 Poster: A snowHead
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| Mike Pow wrote: |
| Always baffled me that we can send a man to the moon but can't desalinate seawater |
We can. It's just uses a lot of energy, hence expensive and isn't great for the environment.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Layne wrote: |
| Mike Pow wrote: |
| Always baffled me that we can send a man to the moon but can't desalinate seawater |
We can. It's just uses a lot of energy, hence expensive and isn't great for the environment. |
And what about desalination?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Quote: |
| "the doomsday hysteria that never comes true" |
Most predictions I read are talking about 2050 to 2100, so I think it's too early to be saying they haven't come true yet.
The impact of climate change is most likely to be felt (in the UK) by two generations hence. Maybe even one: when I first skiied the Vallee Blanche, there was no schlepp back up from the glacier (and in those days, kids, you could ski the Pas de Chevre as well)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I was looking at the climate in the Alps, using measures from amateur stations.
It seems the average is maybe about half a degree warmer over 20 years, over a degree over 40 years but the extreme upper temperature is +3C and same for extreme lower temperature (+3C).
So the weather has got more extreme.
I also read that French towns and cities are +2C warmer due to the widespread use of aircon.
https://www.infoclimat.fr/climatologie/globale/bourg-st-maurice/07497.html
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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It is difficult to be optimistic about the start of this season. Very high temperatures across Europe will presumably mean sea water temperatures, land and atmospheric values will be (much?) higher than normal as we reach the winter months. Arctic sea ice is also reportedly at a minimum level this year which tends to moderate cold air from that direction as well.
This must mean that all the air masses will be warmer than normal and consequently freezing levels will be higher than usual. If we also get poor synoptics and southerly air flows in November and December it could mean very warm temperatures and rain, frustrating natural snowfall and snow making.
The hope will be that somehow the air masses can cool down quickly enough so that skiable conditions will arrive on time?
Perhaps all this latent heat will mean saturated air masses will drop larger than normal amounts of snow in some places if they can mix with cooler air, somehow?
Maybe things are so screwed up that something unexpected and counter intuitive will happen ?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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It's already below 5 C at sunrise here in Cardiff
June aside this has been a very cool Summer in Wales
October turns could be on the cards for the first time in decades
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According to the Met office June temperatures were way above average.
July, despite the unsettled weather across the Uk, was also slightly above the 1961-1990 average but slightly below the 1990 - 2020 average temperature. The Met office anomaly charts are here:
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-actual-and-anomaly-maps
August is not over yet but the Central England average looks as though it will come in slightly above average.
May had the warmest Uk sea temperatures since the 1800s.
We appear to be a long way from the cool summers of the 1980s and earlier.
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well August certainly hasn't felt warm in the East Midlands. Not quite as cool as early summer, when I had to put the heating on to keep elderly mother warm during the day.
The heating is set at 15 overnight, and it's kicked in again this morning.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| iainm wrote: |
| Quote: |
| "the doomsday hysteria that never comes true" |
Most predictions I read are talking about 2050 to 2100, so I think it's too early to be saying they haven't come true yet.
The impact of climate change is most likely to be felt (in the UK) by two generations hence. Maybe even one: when I first skiied the Vallee Blanche, there was no schlepp back up from the glacier (and in those days, kids, you could ski the Pas de Chevre as well)
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I remember when we went down in 2020 there was some photos which showed the glacier ripping down a gondolarr pillar that had been part of the lift down to the cave as the glacier had increased in depth, it has now shrunk down again but how long does lower snow falls/ higher temps take to have an affect on it ? I have seen pictures of the glacier that comes from Mnt Blance towards ST Gervais from very early in the 20th century, you can see this place as you go up the tramway from ST G and it is now only a few metres further up the valley.
Its strange why one glacier has shrunk yet another doesnt appear to have done so or at least nowhere near as much
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Should add that the one towards St G has trees not far from its end and at that altitude they would take a long time to grow
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@BoardieK, to be fair, nothing we didn't already know.
