Scared of sleeping through the next powder day? Looking for the snowiest weekend jaunt? Keeping track of snow conditions can be a pain, particularly if you aren’t lucky enough to live on the mountain. Check out this list of some of the best and most trust worthy forecasting sites for a full run down on your chosen mountain’s past, present and future snow conditions.
Run by meteorological snowboarders and skiers both locally and internationally, these sites will help you plan your next holiday, predict your future ‘sick’ days and let you know when you need to get your ass hill-side.
Snow-Forecast
One of the best, most straightforward and easily accessible forecast sites out there is snow-forecast.com. You get a gamut of free features but if you’d like complete access, you’ll have to shell out an almighty $7 each year.
Free 6-day forecasts are detailed, informative and broken down into top, mid and base altitude brackets. You also have alerts, webcams, live weather, history, maps (weather, snow depth and piste) as well as various resort info. Email alerts for a single resort are available without charge. What more could you want?
What you get for your $7?
10 Day snow forecast
10 Day Weather Maps
20 Years of Ski Resort History
E-Mail Snow Alerts for up to 5 Resorts
Large Piste Maps
Full Functionality Mobile App
Whilst short term forecasts are pretty spot on, I’ve heard murmurings that it can be a little optimistic in its long range predictions.
Local? No, (Cardiff, England).
Subscriptions? Yes, $7 annual.
Longer Range Forecast? Free 6-day, Subscription 10-day.
Alerts? Single resorts alerts for free, 5 resorts alerts for fee.
Choose Favourites? No.
OpenSnow
Attractive, well set out, informative and easy to use, Open Snow is the go to snow forecasting site for over 1.5 million skiers. The sites success is due to it’s accurate forecasts and grass-roots foundation. Founding Meteorologist and CEO, Joel Gratz is based in Colorado, however Open Snow reports come from a network of local skiing and boarding meteorologists scattered throughout some of North America’s biggest ski resorts. You can rest assured you are getting accurate, local reports wherever you looking around the United States.
5 day forecasts, quick look snow reports, resort webcams, 30-day snowfall history and fairly comprehensive North America written snow reports are all available for free. Whilst free info might be a little lite on for enthusiasts or locals, it is more than enough for holiday skiers.
A $19 annual sign-up gets you:
10 day forecasts
No ads on the website or app
Custom powder alerts
Time-lapse snow cams
Base Depth vs Average info
Ability to bookmark unlimited number of favourite mountains
$10 discount on lift tickets purchased through liftopia
20% discount on custom bamboo ski poles (sorry boarders)
Local? Yes.
Subscriptions? $19 a year to access longer range forecast
Longer Range Forecast? Yes, with subscription.
Alerts? Yes.
Choose Favourites? Yes.
Comprehensive social presence provides easily accessible, broad insight in to present and future snow conditions around North America.
Wasatchsnowforecast
Wasatch Snow Forecast is a locally run snow forecast blog focusing specifically on snowfall for the Wasatch Range of Northern Utah. At the heart of the blog is Evan Thayer, diehard skier and hobby meteorologist who dedicates his time to predicting big powder days – and then riding them!
Forecasts do extend to other parts of Utah but there is a heavy focus on the State’s Northern range. If you live or ski in that area, great! If your turns take you further afield, this one may not be for you.
No subscription or sign-up fees. You will easily find 3-day forecasts, 7-day snowfall history, webcam access, resort specific radars and a plethora of meteorological forecasting radar/satellite/predictive tools.
Local? Yes.
Subscriptions? No.
Longer Range Forecast? No.
Alerts? No.
Choose Favourites? No.
Snowforecast.com
Another site run by a local snowboarder, this time its Chris Manly. Whilst only selected resorts enjoy forecasts predicted by Chris and the team personally, the site does offer comprehensive and easy to read forecasts and condition updates on mountains all through North America.
6-day forecasts are standard on this site. Chris prides himself on accuracy, which explains a lack of detailed long-range forecasts. That being said, he does provide a bit of a verbal long-range prediction alongside detailed, written weakly snow forecasts across the United States. His site has been ranked as high as #3 most visited ski/snowboard site on the net and gets a pat on the back form fellow meteorologists.
Along with forecasts for specific mountains, you can see a plethora of snowpack and snow forecast maps; a huge plus for those looking for more info about snow conditions on and off piste. snowforecast.com, not to be mistaken for snow-forecast.com, is a great snow report site run by a passionate local professional. If you spend time off-piste and snowpack info is essential, this one could be a great resource.
Local? Yes, Washington State.
Subscriptions? Free account.
Longer Range Forecast? 6-day.
Alerts? No.
Choose Favourites? Yes.
J2Ski
J2Ski is a one-stop-shop kind of forecasting site. They offer detailed snow reports on a huge range of North American and international ski resorts. The site looks like a well-oiled travel site and provides fantastic info on weather and snow forecasts.
Their is an immediate powder alert box for whichever country you select and a full resort list for that country. Next to each resort is a simple 48 hour snow history and 7 day snow forecast. Once you have selected your resort, you can see:
Basic 7 day snow forecast
Written short-term snowfall and powder prediction
7-Day detailed Snow forecast and graph for Top, Mid-mountain and town altitudes
14-day, long range forecast
Code to embed Mini Snow forecast for mountain of your choice on your own website for free.
Everything on the site is free and most features are accessible without signup (free). Although if you do sign up you will get emailed powder alerts and snow forecasts for your favourite resorts.
Snow reports are detailed and perfect for those looking to ski on-piste, but what really sets this site apart is its site based links to chalets, hotels, transfers and ski holiday packages. You could use this one site to literally book your entire ski holiday, all the while keeping a keen on eye on the snow conditions.
Local? No.
Subscriptions? Yes. Free. Sends out forecast updates for favourite resorts.
Longer Range Forecast? 14-day forecast.
Alerts? Yes, (free account).
Choose Favourites? Yes. When you sign up to email.
Do you have a favourite snow forecasting site? Share it with us in the comment section below.
