Lochaber Blog & Mountain Info » Mild and misty to end February.

Mild and misty to end February.

28th February 2021

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February ended on a misty and claggy note.Â The freezing level was around 1200 metres. There are still some sections of cornice which remain unstable and prone to collapse in the mild conditions.

Weather conditions the past couple of weeks have been quite a contrast to those we experienced during the unusually cold first half of the month. I did a bit of analysis of the summit temperatures through February, and it turns out the it was a below average month despite the recent warmth. After two below average winter months with some unusual weather at times it will be interesting to see what March does. It certainly looks like the settled theme will continue this week.

The Douglas boulder appearing from the mist.

The view for much of the day.

The midday summit temperature on Aonach Mor through February 2021. This month consisted of two contrasting halves, unusually cold for the first half, mild for the second half.

The average summit temperature was -3.4Â°C. This is the 4th coldest February since 2008 behind 2018, 2010 and 2016.Â The average February summit temperature for the 14 years is -2.2Â°C.

The summit air temperature for this winter so far in red. Also shown is the maximum, minimum and average value for each day from the previous 13 seasons. For two long periods (27th Dec-9th Jan & 19th Jan to 14th Feb) temperatures were well below average. On 6 days the temperature was lower this season than had been recorded on that date since my recorded began in 2007/08.

The Aonach Mor summit temperature anomaly.Much of the winter so far has been characterised by colder than average temperature. However, since the rapid warming between the 13th and 14th of February, temperatures have generally been above average. How is this going to continue?

Comments on this post

Mike Pescod
28th February 2021 4:50 pm

Love the stats. Keep them coming! Thanks.
C Cuthbertson
1st March 2021 7:03 am

More of this when you get the time! Helps keep things in perspective.

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