Piedmont snow 4–6 November: 22 cm at Sampeyre, 20–40 cm more above 1,800 m
Ski mountaineer Laetitia Roux on the Mondolè slopes above Prato Nevoso, March 2015. Photo: International Ski Mountaineering Federation via Wikimedia Commons, CC0
The first real snowfall of the season in the western Alps dropped 22 cm at Sampeyre and 19 cm at the Chiotas dam in the Cuneo Alps in the 24 hours to Wednesday 4 November 2026, and 14 cm in Sestriere village. The regional weather service ARPA Piemonte expects the low between France and Spain to feed snow to Piedmont until Friday 6 November, and forecasters add 20–40 cm above 1,800 m. No lift in the area turns before 28 November, so this is base, not skiing.
In short
- Recorded on 4 November: 22 cm at Sampeyre Pian delle Baracche, 19 cm at Diga del Chiotas, 14 cm in Sestriere, 10 cm at Rifugio Gastaldi (2,659 m).
- ARPA Piemonte bulletin 348/2026: snow line 1,300–1,500 m, locally 1,200 m in the Maritime and Ligurian Alps; a clear improvement on Saturday 7 November.
- Forecast for 5–6 November: 20–40 cm above 1,800–2,200 m from the Maritime Alps to Gran Paradiso, peaks of 50 cm in the Maira, Gesso, Stura and Vermenagna valleys and at Mondolè Ski.
- The French side gets a share: Isola 2000 sits in the 20–30 cm zone, with 40 cm or more in places.
- Prato Nevoso opens on Saturday 28 November with a new 8-seat chairlift; Isola 2000 reopens on Saturday 5 December.
What fell on Wednesday 4 November
ARPA Piemonte describes the storm in its bulletin 348/2026 of Wednesday 4 November as a depression that pulls humid, cool air onto north-west Italy and keeps the weather "moderately disturbed" for several days. The moisture hits the Maritime, Ligurian and Cottian Alps first, which is why the province of Cuneo collected the most snow.
Torino Cronaca reported the ARPA station readings for the province of Turin on 4 November: 14 cm of fresh snow in Sestriere village and 10 cm at Rifugio Gastaldi above Balme at 2,659 m, with flakes down to Pragelato in Val Chisone. The heaviest totals came from the Cuneo valleys, where meteorologist Andrea Vuolo of Meteo in Piemonte reported more than 20 cm of fresh snow at about 2,000 m.
| Station | Valley / area | Altitude | Fresh snow to 4 Nov | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sampeyre, Pian delle Baracche | Val Varaita (CN) | about 2,000 m | 22 cm | MeteoConnect 15:00 update |
| Diga del Chiotas | Valle Gesso (CN) | about 2,000 m | 19 cm in 24 h | MeteoConnect 15:00 update |
| Sestriere village | Val Chisone (TO) | 2,035 m | 14 cm | ARPA station |
| Rifugio Gastaldi | Valli di Lanzo (TO) | 2,659 m | 10 cm | ARPA station |
Giornale La Voce lists the places that turned white on the morning of 4 November: Artesina, Prato Nevoso, Acceglio, Castelmagno, Crissolo and the upper part of Limone Piemonte. At the San Giovanni station in Limone, 1,189 m, the thermometer stood at 1.3 °C. In the Alta Valsesia, Notizia Oggi reported light snow on the Monte Rosa pistes.
The ARPA forecast to Saturday 7 November
ARPA Piemonte gives its bulletin a reliability of 95 % for Wednesday, 90 % for Thursday, 80 % for Friday and 70 % for Saturday. Each day brings weak to locally moderate precipitation on the western and southern sectors, most persistent in the Turin and Cuneo valleys.
| Day | Snow line (ARPA) | Freezing level | Temperature at 2,000 m | What ARPA expects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 4 Nov | 1,200–1,400 m | 1,700–1,800 m | −2 to 0 °C | moderate falls in the Turin and Cuneo valleys |
| Thu 5 Nov | 1,200–1,400 m, rising 100–200 m | 1,900–2,100 m on the Cottian and Maritime Alps | −2 to 1 °C | falls ease at midday, return in the evening in the south |
| Fri 6 Nov | 1,400–1,600 m | 1,700–1,800 m | −1 to 1 °C | morning snow, most persistent on the Cuneo side, easing from the afternoon |
| Sat 7 Nov | – | 1,700–1,800 m | – | "deciso miglioramento", sunny at altitude |
How much more: 20–40 cm, locally 50
Vuolo's forecast, quoted by MeteoWeb on 4 November, is 20–40 cm of fresh snow above 1,800–2,200 m from the Maritime Alps to Gran Paradiso, with peaks of up to 50 cm above 2,200 m in the Maira, Gesso, Stura di Demonte and Vermenagna valleys and at Mondolè Ski.
The model figures are lower. Skiinformatie ran the ICON-EU and ECMWF models of 4 November and found 17 cm for the top of Prato Nevoso at about 2,100 m, 16 cm for Limone Piemonte, 11 cm for Isola 2000, 7 cm for Sestriere and 6 cm for Sauze d'Oulx. iLMeteo.it expects 5–15 mm of precipitation per day in Liguria, Piedmont and the Aosta Valley on Thursday and Friday, with the snow line at 1,400–1,500 m.
The French side: Isola 2000 in the 20–30 cm zone
Weather to Ski wrote on the morning of 4 November that the only areas with significant snow before Friday 6 November are the far south-west: the southern Piedmont with Prato Nevoso and Limone, and the French resorts close to the Italian border such as Isola 2000. "These areas could see 20-30cm of fresh snow by Friday morning, with even 40cm+ in places," the update says, with a rain-snow limit of 1,300–1,800 m. The rest of the Alps stays dry and chilly.
None of these resorts has open skiing. Prato Nevoso's own site carries the line "Apertura il 28 novembre con inaugurazione della seggiovia a 8 posti", 13 lifts and 27 pistes, with a new beginner area next to the new chairlift. Isola 2000 announces the reopening of resort and ski area for Saturday 5 December 2026.
| Resort | Country | Opening date 2026/27 (as of 5 November) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prato Nevoso, Mondolè Ski | Italy, Cuneo | Saturday 28 November | new 8-seat chairlift |
| Isola 2000 | France, Alpes-Maritimes | Saturday 5 December | resort and ski area |
| Limone Piemonte | Italy, Cuneo | not published on 5 November | – |
| Sestriere, Via Lattea | Italy, Turin | not published on 5 November | 14 cm in the village on 4 November |
What this means for your skis
Twenty to forty centimetres is not a big dump by Alpine standards, but it falls on cold ground: ARPA keeps the temperature at 2,000 m at or below 1 °C through Friday, so the snow stays and gives the snowmakers at Prato Nevoso and Limone a cold base three weeks before opening. An opening weekend on that kind of cover is a firm-piste weekend. The ski that works is a narrow all-mountain ski with a full sidewall and enough metal to hold on a groomed, cold surface: 80–88 mm under foot, radius 15–18 m.
Four skis in our catalogue that fit that brief are the Rossignol Arcade 84, the Nordica Enforcer 88, the K2 Mindbender 85 and the Head Kore 88 Ti. Our top-5 all-mountain skis list ranks them against the wider field, and the Pick-a-Ski tool matches length and flex to your weight and level. If the 50 cm peaks come true in the Gesso and Stura valleys, the first tour of the season comes before any lift opens; the same tool filters the catalogue for touring weight.