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It would be interesting to see detailed figures of snowfall and when it falls
My gut feeling since my first European winter season in 1993 is the prime snowfall and snowbase months no longer tie in with the 'traditional' winter season of late November through to Easter (whenever that my fall), instead starting later and finishing later
Welcome people's thoughts
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You know it makes sense.
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@Mike Pow, Covid and babies aside I've been skiing a couple of weeks a year since 1991 but since 2009 largely the bookends of the season (late Dec, early April).
I have heard the season getting later thing occasionally before (actually started many years ago first) but I can't say for me I've noticed in the sense of any pattern.
What I will say is that in April and December 2022 I had the longest stretch of very high freezing level that I've ever experienced. April it was just warm/sunny with high FL (iirc 2800/3000) the whole week and the December it was just bucketing down with rain at 1450 and FL iirc well above 2000. I've had warm weather and rain in resort before but never for so long. I'm not necessarily claiming it's climate change (human created) just my experience of the weather.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Layne wrote: |
@Mike Pow, Covid and babies aside I've been skiing a couple of weeks a year since 1991 but since 2009 largely the bookends of the season (late Dec, early April).
I have heard the season getting later thing occasionally before (actually started many years ago first) but I can't say for me I've noticed in the sense of any pattern.
What I will say is that in April and December 2022 I had the longest stretch of very high freezing level that I've ever experienced. April it was just warm/sunny with high FL (iirc 2800/3000) the whole week and the December it was just bucketing down with rain at 1450 and FL iirc well above 2000. I've had warm weather and rain in resort before but never for so long. I'm not necessarily claiming it's climate change (human created) just my experience of the weather. |
That's interesting
I've skied mid-March to mid-April since Nerys started skiing in 2012 and we've always had great snow conditions underfoot, with snow falling from the sky about 50% of the time
Hokkaido - Japan
Grand Valira - Andorra
Corvara; San Martino di Castrozza (twice); Trafoi; Pejo 3000; Solda; San Domenico; Madesimo (twice); Cortina - Italy
Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis - Austria
Betmeralp; Belalp - Swtizerland
Glencoe; Nevis Range - Scotland
Jahorina - Bosnia and Herzegovina
No glaciated and/or very high altitude resorts in that list, Pejo 3000 excepted
Between 1993 and 2012 I've had great snow conditions late March to late May in
Hokkaido - Japan
Colorado; Utah; Montana; Washington State; Oregon - USA
Alberta; BC - Canada
Stranda; Narvik - Norway
Engelberg - Swtizerland
Chamonix; Montgenevre; La Grave; L2A - France
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Mike Pow, My anecdotal experience is 90% French Alps.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I seem to remember reading this before:
https://www.inthesnow.com/first-50-year-alps-wide-snowfall-reveals-10-50-snow-loss/
| Quote: |
The main trend identified across the Alps was one identified previously in smaller, more localised studies: that the snow tends to arrive later than it did 50 years ago and melt away earlier in the spring.
Looking at the whole region, though, the stats also revealed that locations on the south side of the Alps, which was already less snowy, saw a faster decrease in average snowfall than those on the north side.
Snow depths were found to have “decreased significantly” in winter (December–February) at 82% of all measuring stations, with the decrease even worse in spring (March–May) with 90% of all stations recording a decrease.
In terms of snow cover, below an altitude of 2,000m, the number of days with snow has reduced by 22 to 27 days in the north and by 24 to 34 days in the south compared to the 1970s. The greater decrease was recorded at lower altitudes. Overall, depending on the altitude, this corresponds to a decrease of 10% to 35% in winter and as much as 30% to 50% in spring. |
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Snowfall in the European Alps has shrunk on average by 10-30% in the past 50 years.
The average European ski season has shrunk by about 1 month since the 1970s.
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FAQ
