A Wet and Windy Valentine’s Day
14th February 2020
A band of rain and cloud crossed the area through the morning, turning to blustery showers and a bit cooler and brighter in the afternoon. Rain at all levels heralded a rapid thaw, particularly affecting lower elevations and areas of cosmetic snow cover, but encouraging the snowpack to consolidate.
The village of Achnasheen with the hills of Moruisg in the background, as seen through sheeting rain. Achnasheen is known for its ramdom roundabout, as through its been beamed in from outa space…!
Creagan nan Laogh of Fionn Beinn. At 600 – 700m this is typical of the snow cover at this altitude with most snow on North to East aspects. The blackened rocks shows that the thaw is underway here.
Two obvious layers of buried graupel in the snowpack, with the graupel ‘pellets’ ranging in size from 2-6mm, probably deposited on Tuesday during a day of heavy showers and strong winds. Although these layers could signify a weakness in the snowpack, the graupel was reasonably well consolidated at this altitude and aspect.
Reasonably good snow cover remains on Creag Dhubh of Beinn Eighe, particularly on North through East to South-East aspects.
Thawing snowpack on Slioch.
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