European ski resorts are falling like flies due to lack of snow
Much of Europe is currently experiencing unusually warm weather conditions, with several countries on the continent experiencing the warmest January day on record and no precipitation in the form of abundant snow at New Year’s Eve.
Hundreds of stations at least 10 European countries have broken records for maximum temperatures for this time of year: Germany, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Andorra and also Spain.
At least five of those countries—Belgium, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland and the Netherlands—imposed daily records for either December 31 or January 1.
MeteoSwiss, the country’s federal office for meteorology and climatology, said 2022 was by far the warmest year since records began in 1864, with an average temperature of around 7.4 degrees Celsius. The same in Andorra.
I have lived in Switzerland for 21 years and each year the snow line recedes higher. This year, while skiing at over 2000m, the areas that were previously covered in snow were grass apart from the artificial slopes. I’m afraid that in another 20 years there will be no snow here.#climate crisis pic.twitter.com/aHcfA59DAA
—Emily Batley(@BatleyEmily) January 4, 2023
In France, Méteo France said 2022 had ended with some of the hottest weather ever experienced for the time of year. Snowfall was close to normal in the southern Alps and at high altitudes in the north, he said, but very little below 2,200 meters and in the Pyrenees.
With this weather, the ski resorts are at a minimum and at this point in winter it has barely snowed, which has led many of them not to open and others to close as the days progress.
We have just seen the warmest January day on record for many countries in Europe.
Truly unprecedented in modern records. pic.twitter.com/bUux1XOBH9
—Scott Duncan (@ScottDuncanWX) January 1, 2023
In Spain, for example, of the 34 in Spain, 19 are closed. Some regions such as the Cantabrian Mountains or the Central System have not even started the season.
Meanwhile, in other communities all the resorts will remain in operation, like Catalonia, although in some cases in very poor conditions and with barely 10% of the ski area.
The Swiss resort of Adelboden, which is hosting a ski World Cup event this weekend on its classic Chuenisbärgli slope, has said that almost the entire race this year will be run on artificial snow, with temperatures above freezing point. freezing even at 2,000 m (6,500 ft).
In France, we find heads and tails. The higher altitude resorts, such as Les Deux Alpes, where almost 70% of the slopes are above 2000m, have a lot of snow and were 100% booked over Christmas and New Years.
But mid-tier and low-end resorts are facing a bleak season and future, closing down one after the other. This is the case in the Pyrenees, where after Le Mourtis, Ax-3-Domaines and the Monts d’Olmes, it is the historic station of Luchon-Superbagneres that announces that it must temporarily close its slopes.
Tourism authorities said that visitors are forced to seek alternatives to skiing, such as hiking the grassy peaks or using the ski lifts to enjoy the views.
Stations across Europe are waiting for snowfall forecasts for this weekend to come true. In the Alps they could be abundant, between 30 and 60 cm accompanied by a drop in temperature.
Map of snow and water accumulation forecast for the next 5 days in the Alps. Source Meteoexploration