South America Daily Snow
By Luke Stone, Forecaster Posted 1 year ago October 25, 2023
Huge Snowstorm This Weekend for the Andes
Summary
Spring conditions will prevail for a few more days before a beast of a storm will bring massive snow totals to the region over the weekend and into next week. It will be windy, wild, and wet weekend for Corralco and Volcan Osorno. Will the winds and intense snowfall force the resorts to close on their final weekend?
Short Term Forecast
Volcan Osorno is the only resort open midweek. Both they and Corralco will close out their seasons with one final weekend, Friday through Sunday. Conditions have been warm and sunny with great spring skiing at the few left standing, but thats about to change.
One of the strongest storms of the season is on track to deliver a knockout punch to the Andes and the last resorts still open. The worst of the storm will strike the central resorts, but the northern zone should do well also. Along with intense snowfall, winds will be extreme as well. Some models are showing gusts between 125 and 175 km/hr across Corralco and Volcan Osorno. I am very concerned about the winds completely shutting these resorts down. Winds will be very strong Friday through Sunday, without much of a break. The winds don't subside until Monday.
Snow levels will start out high (~1600m), but by Saturday night will crash to some of the lowest snow levels seen during any major storm this season (600-700 m). An abundance of moisture will be available after the passage of the cold front. Aside from the winds, this is honestly one of the best storm setups of the season. There will be a deep and dense layer to cover up any undesirable surfaces, followed by a copious amount of progressively fluffier snow.
With initially high snow levels, totals will be elevation dependent. Still, the models are showing mind-boggling totals, with ONE to TWO METERS at Corralco, and .5 - 1 m at the lower elevation Volcan Osorno. The northern zone should see over 30 cms, with just crazy snow totals through the Andes.
Latest snow forecast from the European model.
Yikes. I'll have one more update on Friday as the storm is getting started. Let's hope the resorts can stay open or if not, a bonus weekend will be added.
I will be posting a season recap soon, and would love to share any photos you got throughout the year. Email them to me at [email protected].
Thanks for reading the South America daily snow! Follow me @lstone84 on Instagram to track and chase storms all (North American) winter long!
Luke Stone
Forecaster, OpenSnow
About Our Forecaster
