Freezing Point at Record High Altitude in the Alps

The point at which zero degrees Celsius (32F) is reached was found to have risen to a record high altitude of 5,298 metres in the Swiss Alps at the start of their week.  That’s nearly 500 metres above the highest peak in the Alps.

The Swiss meteorological office reported the “0°C isotherm” was at a record height since the first recordings were made in 1954, nearly 70 years ago.

The point at which freezing point is found moves up and down through the day, the previous record high of 5,184 metres was set in July last year.  Western Europe’s highest peak, Mont Blanc, is at 4,809m.

Despite the heat, four summer ski areas are currently open, although they have reported rapid snow loss from their glaciers in recent weeks and a diminishing amount of terrain open. Hardest hit appears to be the year-round centre of Hintertux in Austria, which has dropped to a reported 20cm (8”) base and 2km of slopes still open.

That’s better than this time last year though when spring had been warmer and the snow cover melted sooner meaning only one centre managed to stay open to the latter half of August with the others closed until snowfall arrived on high slopes in September..   

Temperatures are expected to drop dramatically at the weekend with snowfall forecast on glaciers.

Image Credit Trace Hudson