UK Mountain Snow/Weather 2008

[kippure]

http://www.winterhighland.info/forum/file.php?2,file=2357

Capture from the Glencoe webcam yesterday, showing remaining patches on the Main Basin ski run.

Any more wet weather and they,ll be washed away.

[MKN]

they had snow up in scotland two days ago according to bbc weather, so there may be some snow left still.

[frozen_north]

they had snow up in scotland two days ago according to bbc weather, so there may be some snow left still.

Nah all the snow that fell two days ago metled. Infact it was pretty much gone by nighfall on the day it fell. Snow this late in June on the mountains is fairly unusual but it doesnt make a difference to the snow patches that are left.

[skifreak]

The snow at Glencoe on Meall a' Bhuiridh is about 3000ft, the summit is only 3600ft (height of the Ptarmigan Restaurant on CairnGorm). there are larger patches on Aonach Mor, Ben Nevis and high in the Cairngorms.

[skifreak]

Ciste Mhearaidh, CairnGorm Mountain, Thurs 5th July 2007. :o

Inside a snowhole in the Ciste Mhearaidh.

More: http://www.highland-instinct.co.uk/gallery...r200607/07jul5/

[Zerouali lives]

Some pictures there Skifreak! Temperatures so far this May/Summer have been excellent for snow patch survival but not the heavy rains. I never realized that snow patches got so deep, or at least for this time of year. At what altitude was this photo taken - I'd assume it would be around 1200m in a north-east facing coire???

[kippure]

Prue class :blink:

[skifreak]

The altitude is just below 1100m a short distance due East of and slightly below the Ptarmigan Tow top terminal, the snow patch is almost a horse shoe so has a range of aspects, but the main face at the backwall of the small bowl is on an approx E through SE aspect.

Four pages remain visible on Meall a' Bhuiridh (Summit 3600ft) on the Glencoe Web cam, 2 in the Main Basin, one on the Spring Run and a small one on the Fly paper.

[mac]

Great pics, amazing to think they were taken in high summer

[Turnedoutniceagain]

Great pics, amazing to think they were taken in high summer

Errrr.....there's a faint chance that he could be taking the Mickey there mac

[Norrance]

Great pics, amazing to think they were taken in high summer

In early July the patches there are usually much larger than those shown this year [though I have not been upo there in the last couple of years]. This year from what I have seen there are fewer and smaller snow patches about throughout the Highlands.

[The Abominable Snowman]

Was up in the Nevis Range end of june, and took some pictures of fresh snow and winter snow on the summit of Ben Nevis. Was amazing to see new snow in late june! The pictures are not brilliant quality unfortunatelty

Edited July 11, 2007 by The Abominable Snowman

[firefly]

Errrr.....there's a faint chance that he could be taking the Mickey there mac :lol:

Errr, no he's not!

I help Adam Watson to compile his yearly snow report for "Weather" magazine and can confirm that these photographs are genuine. The Ciste Mhearaidh patches are well know to survive well into the summer, and have been known (in years gone by) to last to the new snows of the following winter. What makes this particular patch remarkable is that it is a true open snowfield, rather than a patch that sits at the bottom of a gully accumulating avalanche debris (and is typically sheltered from the sun for prolonged periods of time).

As for the depth, I remember climbing in the Lost Valley (in Glencoe) in 1993 and walking past snow patches approx. 6 metres in depth - and this was at about 2200foot IN JULY!!!

The patch(es) in Garbh Coire on Braeriach will be well over 200 metres wide at present (by my guess) and have melted only a handful of times in the last century.

In early July the patches there are usually much larger than those shown this year [though I have not been upo there in the last couple of years]. This year from what I have seen there are fewer and smaller snow patches about throughout the Highlands.

The patches this year are the largest since at least 2004, at least on certain mountains (Ben Nevis, Ben More near Crianlarich). Also, as noted, we have had lying snow on Ben Nevis and the Cairngorms in late June for the first time in, I believe, quite a few years.

[kippure]

The omens are good :lol:

[shuggee]

Thanks for that report firefly - welcome to netweather :lol:

[Guest Viking141]

Yup, likewise thanks for that and welcome.

:lol:

[snowray]

Well this is all new to me, truly fascinating, thought the Scottish mountains were way too low for glaciers(patches of, but none the less)..What is the highest peak on Ben Nevis, just over 1300m?

