{"id":1024,"date":"2017-12-13T17:22:02","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T16:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.creamontblanc.org?p=1024"},"modified":"2022-12-16T10:59:29","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T09:59:29","slug":"winter-makes-a-grand-entrance-in-chamonix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.creamontblanc.org?p=1015","title":{"rendered":"Winter makes a grand entrance in Chamonix"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a particularly dry fall, winter 2017-2018 is off to an impressive start in the Chamonix Valley with more than half a meter of fresh snow on the ground in early December.\u00a0 Should we be expecting a snowy 2018 season?<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Jardin<\/p>\n

A snowy view from the Mont-Blanc Observatory <\/em>(Chamonix, 1040 meters) \u00a9 GKlein<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Fall 2017: very dry conditions and cool temps<\/h2>\n

This autumn, temperatures were slightly lower (0.4\u00b0 C) than the annual averages recorded between 1981 and 2010.\u00a0 September 2017 saw the first periods of morning frost as early as the 15th, making it the coldest September recorded in the last ten years.\u00a0 In stark contrast, October marked warm temperatures and average daily highs that were nearly on par with temperatures in September of last year: 17.6\u00b0C in October 2017 vs. 17.7\u00b0C in September 2016.\u00a0 Finally, the month closed out with a chilly November:\u00a0 on 29 out of 30 days that month, overnight lows dropped to 0\u00b0C or below?<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, what made this fall truly remarkable was the lack of precipitation.\u00a0 Overall, the season experienced 50% less rainfall than the 1981-2010 annual averages, and October was especially dry with 4 times less precipitation than normal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Plus
Over 50 cm of snow on the ground in Chamonix in early December <\/strong>\u00a9 GKlein <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/h2>\n

The tables have turned<\/h2>\n

The first half of December 2017 has witnessed a significant change in the trend and ushered in a snowy beginning to winter. \u00a0Temperatures have dropped since the 29th<\/sup> of November, and when combined with significant precipitation, has allowed for an impressive accumulation of snow in the valley.\u00a0\u00a0 Here at the Mont-Blanc Observatory in Chamonix, we have already measured 55cm of snow.\u00a0 The last time there was this much snow on the ground this early in the season was during the winter of 2012-2013, when snow depth occasionally reached the meter-mark and the snow cover on the valley floor held on until the end of March.<\/p>\n

So, is this a good omen for the 2017-2018 winter season?\u00a0\u00a0 In the end, it\u2019s really hard to say.\u00a0\u00a0 Weather forecasts for the next few days seem rather optimistic with significant snow predicted almost daily through the end of the week.\u00a0\u00a0 In any case, we feel somewhat confident that it\u2019ll be a White Christmas this year in Chamonix\u2014which hasn\u2019t been the case for 5 years!<\/p>\n

Want even more snow this winter and still looking for the perfect holiday gift for your friends or family?\u00a0 Why not give the gift of snow by donating the CREA Mont-Blanc?\u00a0 Click here for more details.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Written by : Geoffrey Klein<\/p>\n

\n

To learn more about Chamonix-Mont-Blanc’s climate: (in French)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Normales climatiques sur la p\u00e9riode 1981-2010 (lameteo.com)<\/a>
\nClimatologie mensuelle de l\u2019automne 2017 (m\u00e9t\u00e9ociel) <\/a>
\nHauteurs de neige journali\u00e8res et par saison depuis 2005 (Ph\u00e9noclim)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a particularly dry fall, winter 2017-2018 is off to an impressive start in the Chamonix Valley with more than half a meter of fresh snow on the ground in early December.\u00a0 Should we be expecting a snowy 2018 season?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,194],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vie-association","category-la-recherche"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.creamontblanc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.creamontblanc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.creamontblanc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.creamontblanc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.creamontblanc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1024"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.creamontblanc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1025,"href":"https:\/\/blog.creamontblanc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024\/revisions\/1025"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.creamontblanc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.creamontblanc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.creamontblanc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.creamontblanc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}