Snow patches lasting until winter in north‐east Scotland in 1971–2000

Watson, Adam; Davison, Richard William; Pottie, John

doi:10.1256/wea.167.01

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Snow cover often persists in isolated patches on GB mountains outside October–May, but patch distribution is strongly related to local topographic influences favouring both snow accumulation through local wind‐fields and minimal snowmelt due to insolation shade (Dunn et al , ). Analysis of such patches is therefore more suited to a different mode of analysis (e.g., Watson et al , ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Snow cover duration and extent for Great Britain in a changing climate: Altitudinal variations and synoptic‐scale influences

Brown

2019

Intl Journal of Climatology

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Snow cover is an important indicator of climate change but constraints on observational data quality can limit interpretation of spatial and temporal variability, especially in mountain areas. This issue was addressed using archived data from the Snow Survey of Great Britain to infer key climate relationships which were then used to reference larger‐scale patterns of change. Data analysis using nonlinear (logistic) regression showed average changes in yearly snow cover were strongly related to mean temperature rather than precipitation values. Inferred change shows long‐term decline in average yearly snow cover with greatest declines in some mountain areas, notably in northern England, that can be related to their position on the most temperature‐sensitive segment of the logistic curve. Further declines in snow cover were projected in the future: a central ensemble projection from HadRM3 climate model showed average yearly snow cover predominantly confined to Great Britain mountain areas by the 2050s. However, inter‐annual variability means some years can deviate significantly from average snow cover patterns. Site‐based analysis showed this variability has distinctive geographical variations and different influences for mountains compared to adjacent valleys. Comparison of inter‐annual variability with Lamb weather‐type frequency and North Atlantic Oscillation index shows the influence of large‐scale airflow patterns on snow cover duration. Most notable is the role of northwesterly and northerly flows in explaining snowy years on mountains exposed to that direction, compared to influence of easterly flows at lower levels. Future changes will therefore depend on dominant annual/decadal circulation patterns in addition to long‐term declines from climate warming.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Snow cover duration and extent for Great Britain in a changing climate: Altitudinal variations and synoptic‐scale influences

Brown

2019

Intl Journal of Climatology

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“…Weather has now carried an annual account by one or other of us since 1997, covering all snow survivals in Scotland during 1996-2005 inclusive. We now compare these with observations over the previous 25 years in Watson et al (2002), using published data for the north-east Highlands including the Cairngorms, the snowiest part of the UK. In the earlier 25 years, the annual mean number of surviving snow patches was 10.7 and the range 2-48, and for the last 10 years only 3.8 and 0-23 respectively.…”

Section: Referencementioning

confidence: 99%

Two Scottish snow patches survive until winter 2005/06

Watson

Duncan

Pottie

2006

Weather

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“…We now compare these with observations over the previous 25 years in Watson et al (2002), using published data for the north-east Highlands including the Cairngorms, the snowiest part of the UK. In the earlier 25 years, the annual mean number of surviving snow patches was 10.7 and the range 2-48, and for the last 10 years only 3.8 and 0-23 respectively.…”

Section: Review Of the Last 10 Years Compared With The Previous 25mentioning

confidence: 99%