Our weather service is also starting the new season just in time for the upcoming snowfall. On a satisfactory basis for early December, it is snowing abundantly throughout the Alps and especially in the south.
The PowderMap
...is the graphical representation of the forecast of new snowfall and sunshine duration and thus the heart of our weather service. In combination with snow depths, text forecasts and ConditionsReports, this provides the most important information for tour planning. The weather data is provided by the ZAMG (Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics) on the basis of high-resolution regional forecast models. The higher resolution promises an improvement in forecast quality compared to global models (ECMWF, GFS), especially in areas with complex topography. The latter only resolve the largest mountain valleys at all and see the Alps as a uniform, relatively smooth flow obstacle and not as a complex mountain range.
The current snow depth and its changes are calculated by the operational snow cover model SNOWGRID, which is coupled with INCA (analysis and forecasting of various weather parameters). Measured values from weather stations are also included here, meaning that snow depths are generally more accurate in regions with many weather stations. SNOWGRID has a resolution of 100x100m. This means that there is a value for the snow depth on an area of almost 1.5 soccer fields. Finally, the brightly colored display makes freeriders' eyes light up like those of children in front of the Christmas tree. Watch the video for a more detailed explanation of the PowderMap:
