Record-Breaking Snow For The Alps; Zululanders See Surprise Spring Flakes; Mount Washington Registers Early First Measurable Snow; + Hurricane Dud

The mountains of Europe are bracing for a potentially historic dumping of September snow, with up to 2.5 feet in the forecast.

Record-Breaking Snow For The Alps

Winter in Europe is arriving early, with significant lows and record-breaking snows forecast for the mountain ranges.

Meteo France is expecting as much 70 cm (28 inches) on the highest peaks of the Alps this week, with the French Pyrenees also forecast a healthy blanketing.

Already, early accumulations have swept Europe's peaks, adding to the falls of last week, with France, Austria and, Italy all hit:

Molltal Glacier, Austria.

In the Swiss Alps, regions like Simplon and Valle Maggia are forecast another foot, with the Italian Alps expecting similar totals, across regions such as the Aosta Valley, Valtellina, and areas near the Swiss border like the Resia Pass.

Winter is arriving much earlier than usual in Europe, owing to a powerful polar air mass descending from on north.

Things are readying to intensify and all. Between September 13 and 14, the snow will turn even heavier and with the line dropping to very lower altitudes—an exceptional occurrence for the beginning of autumn, local meteorologists are saying.

The GFS is also picking up on this now (below). Note the snowfall in Scandinavia, too, and also Scotland (though further out).

GFS Total Snowfall (cm) Sept 11 - Sept 24 [tropicaltidbits.com].

These conditions are raising hopes for a bumper ski season, with many resorts already bringing their openings forward.

The word is for a snowy winter across Europe’s mountains:

MeteoWeb has called for a healthy season over the Italian Alps, with heavy snow even at very lower altitudes; Spain's ElTiempo.es has said that the heavy snow in the Pyrenees is setting the stage for a promising ski season; while in Germany, MeteoDeutschland is forecasting a colder-than-usual winter with frequent heavy snowfall in the Bavarian Alps.

You won't hear it from your favorite legacy media outlet, but Europe is expecting a bumper snow season—starting this week.

Zululanders See Surprise Spring Flakes

Just as Zululanders were welcoming in spring, winter made an unexpected return on Monday, bringing a sharp drop in temperatures.