First Blizzards of Winter on Scottish Mountains
There are some very wintry forecasts being issued for the Scottish Mountains for the first few days of October.
The Mountain Weather Forecast for the West Highlands has the following summary for Thursday 2 October:
“Widespread showers, increasingly falling as snow on the
mountains as Arctic air spreads south. High risk of
particularly severe weather over the western, perhaps all
Highlands later as severe gales and blizzards develop.”
Whether or not this forecast is correct, this forecast is a reminder that winter is on its way and that a significant snowfall over the Scottish mountains may occur during this month.
While it is rare for skiing in Scotland to be available during October, it can and has happened. WINTERHIGHLAND is the premier website for Scottish skiing with loads of great pictures and a good forum. Click here for amazing photos of the early start to the 2003 season at Cairngorm on 26 October 2002. In 1992, Cairngorm opened even earlier on the 17 October.
While it is the case that Scottish skiing has had some difficult seasons in the last 20 years compared with an excellent run of seasons from 1977 to 1987 (see Table 2.2 in Climate Change & Changing Patterns of Snowfall in Scotland), Scotland still has five Ski centres and the 2007/2008 season was good commencing 1 December 2007 at Cairngorm and continuing until early May. Indeed the conditions at the end of April 2008 were amazing for so late in the season when most alpine resorts were long shut.
A round-up of the European 2007/2008 skiing season was also positive showing that ski resorts in the alps are still in business.
So it is certainly not the case that global warming means no more skiing in Scotland. Scottish skiing is alive and well in the 21st century and in two of the last three seasons (2005/2006 & 2007/2008), there has been excellent conditions from late February to April when better weather, longer daylight and sometimes amazing powder have combined to provide the best skiing conditions available in the world.
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