The Difference a Day Makes…
26th February 2022
A completely different mountain experience today – I was pinned to the ground a number of times by the wind, blown to the ground once and struggled to get back through a col at only 900 metres. It was only 50 mph but the wind squeezing through the col intensified the effect (walking in ski boots didn’t help!) Light rain (snow above 850m, later 900m) didn’t help improve the general ambience …. The snow is suffering in the milder temperatures with the superficial cover disappearing quickly – this is happening on Westerly aspects and any exposed locations (rocky summits, ridges etc) that only had thin cover. At lower elevations all snow is disappearing quickly.
The deeper deposits are holding their own at the moment with just the surface wetting off. Dig deeper and there is still plenty of colder, dry snow (for now!)
The good news is that the freezing level is due to lower through the night to reach about 700 metres for a few hours. It looks like it is going to stay unsettled for the next 48 hours – keep reading the weather forecast updates…
Very windy conditions for the hardy Scottish skier today.
Wind sheltered location on a NE aspect still holding deep snow – average 2.5 metres.
Westerly aspects are stripping out quickly, especially at lower elevations.
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