ahead of the 23/24 season, I will do a series of posts on the types of storms that impact the Alps during the Winter months. Be on the lookout for those and don't hesitate to reach out with any questions. 

Thanks again for reading the Europe daily snow in its first season, and I hope you continue to do so in the future! Follow me @lstone84 on Instagram to check out some new content I will be creating for the North American summer months. Let me know what you think.

About Our Forecaster

Luke Stone

Forecaster

Luke Stone earned his M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Utah, with a research focus on seasonal forecasting. Luke has scored deep days around the world, including coast-to-coast across the United States, Canada, and Europe.

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