Analysis of Multiyear Blowing Snow Occurrences in the French Alps

Abstract

Abstract Wind-driven snow transport has important implications for spatial–temporal heterogeneity of snow distribution and snowpack evolution in mountainous areas, such as the French Alps. Due to the paucity of near-surface observations, our knowledge on the spatiotemporal variability of blowing snow occurrences is rather limited. Based on multiyear in situ observations, the spatial–temporal variability in the occurrence of blowing snow events in the French Alps was presented to investigate potential links with ambient meteorological conditions. Statistical analysis of the observations demonstrates that blowing snow events are frequently observed with substantial spatiotemporal variability. Most stations experienced snow transport one out of every five days throughout winter, and the corresponding cumulative hours with blowing snow occurrence accounted for 8% of the month in winter. Blowing snow events generally last 4–8 h in winter and early spring. The likelihood of blowing snow occurrences increases with wind speed but with divergent patterns across snow types. The frequency of blowing snow occurrences with concurrent snowfall is substantially higher than that without concurrent snowfall, although high spatiotemporal variability was found. The considerable variation in snow transport frequency can be explained by contrasting meteorological conditions, local climate, snowpack properties, and topography (elevation and aspect). The temperature-based empirical scheme failed to recognize individual occurrence of blowing snow events because of the significantly overestimated threshold wind speeds, highlighting the importance of validation using in situ observations. Our results contribute to the understanding of spatiotemporal occurrence of blowing snow events and facilitate the development of blowing snow models.