Early snow

You guys are lucky with resorts opening up. Here on East Coast, everything is closing, including NYC subways!

We got an inch or so last night in Vienna. Between the autumn leaves and the snow, it is very pretty. I'm glad that I switched my tires last week and put on the winter tires (mandatory, by Austrian law).

brrrr. That's a reality check for me. I will be in Munich, Salzburg etc for 11 days in December, and I can't remember the last time I was in winter weather for more than 2 days. We had our first rain on Friday, intersperced with sunshine. I'm so happy I don't have to use the A/C this week (just got my electric bill). At least I think there'll be hot mulled wine everywhere . . . I hope.

Chris, what is FL

A cautionary word for forecasters: Washington received snow about this time last year; it was the only snow all winter!!

Thanks, Chris

Loveland ski area in Colorado is already open! David, Washington D.C.?

Alsace got snow too.

Two Lake Tahoe area ski resorts opened this weekend.

@Chris, Wow, Mürren sure looks different than it was in late September when I was there. I imagine all the Hotels will be getting ready for ski season. That's an incredibly beautiful area, albeit very expensive. Cheers!

Please take care Gail - this storm (Sandy) is serious!

Oh my god, it snowed all day Saturday. We're at a slightly lower elevation for Stuttgart so it wasn't sticking on the ground at first, but overnight it did a bit. We went to a party just about a mile the road, but the slight elevation change made a huge difference - it was definitely sticking on the ground up there. A lot of it melted today even though it was still chilly all day. Hard to believe I was sweating my butt off on a bierbike in mid-70s temperatures just a week ago - so much for autumn! Winter came on real fast. Chani - there will be gluhwein everywhere, that much I can promise you! Many coffee shops even sell it "to go" because in this magical country, walking around with hot alcohol is considered culturally normal. God bless 'em.

I'm jealous...

"Someone should start a post on best known or unknown ski areas in Europe." The two I have enjoyed most so far are Flumserberg in Switzerland and Oberstdorf in Germany. May have been that the conditions were particularly good on the days I visited. Garmisch is a great town, but the skiing there is not my favorite. I'm headed to Åre, Sweden in late November, I'll send a report when I return.

they have had snow twice in the salzburg area in the past month, though the first amount melted, this last round should stick and get more as we go along. This is great news because more real snow and now man made for when I go skiing in Ski Amade in December. Fresh powder days seem very likely this year.

Okay..then maybe you can all answer my question....snowboots needed in Austria last week of November? We have a river cruise Budapest to Passau starting Nov. 25th and really don't know how much to pack....goretex shoes with thermal socks or true Sorels or the like?

How far north in Germany did the snow fall? Guessing Heidelberg received some, how about Frankfurt? I'm thinking the train might be better than driving to the Christmas markets this year (first part of December). Or, do they keep the autobahns pretty clear? Very different than last year.

I guess I'm lucky to be living in the micro-climate of Portland, Maine. 63 degrees today, barely a frost so far, Hurricane Sandy was nothing here. Of course, in January we could get a 2 foot snowfall and -20 F.

Annemarie- unless your trip will take you to the Alps, I wouldn't bother packing snow boots at any time of year. Buy them over here if you need them, but the chances of having a deep enough snow fall to justify lugging a set of boots is low. Robert- Actually, I'm not sure, because I was in Belgium when then snow fell. It seems that earlier in this thread, Sarah from Stuttgart reported snow. When I returned to Germany the next day day, I saw a slight dusting on some of the mountains around here, but nothing at lower elevations. All of the snow around here has melted by now, and it looks like late autumn again. My experience driving in areas of Germany that receive a lot of snow (ie, southern Bavaria and some of the higher elevations elsewhere) is that the Autobahns are cleared very quickly, secondary roads less so, and non-priority roads usually only have the snow packed so that you can drive on it.

Yes, Frankfurt had snow on Sat. morning, but it was very wet, and didn't really stick. By noon, it was basically gone. Then we had a freezing day on Sun. and Mon. with frosts, and now it is milder again. Hoping we have a winter like 2 years ago, when it snowed quite a bit, almost every day in Dec. which was perfect for the Christmas markets, and then warmed up in Jan. and we had the nicest Spring ever.

Oh Jo what you describe sounds like it would be perfect. Last winter sucked, hardly any snow but January was just the worst, and it took forever for spring to arrive. Temps are back to "normal" here - highs of 50s, even 60 predicted tomorrow. No freezing temps forecasted yet. I would like it to stay like this through November and then get some lovely snowfall in December and no freak Siberian wind in January.