The Grasshopper – The Latest Snow Forecast
DETAILED FORECAST
Australian Forecast Thursday September 24th – Late Season Snowstorm Heading Our Way!
Valid Thursday September 24th – Monday 28th September
Well, well, well, what do we have here… a late season snowstorm heading our way! A cold front & low combo will dump a whole lot of snow tomorrow, with lighter snowfalls persisting into Saturday. Most resorts are expected to receive around 20-30cm.
The weather will clear up nicely during Sunday and Monday as high pressure pushes on, so definitely head up, as it could be the best conditions we’ll see until next season. It’s perfect timing with kids starting spring holidays this weekend, although only Perisher is open, and a perfect time to hit the backcountry.
Thursday 24th
Light snow flurries blowing in on a chilly W-NW wind, with some sunshine also thrown into the mix.
Friday 25th
Powder day! Snow to low levels through the day, with heavy falls and blizzard conditions likely. Strong NW winds will gradually turn to a light westerly.
Saturday 26th
Mostly light snowfalls throughout most of the day, with icy W-SW winds that will be quite strong in exposed areas.
Sunday 27th
Cloud, and any lingering flurries in the south, will gradually breakup and clear in the afternoon as cold southerlies die out.
Monday 28th
A calm, sunny, powder day, what a way to start a holiday! Some cloud will pop up in the afternoon, but not enough to darken the day
Extended Outlook
Next week we could see wet weather from Wednesday leading up to a possible cold front on the 4th or 5th of October, which may give the Aussie Alps a nice top-up of snow.
After that, high pressure looks to dominate through much of the second week of October.
That’s all from me, have a great day.
Grasshopper
New Zealand forecast Thursday 24th September – Stormy September turns cold and snowy Sunday and Monday
Valid Thursday 24th September – Monday 28th September
A weak low sitting under the South Island will keep driving strong NW winds over kiwi ski fields today and tomorrow with a few flurries thrown in the mix too.
Then, later on Saturday, that storm about to hit the Aussie Alps will let rip over the South Island, with pouring rain and severe gales. Thankfully, the worst of it will be after hours, and a cold front sweeping up the Island during Sunday morning will bring a change to snow showers.
Another cold front early Monday will see icy cold winds straight outta Antarctica swamp the South Island, bringing more snow to very low levels.
Note: The detailed forecast below is for ski fields in Canterbury and the Southern Lakes.
Thursday 24th
Sunny for Mt Hutt, but elsewhere is a mixture of sunshine and cloud. There’ll also be a few showers for ski fields close to the Divide, which will fall as snow up top. NW winds, blowing a gale up top of Canterbury fields.
Friday 25th
Partly cloudy for the Southern Lakes, with a few afternoon snow flurries for the Queenstown fields to about 1500m. Sunny in Canterbury, but NW winds will be blowing a gale up top again.
Saturday 26th
A fine start, but cloud will build and rain will develop in the afternoon as NW winds rise to gale-severe gale.
Sunday 27th
Pouring rain and severe gale NW winds will make way for snow showers during the morning, as cold westerlies envelop the South Island.
Monday 28th
Fairly heavy snowfalls to low levels during the morning, pinning back to snow showers for the rest of the day. Mt Hutt will likely only see a few snow showers. Icy, gale-severe gale westerlies straight outta Antarctica, may abate in the afternoon.
Extended Outlook
Tuesday will see the tail end of the storm, with snow showers clearing and icy winds abating. High pressure should then provide a brief window of fine weather before the next system hits, likely leading to cold westerlies with a few snow showers next weekend.
That’s all from me today, guys.
Grassshopper
Weekly Japanese Forecast – A mixed week with some big snowfalls
Valid Thursday 12th March to Thursday 19th March
Well, here we are folks, the last forecast of the season. It’s been an interesting season to say the least, and this week’s forecast will stick with the trend.
First up, we have freshies out there today, then Hokkaido and Northern Honshu cop a nice dump of 10-20cm+ during Friday. The cold front that brings this dump will stall just north of central Honshu, and when a low swings past there during Saturday there’ll be heavy rain down low, but something like 15-25cm of new snow up higher.
We barely bat an eyelid before a second low brings us more snow from later on Sunday, through Monday and into early Tuesday. Wednesday and next Thursday is likely to bring another large mix of rain and snow.
Thursday – Friday
After a nice top-up last night to repair some of the damage from earlier in the week, we’re left with the tail end of the cold W-NW winds and snow showers. That should all clear up this morning as winds turn to the SW and temps start to rise.
Those warm SW winds will strengthen overnight. Fortunately, a rather vigorous cold front passes over Hokkaido and northern Honshu during Friday morning and afternoon, briefly dumping a heavy load of wetter-than-usual snow, followed by light n’ fluffy snow showers and cold westerlies.
