Jura and French Alps in March - What will the weather be like?

Flying Fish

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Hi folks, I’m planning a solo ride to the Côte d’Azure and back during the last two weeks of March (due to having annual leave to use before April).

I’ve never crossed the Jura and French Alps so early in the season and TBH I’m a bit concerned about weather conditions. Do you have any advice or tips on routes to use or avoid?

My planned route is
Eurotunnel - Épernay (Marne) - Arbois (Jura) - Annecy (Haute-Savoie) - Savines-le-Lac (Hautes-Alpes) - Antibes

Thanks!
 
Can be anything in March. Just check weather in advance (I always use Windy app) 48 hours and adjust the route (and clothing layers) accordingly.

Said that, I've ridden across Savines-le-Lac before around end March and was pretty much ok.

Antibes should be summer already compared to here.
I stopped at friends in Monaco in December and it was 17 degrees :D
 
Flying Fish said:
Hi folks, I’m planning a solo ride to the Côte d’Azure and back during the last two weeks of March (due to having annual leave to use before April).

I’ve never crossed the Jura and French Alps so early in the season and TBH I’m a bit concerned about weather conditions. Do you have any advice or tips on routes to use or avoid?

My planned route is
Eurotunnel - Épernay (Marne) - Arbois (Jura) - Annecy (Haute-Savoie) - Savines-le-Lac (Hautes-Alpes) - Antibes

Thanks!
Click to expand...

One year, we did that area in late March & early April and it was 22-24c
Another time it snowed
Just follow the forecast at the time
I have had snow covered roads in the Alps and Dolomites in late July
 
Nobody knows for sure what the weather will be like here at home in two weeks, let alone in a different country. I am sure not may people expected it to hit -15C in some parts of the UK overnight, whilst other parts of the country sat at +5C, just a day or so ago.

The replies so far are that:

A. It might be reasonable; nice even

B. It might not

Why not wait a week and look at the forecast?
 
I was hoping maybe for tips along the lines of road x>is always cleared of snow or road is dangerous in rain. It seemed sensible to have some alternative route plans in mind rather than finding out the hard way. Anyway, I’ll keep my eye on the weather as usual.
 
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It’s wet in the rain. The degree of danger varies.

You’ll need alternatives should the weather (and / or road conditions) not be as you hope for. Prepare the alternatives over the next fortnight (if you feel like it) and discard / use them as you see fit on the day.
 
Mountains = unpredictable. Could be sunny, could be snowy. Best you’ll get is 2-3 days notice from the forecast
 
Flying Fish said:
Hi folks, I’m planning a solo ride to the Côte d’Azure and back during the last two weeks of March (due to having annual leave to use before April).

I’ve never crossed the Jura and French Alps so early in the season and TBH I’m a bit concerned about weather conditions. Do you have any advice or tips on routes to use or avoid?

My planned route is
Eurotunnel - Épernay (Marne) - Arbois (Jura) - Annecy (Haute-Savoie) - Savines-le-Lac (Hautes-Alpes) - Antibes

Thanks!
Click to expand...

BTW, I did not ask “what will the weather be like” - someone else has changed the title of my post.

I’ve done enough touring in Europe to know it is unpredictable - even in summer.

I asked for advice on “routes to use or to avoid”. For example, there are some passes that are always kept clear of snow, that kind of thing.
 
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Flying Fish said:
BTW, I did not ask “what will the weather be like” - someone else has changed the title of my post.

I’ve done enough touring in Europe to know it is unpredictable - even in summer.

I asked for advice on “routes to use or to avoid”. For example, there are some passes that are always kept clear of snow, that kind of thing.
Click to expand...
Col D'Isere doesn't get snow cleared until the second week of June, at the earliest.

Sent from my KFMAWI using Tapatalk
 
I changed the title as the opening part of your request read: I’ve never crossed the Jura and French Alps so early in the season and TBH I’m a bit concerned about weather conditions.…

Obviously, if you had had it confirmed that your concerns over the weather were unfounded, then you’d have no need to plan alternative routes. That being said, it has resulted in someone suggesting a weather app, for which you are grateful.

Based on your experience of touring Europe (presumably not in late March, along the route you propose) which alternative route(s) have you planned, should your concerns prove to be justified? If none, then Google maps is reasonably up-to-date with closures, to give you a hand. For example, it is showing the route: Arbois (Jura) - Annecy (Haute-Savoie) - Savines-le-Lac (Hautes-Alpes) - Antibes as open right now, taking the non-motorway main roads.

