Natural snow · December

Banff Sunshine snow in December

Over the last 11 winters, mid-mountain (2,195 m) at Banff Sunshine had 30 cm or more of modelled natural snow on 82% of December days. The summit (2,730 m) reached 92%, the village (1,660 m) 16%.

Questions

Is there snow in Banff Sunshine in December?

Usually. Mid-mountain had 30 cm or more of modelled natural snow on 82% of December days over the last 11 winters, before any snowmaking.

Early or late December for snow at Banff Sunshine?

Late December has been surer: 93% against 72% at mid-mountain.

How many recent winters had reliable snow at Banff Sunshine in December?

7 of the last 11. In those winters mid-mountain had 30 cm or more of natural snow on at least 90% of December days. Eleven winters show how much one season differs from the next, not a long-term trend.

Does this include snowmaking?

No. These figures are modelled natural snow only, so groomed pistes often ski better than this.

Snow is modelled from eleven winters of ERA5 weather data, natural snow only. It ignores snowmaking, grooming and wind, so use it to compare places, dates and heights, not as a guarantee. Always check local avalanche bulletins before going off-piste.

Weather and live snowfall: Open-Meteo (ERA5, Copernicus). Terrain: AWS Terrain Tiles. Basemap: OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles. Ski areas, pistes and lifts: OpenSkiMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Satellite view: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0).

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