Some of those snow showers should also reach parts of Central Honshu later Friday afternoon, but temps won’t be as cold, so it’ll fall as the wet stuff on low-mid slopes.
Saturday – Tuesday
With the cold air parked just north of Central Honshu, a low swings past on the Pacific Side. There’ll be heavy precipitation over central Honshu and moderate falls over the southern half of Northern Honshu, but due to the placement of that cold air, the former will see rain on lower slopes while the latter should receive snow to low levels.
Northerlies in the wake of the low will pull the cold air down over all of Honshu with a few snow showers about the place early Sunday.
With barely a breath in-between, a second low will bear down from the north, starting snowfalls off over Central Honshu Sunday afternoon and continuing through Monday as the low passes overhead.
As the low tracks away to the east during the latter half of Monday, even colder NW winds will sweep over Japan, also bringing snow showers to northern Honshu and Hokkaido.
Remaining snow showers clear Tuesday as warm SW winds kick-up again.
Wednesday – next Thursday
A system from the west is likely to bring heavy precipitation to Honshu on Wednesday and possibly into early next Thursday. Temps don’t look crazy warm at this stage, so snow should fall on low slopes, but maybe not quite to base levels at least until slightly colder NW winds hit.
Hokkiado may also receive a hefty dump from cold westerlies later next Thursday – it’s a big MAYBE at this stage
ECMWF 10-day snow accumulations. Source: windy.com
That’s all from me for Japan this season. I won’t be putting my feet up for long however, because the southern Hemisphere is starting to chill off, and you know what that means!
Weekly North America Forecast – Deep blower pow for most, but patient Sierras to reap the biggest reward
Valid Thursday 12th March to Thursday 19th March
This is it folks, my last forecast for the North American season. And what a way to sign off from an exceptional season; there is so much snow falling this week it was a real challenge putting it into words.
Significant low pressure stewing over the states will see an icy airmass descend southwards, providing deep blower powder for most. The big news, however, is the 60-120cm+ that is expected to fall in the Sierras. They say that a quiet winter will bring a busy spring, and that certainly looks to be the case this season.
Snow accumulations of 25-50cm+ can be found throughout the Rockies and Cascades, while the Coast Mountains of Canada will take a well-deserved breather with just a sprinkling of a few centimetres.
Thursday – Sunday
Low pressure boils up over states during the next few days. This drags a cold arctic airmass from the icy interior down over Canada, and into Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Super fluffy, feather-like snow will follow suit.
Skies will mostly clear over these northern areas this weekend, giving you that amazing crispy winter feeling with powder to shred, but the snow will keep coming down over southern Idaho, Montana and Wyoming during Sunday and into Monday as this area marks the boundary between the icy easterly airstream, and warm moist southerlies to the south.
Sucked in by the low pressure, these warm, moist southerlies will dump snow over the southern Rockies during Friday night into Saturday. Snow accumulations will be around 15-30cm+, so a fairly decent dump indeed, although not as light and fluffy as we’re used to.
Meanwhile, a sneaky low will tip-toe down the west coast, wrapping itself in that same icy airmass from the Arctic. High quality snow will spread down the Cascades and into the Sierras during Friday. Heavy snowfalls will shift from the Cascades to the Sierras during Saturday as the low continues south, and will continue through Sunday.
Monday – next Thursday
As skies clear up in most other places during Monday, it’ll continue to dump in the Sierras. The eastern ranges of the Colorado will however, see some more snow late Monday.
The sneaky low will snoop farther inland from Tuesday onwards. Snow will become less widespread and button off in the Sierras, although not clear completely, while spreading inland to the Rockies south of Southern Idaho-Montana with some moderate-heavy falls expected.
ECMWF model 10-day snow accumulations. Source: windy.com
That’s all from me for North America this season. I won’t be putting my feet up for long however, because the Southern Hemisphere is starting to chill off, and you know what that means!
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Who is The Grasshopper ?
The Grasshopper. Some say he hatched one summer on a Himalayan plateau. As cold Autumn winds set in, he stumbled upon a scrap of goretex shed by some unfortunate climber and turned it into the smallest snowsuit ever. Then he strapped himself into a nearby leaf and carved his way down the mountains, hitching a ride with some hikers back to civilisation.
Now Mountainwatch’s resident meteorology sensei, this season we can expect a lot from the little critter. His beloved monthly outlooks across Australia and New Zealand over the southern hemisphere winter are being replaced with outlooks for both Japan and North America over November and December leading into the northern hemisphere winter. From there, the little critter will go into overdrive producing weekly forecasts for Japan and North America from December through to March. No doubt he’ll be run off his feet, so it’s a good thing he has six.
