Weather alerts are in force across the whole of Italy: snow and frost are sweeping the entire peninsula from north to south, in the mountains as well as on the plains. The Apennine ranges are buried under more than 2 metres of snow and many places are cut off.
For more than 2 weeks Italy has been in the grip of the freeze, but weather experts seem to be outlining a very different situation for the coming weeks. Once this Siberian cold wave has passed, the sun will return and temperatures will go back to the seasonal average, but that’s not all. It seems that spring is very close, and so some weather models forecast rising temperatures, up to 10 degrees during the day at 900 m.
A situation that bodes well for all those who are now suffering from the disruption caused by the snow, but at the same time bad news for all tourism operators in the Alps.
This is how the season had started
Although snow has made an appearance all over the country in recent days, the north has not received much snowfall, so the Alps are facing a winter with little snow in a tourist season already hit by the economic crisis.
The scarce precipitation in December and January has caused major problems for ski resorts, which today have open slopes but little snow available and water reservoirs that have now run dry. In fact, the lack of snow forced operators to build the base of the slopes with the help of artificial snowmaking, using up all or almost all of the water reserves accumulated during the year.
If the forecasts were confirmed, it would be a disaster for many low- and mid-altitude ski resorts. Ski areas below 1,300/1,400 metres would be the first to feel the effects and could see their season end early. A rise in temperatures “would carry away” the little snow there is within a few weeks, leaving no chance to make up for it with artificial snowmaking (as is done every year when the thaw begins).
Naturally, the problem would only affect the Alps and not the Apennines, which, thanks to the huge snowfalls, are stocking up on snow and will be able to carry on with the season until spring without any problems.
The hope is that a generous weather front can patch up the problem by bringing fresh, abundant snow to the Alps.
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