Record September Snow in Austria

[jamesdeluxe]

From Weather to Ski:​

Today in the Alps...​

Friday 13 September 2024 – Potentially unprecedented September snowfall for parts of the Alps

Winter has arrived early in the Alps, bringing serious quantities of snow in places this week, and potentially ‘record-breaking’ falls for September in the east. This comes courtesy of a surge of cold polar air interacting with a very warm Mediterranean sea, spawning a powerful storm that is now drifting northwards and will continue to affect the eastern Alps well into the weekend.

Although occasional (mostly) high-altitude snowfalls are nothing unusual in September, this degree of storm is not something we have seen this early for many years and it will probably end up dumping record snowfalls (for the time of year) across some parts of Austria.

Some higher parts of Austria have indeed already seen over 1m of new snow, with lots more to come over the next few days. The rain/snow limit has also become a significant talking point, falling to well below 1000m in the northern Austrian Alps. Many other Alpine regions have also seen significant snow at altitude, but it is mostly in Austria where the early winter onslaught appears unusually severe.

So, what does this all mean for the coming season? Well, sadly not much for most resorts, as it is simply way too early for most of the snow to stick. For those resorts with glaciers, though, it is excellent news, especially those in Austria like Hintertux, where conditions should be stellar once the weather clears up.

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