Edited July 12, 2007 by snowray

[acbrixton]

Well this is all new to me, truly fascinating, thought the Scottish mountains were way too low for glaciers(patches of, but none the less)..What is the highest peak on Ben Nevis, just over 1300m?

Snowray there are no glaciers in the Scottish Highlands only semi-permanent small shallow patches of snow.

For glaciers to form there needs to be a permanent layer of snow sufficiently deep for the lower levels to be compressed by the weight of the upper levels so that the snow is converted into ice...

regards

ACB

[snowray]

Hi ABC, true not propper Glaciers by any means but none the less fairly impressive and deep looking patches from the pics that have been posted.

Regards

Snowray

[firefly]

Well this is all new to me, truly fascinating, thought the Scottish mountains were way too low for glaciers(patches of, but none the less)..What is the highest peak on Ben Nevis, just over 1300m?

1343 metres (to be exact). Ben Nevis isn't even the best place for snowpatch survival (owing in part to its proximity to the full force of the damp southwesterlies that whistle in from the sea) in Scotland. The Cairngorms hold that particular honour. The snowpatches on the NE face of Nevis are unlikely to last through September, and it looks as though we can expect the same this year, judging by the sizes of the remaining drifts.

As for the Cairngorms... I'm much more optimistic this year. Last year saw the patches take a battering in July due to the very warm conditions, even at high level. Whereas this year we're seeing more snow on Ben MacDhui than the last couple.

Indeed, the Ciste Mhearaidh patch is looking very healthy, as demonstrated by Jamie from Highland Instinct (who managed some mid-July skiing!!!). How about this for just how much snow can accumulate in Scotland's upper reaches?! Taken TODAY (12/7/07) believe it or not.

Main thread here. Respect to Jamie and Helen!

Edited July 12, 2007 by firefly

[Peter A]

Snowray there are no glaciers in the Scottish Highlands only semi-permanent small shallow patches of snow.

For glaciers to form there needs to be a permanent layer of snow sufficiently deep for the lower levels to be compressed by the weight of the upper levels so that the snow is converted into ice...

regards

ACB

I'm sure I read somewhere that a permanent snow depth of around 80ft is required before a glacier will form, it was that or 60ft, but I'm fairly sure it was 80ft.

[kippure]

A new cam

Here

[DR Hosking]

Im an avid watcher of snowpatch survival in the Highlands, as firefly points out patches survive in most years, predominantly the post persistant patch is in the corrie Garbh Coire Mor on Braeriach in the cairngorms which survives most years, having said that the warmth of the last decade accompanied with less snowfall in winter has meant that survival has become increasingly border line. Ive some statistics somewhere I could dig out on survival.

Firefly, you mention you help Adam Watson with his report for weather magazine. Ive got a question regarding the report for last year, usually they are published in May or June I think, but ive been looking at the contents for the magazine for the last few months and there has yet to be a report published for last year. do you know when it might be published or have I missed it?

Also is there any other source for this report other than Weather magazine? Or is there any similar reports or stats on the web?? Ive tried in vane to hunt some down. Does Adam or his department have a web site??

[firefly]

Dr Hosking,

Yes, the report was in May's Weather. I have the file on PDF but it's massive (38meg). You should be able to obtain a copy without too much hassle.

Either that or you can ask me specific questions and I'll let you know.

No snow patches survived through to 2006's first snow of the winter. The last one (Garbh Coire) disappeared around the 1st October. This year looks a bit more encouraging.

[DR Hosking]

Thanks for that Firefly, you can buy back copies of Weather for a few quid so I will do that again, just wondered if it was readily available anywhere else. Out of interest how many of you get out and about to research the snowpatches? Are you out all summer or is it more of a case of a check in September followed by visits to known patches in October to see how they are fairing? Didn't think last year would have had any surviving, suprised it made it into October! Incidentally when is the cut off date for Survival, is there a point at which in general the weather is sufficiently cold that any remaining snow will survive through to first substancial winter snows regardless of weather conditions? I ask because I seem to remember last November being very mild, I could have envissaged that if any snow did survive last year until November that it may well have dissapeared in November given how mild and snowless it was when it would normally have ben expected to survive after this date?