Alpine weather forecast

Get it while you can!

A weak trough will exit the Gaspésie Friday morning allowing skies to clear and a ridge of high pressure to build over the region. The odd morning shower might linger along the coast and east of Saint-Anne Friday morning, but the sun will shine over the mountains by late morning. With the lack of a true freeze Thursday night, all slopes will be plenty soft come Friday afternoon. As the avalanche bulletin eloquently describes, those sneaking in some late season turns will want to lather on sunscreen and give cornices a wide birth. A few clouds are possible over the ridgetops Friday afternoon but winds will be light and alpine highs will approach +11C making for a wonderful spring skiing day. Freezing levels will rise to 1800 metres Friday afternoon and only fall to 1500 metres at night so no overnight freeze is expected into Saturday morning.

With the ridge still in place, Saturday should be another fine day with similar sunny and warm conditions. Some models are however forecasting some afternoon cloud, once again confined to the ridgetops which might actually be beneficial to help curb both the melt and possible sun burns. Needless to say, with all the mild weather, the snow is melting fast and the likelihood of any significant late-season snow is low to non-existent so best take advantage while you can!

Looking further out, a significant storm is forecast to develop over the Great Lakes on Sunday. The initial effect will be increased high cloud over the Chic-Chocs on Sunday and Monday followed by rain Monday evening into Tuesday. With a strong southerly flow ahead of the storm, strong to extreme alpine winds of 80 to 120 km/h will rise freezing levels dramatically upwards of 3000 metres on Monday before cooling to 800 metres Tuesday. With 10-20 mm of rain on Tuesday into Wednesday, river flows are likely to increase substantially. The outlook appears rather breezy with strong northerly winds developing towards the end of the week. Best to enjoy any sun while you can because the longer range looks rather grey…

Please note this is the last forecast of the 2022-23 season! Alpine Weather Consultants would like to thank all its faithful readers and Avalanche Quebec for the opportunity to support snow fanatics for the 15^th consecutive winter. Wishing you all a fun and safe spring and summer, til next winter!!

Forecast Confidence :

Good confidence overall with the highest uncertainty pertaining to afternoon convective clouds bubbling up over the ridgetops Friday and Saturday. The strong winds on Monday will likely help sublimate the snow in an accelerated fashion. The timing of our last forecast couldn’t be better!