Weekend Mountain Weather Outlook
Drier with snow showers high up and some blustery gusting winds. The good news is that things are looking drier and cooler at last after weeks of damp, mild, autumnal murk :-)
Posted: 15 December 2006
by Walter the Weather Girl
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Weekend Weather
16/17 December '06
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Fact of the Week!
The world's largest snowflake was 38 cm wide and
20 cm thick.It fell on Fort Keogh, Montana, USA on 28
January 1887.
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Our regular Friday round-up of what's
in store for the weekend. Just check the links for the relevant
weather forecasts and if you want to know how things look in a
particular area right now, check out the OM
web cams page for a selection of hill
cams. And whatever you do, have a good one.
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Metcheck
for good overviews of localised areas based on a number
of meteorological models. Loads of quirky options for stuff
like rain forecasts plus offbeat, leftfield weather
generalisations. Get stuck in and have a browse, there's a
lot on this site.
They say: 'After weeks and
weeks of relentless wet and windy conditions a change is on
the horizon, a change that will bring a return to more
seasonal temperatures and some prolonged dry conditions.
'This will then set the scene for a
colder weekend and after some exceptionally mild days
recently it will feel noticeably colder. There will be one
or two 'flies in the ointment' in the form of weak weather
fronts bringing a risk of some showery rain with possible
sleet and hill snow over some Western and Northern parts,
especially later in the day on Sunday'
Hurrah, so something like cold, dry,
winter weather at last and just in time for Christmas too
:-)
You can check out individual areas or dig
a bit deeper for the Mountain
Forecast page or
the Climbing
Forecast page. The
Seven-Day
Charts give a handy
overview too.
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Mountain
Weather Information
Service has great
downloadable mountain-specific forecasts for NW, W and SE
Highlands, Cairngorms, Southern Uplands, Peak District and
Lakes in PDF format. Plus a Snowdonia forecast. The Peak and
Snowdonia forecasts are now restricted to weekend forecasts
and go out on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Best mountain
weather forecast we know of.
They say: Gustly a blustery
particularly in the Lakes and Scotland making walking
difficult on the tops, showers too falling as snow high up
though things in the west are set to ease off later on
Sunday. Temperatures around freezing or below on the tops,
but windchill will make it feel significantly colder in the
wind. Visibility poor in the snow but sunny spells in some
areas, particularly on Sunday when there could be bursts of
bright sunshine.
Check individual forecasts for
specifics.
Check individual forecasts for specific
details. Arguably the best mountain-specific forecast out
there by a way.
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BBC
Weather Site uses Met
Office data, but more user friendly. Just been revamped for
the summer, weird stuff but easy access to a lot more
information including rain forecasts, cloud, wind,
temperature, visibility etc. Nice. Localised forecasts
accessible from the same page.
If you want video, check out the BBC
WEATHER
PLAYER with a
selection of forecasts. They say a cloudy start on Saturday,
brightening later on. Plus lots of grey skies on
Sunday.
Saturday 'A bright but chilly day
for much of the UK. Some crisp winter sunshine, although
wintry showers are likely in northern and western Scotland.
Frosty for many overnight.'
Sunday 'Frosty start but dry with
widespread sunshine. Remaining bright across England and
Wales but cloud and rain will move into Scotland and N
Ireland during the afternoon. Feeling colder than of
late.'
BBC specific areas:
Fort
William / Kendal
/ Betws-y-Coed
/ Aviemore
/ Skipton
/ Glossop
(Peak) / Brecon
/ Milton
Keynes.
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Met
Office . See weather for
the next
week.
Saturday 'The rain will clear the
southeast by midday then everywhere will be brighter, with
just a few showers in the north. Temperatures around normal
but feeling cooler than of late.'
Sunday to Tuesday
'Plenty of bright, cool, dry weather with
night frosts. However some showery spells of rain will
spread across many parts for a time later on Sunday into
Monday.'
Welsh Mountain Forecasts Useful
online forecasts covering the National Park areas of
Snowdonia
- and the Brecon
Beacons.
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Scottish
Avalanche Information Service
- Daily avalanche forecasts back soon - some snow would be a
start - starting 15 December for North Cairngorm and
Lochaber and 22 December for the other main Scottish
climbing areas covered.
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OUTDOORSmagic
web cam page Links to all the UK
mountain web cams we're aware of. If there's one that we've
missed, please drop
us a line and we'll add it to the
page. Good for getting a general idea of what the snow
situation's like, if the sun is shining, whether there's
anywhere to park in Coniston etc. Check the image you're
viewing is up to date as they often seem to go down.
We'll overhaul this page shortly as some of the links
aren't functioning or the cameras have disappeared - nicked?
You have to hope not ;-)
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Spells of bright sunshine particularly on Sunday.
Felling raw in strong, blustery wind.
Verdict Looks like things are getting
colder and drier at last with a classic dry-ish, windy. raw-feeling
winter weekend forecast. Winds gusting up to around 50mph will make
for problematic movement high up and visibility will be poor in
showers falling as snow in the hills. Sunday again starting windy but
easing off with the possibility of spells of bright sunshine during
the day. Around freezing on the tops but feeling significantly cooler
thanks to wind chill. Wrap up warm - shell clothing essential, ditto
hats and gloves.
Have a great weekend :-)
Obvious Disclaimer Hey come on, we all know
mountain weather's unpredictable, and while the above forecasts and
links are a guide to what the weather may do, remember that mountain
areas also tend to generate their own conditions, temperatures are
much cooler up top than in the valleys and conditions can be totally
different from down in the valleys.
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