2d8ead700b3ff9c42dffef31c2b07b9c.png



276c8eb736e1eaf37180caa643db871e.png


fde82e2de90be0db9ace64be21778d6c.png




This is in contrast to the Col de l'Iseran, which is indeed decidedly shut.


f2cd692caa84358a742bbf95e94d2c8b.png




That being said, you might be taking an entirely different route between Arboir and Antibes via Annecy and Saviines-le~Lac, along which it might rain or snow, whilst the roads you have decided to ride might yet be closed….. or not.
 
Khulu said:
Col D'Iseran doesn't get snow cleared until the second week of June, at the earliest.

Sent from my KFMAWI using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

fixed spelling!
at the moment as at 13 march, Val d'Isere and Tignes have had a huge snow fall of over 50 cms, with very high winds making new snow depths at altitude of 1 to 2 meters of more in places.
traffic through on last saturday was held up for hours by a variety of vehicle crashes, buses, car recovery transporters all sliding around! absolute bedlam, and the road below the dam was also closed by avalanche causing huge tailbacks.
It is highly unlikely that the D902 Iseran road will be passable anytime before summer. You will see which passes are open or closed at the foot of the roads, such as in Bourg St Maurice, but I think its ambitious to consider any high passes will be open in March. Valley roads are your best bet, such as along the Maurienne if you are heading that way. Even if a pass happened to be opened the weather being so unpredictable might leave you stuck in snow stranded if you tried your luck, unless you have chains with you of course!!!
 
If ever there was a trip where a lack of forward planning was a good idea this is the one:D

You’ve got plenty of time so I’d take a single sheet Michelin map of France and plan the following day while drinking beer in a bar. Just look at the map, bring up a radar plot of the weather for the next 24hrs and find an area you like the look of that doesn’t have nasty weather on the plot. Book your hotel mid afternoon each day and factor in whether you need to dry your bike kit if you failed to understand what the radar was telling you due to drinking too much beer the night before.

It’s March, hotels won’t be busy unless you’re at a ski resort though you may find a lot of restaurants in quieter towns will be shut Monday to Thursday evenings.
 
Unfortunately, the OP has decided not to tell us which way he intends to go on his route: Arbois (Jura) - Annecy (Haute-Savoie) - Savines-le-Lac (Hautes-Alpes) - Antibes. This makes it all but impossible for anyone to tell him:

A. If his chosen route will be open / passable or even ‘dangerous’

B. What the weather which (to some degree or another) may well affect item A might be like

Google maps shows that it possible to drive a route going Arbois (Jura) - Annecy (Haute-Savoie) - Savines-le-Lac (Hautes-Alpes) - Antibes, today and that it's presumably not overly dangerous, at least not in a car. But that’s useless if his actual intention is to use roads that are different to Google’s suggestion and, of course, if it all changes dramatically between today and the end of the month.

If he can give us all a little bit more detail, no doubt we’ll be able to help him.
 
russ996duke said:
fixed spelling!
at the moment as at 13 march, Val d'Isere and Tignes have had a huge snow fall of over 50 cms, with very high winds making new snow depths at altitude of 1 to 2 meters of more in places.
traffic through on last saturday was held up for hours by a variety of vehicle crashes, buses, car recovery transporters all sliding around! absolute bedlam, and the road below the dam was also closed by avalanche causing huge tailbacks.
It is highly unlikely that the D902 Iseran road will be passable anytime before summer. You will see which passes are open or closed at the foot of the roads, such as in Bourg St Maurice, but I think its ambitious to consider any high passes will be open in March. Valley roads are your best bet, such as along the Maurienne if you are heading that way. Even if a pass happened to be opened the weather being so unpredictable might leave you stuck in snow stranded if you tried your luck, unless you have chains with you of course!!!
Click to expand...

I’m in Tignes now. Drove up from Grenoble yesterday and the roads were clear. The day before (as you say) they were closed and another 50cm of snow is expected from 8pm tonight so will probably be closed tomorrow. It was nearly 20 degrees C in Lac de Tignes at lunchtime (accompanied by a ver y nice bottle of red). The only predictable thing about the weather here at this time of year is it’s unpredictability.
 
Many thanks for the useful pointers.

This is roughly my planned route, of course subject to change
D437, D33 across he Jura, and D1084, D1508 to Annecy


D912 to Chambery and D912 Col du Grainier and D512 to Grenoble might be a bit optimistic but there are obvious alternatives on N roads or autoroutes


Then it's mainly N85 Route Napoleon. I can go more directly via Gap if needs be.
 

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The good news is that the Col du Grainier is open in all directions today:

ba74190a15dcbe291131727640585ddc.png


Use the same ViaMichelin website to check nearer the time and to advise you of known road closures, as pointed to with the arrow.
 
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