Highland avalanche reports stopped for first time – after lack of snow in hills
There’s no business without snow business for Scotland’s avalanche monitoring service.
For the first time in its long history, it stopped looking for avalanches because there was not enough snow on the country’s mountains!
The number of avalanches in Scotland’s peaks is at a record low with climate change being blamed.
The Scottish Avalanche Information Service has logged just 23 snow slides this winter.
The service’s co-ordinator Mark Diggins said at this point he would normally expect over 100.
“It is startling,” he admitted. “We have had the same amount of precipitation, but it is the rapidity of temperature change and big storms that has caused the situation.
“Some periods have seen a 20C degree change in the mountains. In my 20 years with the service this is the lowest total at this point. Normally we would be over 100 avalanches.
“Climate change for sure is playing a significant part. You can’t have an avalanche without snow.
“For the very first time in my 20 years we halted avalanche reports for a week in January - because there was no snow.”
The SAIS team of 22 recorders instead concentrated on other vital mountain monitoring for the vast numbers of outdoor users who still flocked to the areas.
“Early December was great (for snow) then it disappeared, came back again when the named storms came - which brought a lot of snow - but the warm spells kicked in,” Mr Diggins said.
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“The low total of avalanches is totally a reflection of the snow cover - it’s been sporadic. Those extremes with the type of thaws we are experiencing are really challenging because in those periods there will be avalanche instability.”
There were 172 avalanches in the whole of last winter, compared to 156, the previous season - which was one of the lowest totals on record.
The highest number of Scottish avalanches ever - 350 - was recorded in the 2014-15 season.
The Snow Survey of Great Britain, which took place between the 1940s and the mid-2000s, had shown a clear decline in the number of days snow lies since the 1990s.
“Climate change is also moving the snowline further up and the conditions can change relatively quickly. But there is also more awareness now of the risks,” said Mr Diggins.
“I would say what we are experiencing now is really rapid changes from one extreme to the other, both in terms of temperature and wind speed, and in the snow amounts.
“For us putting out forecasts, which are offered for a 24-hour period, the hazard could be considerable when we put it out and then the next day it has all been transformed and it’s a lesser hazard.”
The SAIS reports for the six operational areas of Lochaber, Glencoe, Creag Meagaidh, Southern Cairngorms, Northern Cairngorms and Torridon regions are issued daily.
