Courchevel, France

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6 Day Weather Forecast for 2000 m altitude, issued (local time): 6 pm 11 May 2008

	Days 0-3 Courchevel Weather Summary: Light rain (total 9.0mm), mostly falling on Sun afternoon . Freeze-thaw conditions (max 9°C on Mon morning, min -1°C on Mon night). Wind will be generally light.									Days 4-6 Courchevel Weather Summary: Moderate rain (total 15.0mm), heaviest on Thu afternoon . Mild temperatures (max 9°C on Fri morning, min 1°C on Wed night). Wind will be generally light.
	Sun 11 after- noon	Sun 11 night	Mon 12 morn- ing	Mon 12 after- noon	Mon 12 night	Tue 13 morn- ing	Tue 13 after- noon	Tue 13 night	Wed 14 morn- ing	Wed 14 after- noon	Wed 14 night	Thu 15 morn- ing	Thu 15 after- noon	Thu 15 night	Fri 16 morn- ing	Fri 16 after- noon	Fri 16 night	Sat 17 morn- ing
Wind (km/h)
Summary	mod. rain	rain shwrs	some clouds	cloudy	snow shwrs	some clouds	cloudy	some clouds	cloudy	light rain	rain shwrs	cloudy	light rain	light rain	some clouds	cloudy	light rain	light rain
Snow cm	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rain mm	7	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	-	4	4	-	-	1	3
Max °C	6	2	9	6	2	7	7	3	8	8	4	8	6	4	9	8	6	7
Min °C	4	0	6	4	-1	5	4	-1	8	5	1	8	5	2	8	7	5	5
WChill °C	3	-2	4	3	-4	3	4	-1	8	5	-1	7	3	-1	6	5	1	1
Freezing level (m)	2700	2400	2550	2600	2250	2550	2750	2550	2750	2900	2850	2900	3050	2950	3000	3150	3300	2950
Sunrise	-	-	5:05	-	-	5:05	-	-	5:03	-	-	5:01	-	-	5:01	-	-	5:00
Sunset	19:52	-	-	19:52	-	-	19:54	-	-	19:55	-	-	19:57	-	-	19:58	-	-

The above table gives the weather forecast for Courchevel at the specific elevation of 2000m. Our sophisticated weather models allow us to provide snow forecasts for the top, middle and bottom stations of Courchevel. To access the weather forecasts for the other elevations, use the tab navigation above the table. For a wider view of the weather, check out the Weather Map of France.

NOTE ABOUT FREEZING LEVELS AND TEMPERATURES
The freezing level that we forecast Courchevel is the  free air freezing level. (More specifically, it is the uppermost free air freezing level). This means that all of the air above this elevation is below freezing however it does not necessarily imply that all of the air below it is above freezing.  We provide this because it best describes the level where falling snow first starts to turn to rain. On average, snowflakes only stay frozen for about 100 metres (300 feet) below the free air freezing level. That's because air temperatures usually increase steadily as you descend - but not always.  For example, a temperature inversion describes a pool of cold air near the ground with a layer of warmer air above it. This is a common occurrence in winter when the wind is light. Such pools of dense cold air can vary from a few metres to several kilometres deep and can persist from hours to several weeks. In an inversion, it can be simultaneously below freezing in a mountain valley, and also at a nearby summit, yet above freezing at some elevation in between. Most visitors to the Alps are very familiar with this. Such conditions can allow snow to fall much more than the usual 100 metres below the top freezing level, even reaching the valley, just as long as snow did not pass through enough warm air to melt. Otherwise, freezing rain or re-frozen soft hail (there is even a German word for it - graupel) reaches the valley instead. Our forecasts allow for these possibilities which is why you may see forecasts of snowfall and frost at elevations far below the free-air freezing level, or valley temperatures that are lower than summit temperatures. You may even see forecasts of rain to fall even though it is just below freezing at the surface - that happens if our model predicts that there is a deep warm layer just above. None of these are as contradictory as they may seem at first.

All of our temperature forecasts for Courchevel are for the ground, not the air. These can be very different to free-air temperatures, especially at night. This can lead to what looks like a contradiction. Because the ground is such a good radiator of heat (especially on clear nights when there is a snow cover and the wind is light) surface temperatures often fall more than far below the free air temperatures - sometimes by more than 10 degrees. On such occasions, the snowpack freezes at elevations that are far below the free air freezing level. For example, in the European Alps, snow tends to freeze in valleys on still clear and still nights  even if the free air freezing level is above 3000m simply because snow is so efficient radiating its heat away. In reality there are two freezing levels; one just above the snow surface and another at 3000m with a layer of warmer temperatures in between where the snow may not freeze at all. In summary, the reason we provide surface temperatures isbecause these determine the condition of the snowpack.

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