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Drought at Val Thorens

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Just to put some of the 'bumper snowfall for 2004' headlines in perspective here are some figures published on Skipass.com for Val Thorens:-

Total snowfall in Val Thorens was 68% of average at 2300 meters and 65% of average at 3000 meters. The maximum snow level was 148cm in the resort and 230 cm at 3000 meters. The total snowfall at 3000 meters was around 4 meters. There are some concerns about the viability of summer skiing again this year. The Peclet glacier has a number of open crevasses although the Chaviere (where the installations have been removed) is in good condition.

I was in the Ecrins (les Deux Alpes) earlier in the week and a number of the glaciated routes we were interested in were very bare reflecting the poor snowfall at altitude in that area this winter.

All is not quite lost, a lot of the high altitude snow falls later in the season when it is warmer.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I read a couple of articles in US journals recently where the same problem is being mooted, together with the suggestion that certain regions may be entering a cyclical drought period.
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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?
davidof, how do you measure "total snowfall"?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
It's measured by taking the daily amounts and adding them up. Or are you asking for a slightly deeper answer? Wink
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
davidof, I was in Val T almost exactly the same 2 April weeks last year and the snow cover this year at all levels was far better.
Global Warming - sorry: Global Unfreezing - is likely to result in more evaporation and so more precipitation. Depends where this precipitation falls of course, but it could mean more snow rather than less.
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Depends as some places will have more and some less and some depending on the time of year. One Hadley Centre model shows increased precipitation over the Alps for December-May and another shows increased for December-February and decreased for March April May, though the images are small, so it's difficult to see for sure.

http://www.meto.gov.uk/research/hadleycentre/models/modeldata.html

Caveats are on that site.

[edited for bad English and to add caveat statement]


Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Tue 27-04-04 10:14; edited 1 time in total
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
skanky wrote:
The One Hadley Centre model shows increased precipitation over the Alps for December-May


Better dust down those water skis then Confused

Of perhaps more immediate relevance, some news about the North Face of the Eiger

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/World2.asp?ArticleID=119232

Which, like the Grands Mulets ski route on Mont Blanc guides are now refusing to take clients. Of course the North Face has not been skied but Saudan skied the South-West face in the early 70s (on 220cm skis).

[edited to add info about the Eiger]
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
davidof, TKS for that. I was looking for it in the Telegraph web site and failed and you've found a syndicated copy of the same thing
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The following translation of the Meteo France report for the 2003/2004 French winter season tends to back up davidof's comments earlier in the thread. The graph showing cover at the Col de Porte weather station near Grenoble clearly demonstrates the effect of the higher temperatures at middle mountain level, with this year's cover offset against previous averages.

Quote:
Over the course of the winter the snow in the mountains has, more or less, turned up at the appointed time. Without being particularly abundant, it lasted until late in the season.

In the Alps:
Two months after the end of the heat wave, snow made a notable appearance at the end of October, down to middle mountain levels. The Briançonnais area received the most. Around November 1st high mountain areas already had a winter-like appearance, particularly in the Southern Alps.

As for middle mountain areas, we had to wait until the approach to Christmas and a fortunate snowfall ranging from 20 to 50 cm.

Cold weather then gained a foothold, resulting in satisfactory snow cover for the end of the year, better than the previous year. January was the winter month which saw the passage of the most unsettled weather; however there was regular rainfall at high altitude. Cold and snow returned at the end of January. With an average varying between 60cm and 1m depending on the mountain range, snow cover at 1500m recovered to seasonable norms. February saw calmer weather, unusually dry, almost spring-like at the start of the month. On February 4th 15°C was recorded at 1325m in the Chartreuse, at the Meteo France Snow Study laboratory located at the Col de Porte, a record high for the month for more than 40 years. Fortunately the weather then became cooler with small snowfalls, sometimes mixed with sand from the Sahara, quite rare for this part of the season. Snow cover remained at satisfactory levels for the February holidays. March and April saw a succession of thaws and drops in temperature. The latter were accompanied by very heavy snowfalls, particularly in the Northern Alps. It was still possible to ski in good conditions over the Easter holidays.

In Corsica:
Snow made an appearance particularly early in the season, in October, but thaw conditions saw its rapid disappearance. This phenomenon was to reoccur throughout the winter. Snowfalls were followed by rapid and all-consuming thaws. Middle mountain snow cover remained uncertain, less reliable than the previous year. It only returned to seasonal norms from March onwards, with numerous cold and snowy periods affecting the “Ile de Beauté”. At the Nivôse de la Maniccia station (located at an altitude of 2360m), maximum snow depth was recorded on the 20th of April at 2.60m).

The Pyrenees:
In the Pyrenees, snowfall was not so early and less abundant than in the previous year. However, snowfall at the beginning of December saw in the start of the Christmas holidays with an average of 20cm at 1800m. Further snowfalls saw this level rise to close to a metre at the end of the year.

Numerous fronts passed over the mountains over the course of January; however they were interspersed with very warm weather. As a result at the start of February average snow levels at 1800m were around 50cm, the seasonal average only, whereas in high mountain areas they were above average, with nearly 2m at 2500m. After a very unseasonable spring-like first fortnight in February, regular snowfalls succeded each other until the Easter holidays, resulting in very acceptable snow cover for the time of year, with 50 to 80cm at 1800m and 2.50m at 2500m.

Middle mountain areas:
In the middle mountain ranges, cover varied according to altitude and aspect. Under 1000m, cover was erratic and often very thin. The most favourable period was January with maximums of 40cm at the Mont Dore, 60cm in the Cantal and the Jura, and nearly 80cm in the Vosges. On the other hand, above 1000 to 1200m, particularly in shaded areas, snow cover remained at seasonable levels. Cold weather and March showers enabled skiing to carry on until Easter
.
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PG, interesting graph for Col de Porte weather station. In contradiction to previous suggestions here, the recent season seemed to start and finish earlier that the previous years average. However I am intrigued why the historical average stops at 1997 and not 2002. It is probably not a valid "average" as the 60s were a mini-ice-age. It would be interesting to see the average for 1971 to 2002. I am sure you can organise that PG, eh?
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Jonpim wrote:
However I am intrigued why the historical average stops at 1997 and not 2002. It is probably not a valid "average" as the 60s were a mini-ice-age. It would be interesting to see the average for 1971 to 2002. I am sure you can organise that PG, eh?



You may find some more information on this article which discusses The Effects of Global Warming on Skiing which has figures for the Col du Porte through to 00/01. I've no idea why Metéo France can't produce a graph with the same data as I got the information from a contact there.

I'm not really sure what you mean by a 'valid average' though. Comparing this season's climate with any snapshot only tells you whether this season was 'better' or 'worse' than that snapshot.
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