Heat records at ski resorts

Christina Nordh 

 

Published 21:23

 

Camera over the Falls Creek ski resort in Australia. Photo: Falls Creek

El Niño can stop the slide under the lags.

Right now, Australian ski resorts are up to twelve degrees warmer than normal.

– This shows what problems we will have with future ski seasons in a warmer climate, says meteorologist Angus Hines.

The start of the ski season in Victoria and New South Wales has been shaky. But in early July, snow fell on ski resorts in eastern Australia.

The joy was short-lived.

This weekend, temperatures reached up to twelve degrees above normal for July, writes The Guardian.

Several heat records

The ski resorts of Mount Hotham and Falls Creek had the highest day and night temperatures ever recorded in July. The ski resort of Thredbo also broke the record for the warmest day in July.

At Mount Hotham, which has kept temperature records for 36 years, the previous July record of 8.7 degrees Celsius was set in 1994.

That record has been broken three times this month. On Sunday, the top temperature was twelve degrees Celsius, compared to the normal zero degrees Celsius in July daytime temperatures.

At Falls Creek, the previous July record of 9.8 degrees Celsius has stood since 1992. On Saturday, the temperature reached 11.5 degrees Celsius and on Sunday, 13 degrees Celsius. The average temperature in July is otherwise 1.2 degrees Celsius there.

In Thredbo, 14 degrees Celsius was measured, Cabramurra 14.3 degrees Celsius and in Mount William 15.2 degrees Celsius this weekend. All are new temperature records for July.

El Niño affects

Now, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's long-term forecast, combined with a super El Niño, points to a warmer and drier winter than normal at the ski resorts.

Climate scientists have long warned that climate change will cause major problems for Australian ski resorts.

Angus Hines, meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said the unusually high temperatures were due to a slow-moving high pressure system combined with sinking dry air. This meant it was cooler near sea level than it was at higher altitudes – the opposite of what is normal.

“Temperatures were well above normal and even surpassed previous warm spells in July,” Hines said.

Ski resorts are seeing a drop in temperatures this weekend. But next week temperatures will rise again.