Christmas is one of the favorite holidays for snow lovers because it embodies the winter season and snow, yet this year we are witnessing a “warm Christmas.” Over the past few hours, the crisp Alpine climate has given way to an African high-pressure system bringing warm, humid air, blanketing the plains in a sea of fog and leaving the Alps at the mercy of unusually mild temperatures.
Christmas Day will see the peak of this warm spell, with the freezing level climbing past 3,000 meters above sea level, bringing late-spring—if not summer-like—conditions and temperatures of up to 10°C in ski resorts.
Anyone heading out to ski will find less-than-ideal slope conditions, and some areas have already had to close certain sections due to large sheets of ice formed by rapid daytime melting followed by overnight refreezing.
The unseasonable warmth will begin to break on the evening of December 25 with the arrival of new air currents that will bring snow overnight, ushering in a snowy Boxing Day (December 26, 2012) across the Alpine arc and several Apennine ski resorts, particularly in Emilia Romagna.
The snow line will initially hover around 1,500-1,600 meters before dropping rapidly to 800 meters by late morning on December 26.
Snowfall will be heaviest across the northwestern and north-central Alps, where several resorts could receive more than 20-30 cm of fresh snow, while lighter accumulations will reach the northeastern Alps and Apennine ski areas. The snowfall is expected to taper off overnight between December 27 and 28.
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