Hello everyone,
I have checked several weather sites and it seems July 1 and 2 will be rainy. With the current weather prediction, would you suggest visiting Chamonix-Mont-Blanc on either July 1 or 2? I know weather is very unpredictable, especially in the mountains. So it is hard to say, but still seeking some expert guidance from experienced people/locals.
Thank you very much!
It's a long way away. Forecasts change.
Personally, any date further away than tomorrow I don't bother checking.
The weather is changeable during any particular day. So you just have to
be flexible on your plans.
Obviously the most variable location is the Aiguille du Midi because of the
altitude and cost of going up. But if the weather is a bit iffy, there are many
other attractions to see/visit around Chamonix, while keeping an eye out for
the weather to change.
One small thing to note is that from many locations, you can see the top of the
AdM. So you can do a visibility check yourself, and also check the webcams on
the website.
We encountered identical forecasts for rain/storms when visiting Chamonix and Nice in early June. Storms were predicted for every day of our trip. The day before driving from Geneva to Chamonix still predicted storms for the next couple of days.
Fortunately, these forecasts were mostly inaccurate for both locations. Weather patterns in mountains and along the coast are very difficult to predict. In the mountains, it is common for the weather to be clear in the morning, but warm humid air moves in during the afternoon creating clouds and potential for rain. That is exactly what we experienced in Chamonix. Went up the Aiguille du Midi on the 9:55am ride and had mostly clear (not perfect) skies ... absolutely worth it. Periods of light showers (no heavy rains) came in the late afternoon and early evening for an hour or two.
Throw your rain jackets in a backpack and expect you may need to use them. And just grab a seat into one of the many covered outdoor cafes in Chamonix to wait out any rain while enjoying the town's charm. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for you too!
Thanks to all of you for the helpful suggestions. I will wait till the last day to book the bus ticket from Geneva and to purchase the Mont Blanc MultiPass. But, I'm just worried I won't be able to reserve a spot on the cable car. Slots won't be available and I have heard that people had to wait for even 2 hours to board the cable car. Apparently, just buying the MultiPass isn't enough, reserving a spot is important to save time.
We booked the day before with an eye to weather. WEather reports are VERY unreliable until a day or two before. We once almost cancelled a guinguette reservation because it was supposed to be very rainy that day -- but we waited to the last moment and it was a bright, sunny and perfect. Way too far out to make fine grained decisions like whether to go up a mountain.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2023/03/27/quick-trip-up-the-aiquille-du-midi-chamonix/
That is a lovely blog post! Beautiful pictures! Thank you for sharing your experience. I'll just wait in that case until a day or two before. Keeping fingers crossed!
FYI, when you buy the multipass, you will be asked if you want to reserve a particular time slot on the AdM out of the available seats. I bought the pass about 6w in advance and had my pick of time slots
