Nearly 25 degrees at 1,100m altitude: will there be snow in the mountains for the February holidays?

Romain Rouillard / Photo credit: FRANCOIS LAURENS / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 5:15 p.m., January 31, 2024

In the Pyrenees, it can be difficult to imagine yourself in the heart of winter these days. Because the mercury there displays temperatures that are simply spring-like. To the point of exceeding the 20 degree mark, including at more than 1,000 m altitude, in Ariège in particular, where it was 24.6 degrees at Ascou Lavail, thus pulverizing, by almost 5 degrees, preceding it record. 

The consequence of this softness on mountainous terrain is immediate. The Pyrenees, like other massifs, are seriously lacking in snow at the end of January. A rather worrying observation given that, according to government figures, 120,000 jobs depend on the practice of winter sports in France and that the winter holidays begin on February 10 for zone C.

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Ten days without snow

Especially since this mildness is accompanied by very dry weather, as meteorologist Cyril Bonnefoy points out in an article in La Chaîne Météo. To find traces of snowfall in the mountains, you have to go back ten days. The 0 degree isotherm, that is to say the altitude limit above which the mercury falls below 0 degrees, stands today at... 4,000 meters in the Pyrenees and the Alps . “The snow has completely disappeared, off the slopes, in the Massif Central, the Jura, the Vosges and below 1,500 meters in the Pyrenees,” adds Cyril Bonnefoy. 

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In the Alps, the situation is less critical and the thickness of the snow cover provides skiers with greater comfort. But this mildness “impacts the quality of the snow”, tells us Patrick Marlière, forecaster at Agathe Météo. Concretely, the thawing of the slopes during the day, followed by the refreezing at night, gives rise to freezing snow in the morning, then completely liquefied in the afternoon.

“Catastrophic” situation in the Massif Central, Jura and Vosges

A less than optimal situation that the first vacationers should, unfortunately, experience, starting February 10. “Until this date, there will simply be no snow. And we do not see significant quantities of snow arriving beyond that. The first week of the February holidays looks compromised,” says Patrick Marlière. Some snowfall is, however, expected in the Pyrenees and the Alps, but in clearly insufficient quantities, points out the forecaster who even speaks of a "catastrophic" situation for the Massif Central, the Jura and the Vosges.

Especially since the mild weather, comfortably installed in France, has no plans to let the cold take over. “There is always the solution of artificial snow, but it is something very expensive to produce,” he adds. Not to mention the deleterious effects on the environment of the use of cannons or the transport, by truck, of this snow to ski areas.