Orcières-Merlette · Peak Window

What to expect

What to expect in weeks 8–11

Based on 40 winters of weather data, modelled at ~2035m (not the village). Any single year can be very different.

Typically mixed, around -4.6°C, with 16cm of fresh snow over the week. Powder days hit 40% of the time. Other weeks run stormy or cold and clear.

Icy mornings

3.6 days/week

spring-like in 47% of years

Snow texture

Settled

packed, predictable piste

Typical wind

4.3 m/s

peaks to 25 m/s

Typical Freezing level

1404 m

0°C isotherm

Powder days

40%

of years see 10cm+

Rain at base

1.4 days

per week

Storm

25%

of years

Bluebird

24%

of years

Thaw

of years

Mixed

51%

of years

Climatology

What a season here looks like

Each track shows the typical range across 40 winters. The marker shows where your selected weeks sit.

Reliability60cm+

100%

Depth

125cm

Temperature

-4.6°C

Fresh snow

16cm

Snow line

1404m

Wind

4.3 m/s

Transfers

Airport	Drive	Train
Chambéry (CMF)	173 min
Grenoble (GNB)	157 min
Geneva (GVA)	241 min
Lyon (LYS)	183 min

Method & sources

The composite score weights snow reliability against the historical baseline, pulls in live conditions where available, then adjusts for how much hassle the trip actually is for your group.

01ERA5-Land hourly grid → daily SWE & snow depth at the resort cell.
02Bias-correct against ground stations (SLF / Météo-France nivôse).
03Build per-week climatological percentile · 35 winters.
04Anomaly = current week vs. cell's own 30-year baseline.
05Snow-sure read at the highest-snow cell within ~15km. When most resorts are bare, ranking shifts toward this, surfacing glaciers in shoulder seasons.
06Weight + rank against your origin & vibe profile.

Sources

Snow data sources

Ground stations the score is based on.

ORCIERES_NIVOmeteofrance