Thanks Mike. Good clear shot of GCM.

Planning a visit there myself (hopefully) a week on Saturday/Sunday, so will try and get some good shots.

2 days of virtually continous rain and very mild night temps have the river Nevis in spate. Afternoon temps are 6oC on A Mor summit and 7-8oC at the remaining snow patches! We really need the weather to settle down soon.

The weather is reminiscent of last years autumn conditions thus far with high temps and cloud cover preventing o/night freezing.

I remain fairly optimistic with Nevis(due to observed depth) but A Mor is very doubtful for survival this year and A Beag has got to be somewhere in the middle.

The sun is now lower in the sky and the remaining snow is therefore exposed to less rays but mild,damp nights are the killer as the patches reach the critical time of year.

The forecast is still quite unsettled and mild up to Friday in the west.

I'll get a pic of A Mor this weekend.

I got a brief look into the East side of Aonach Mor this afternoon.

The weather was very hazy with watery sunshine during the morning.

There was 2 tiny patches left at Pro Talus and i could not see anything at the upper patch.

The forecast is good for the start of nx week so i'll hopefully get a better view and a photo or two.

The cloud was also too low on Nevis to get a peek at point 5.



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 16.39hrs Sun 21 Sep 08 by coaster.

Been following this thread for a while, so thought I'd make my contribution.

Got these pictures of the Garbh Uisge Beag patch this morning.


I'd estimate that it was about 25m long and about 4m at its widest. Difficult to gauge depth, maybe 2m?

Was a beautiful morning but a cool wind. Didn't seem to be slowing down the melting though, lots of drips coming off the bottom end of the patch.

Didn't have time to look for the Feith Buidhe patch, if it's smaller than this one, I can't see it lasting the year.





Edited 1 times. Last edit at 17.07hrs Sun 21 Sep 08 by al_a.

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Al,

Thanks very much: very useful indeed. Maybe a couple of nights' temperatures in low single figures might toughen this patch up! I believe this is the patch that lasted through to the new snows in 2002. That year, lasting snow arrived on the 12th October. If the same happens this year then there's a chance this one will survive if the weather is cool, although I'm guessing it'll be gone by early October. As a guide, this patch was 40m x 12m on the 28th September 2002: larger by some distance, and a week older than your measurements.

coaster, not good news not being able to see Aonach Mor. The recent warm weather has devastated the west's patches, and I'm now doubtful any of them will make it through to the first lasting snows.

Ciste Mhearad gone.

Picture from Saturday morning.

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I could not see any snow on A Mor today! I may have witnessed sun shining on rock in the haze of yesterday.

Nothing visible at Point 5 either .If there is snow there then it's days from melting.

Down to Ob. Gully on Nevis and A Beag in the West.If nothing else it will make future trips to these patches a little easier!!

firefly Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ciste Mhearad gone.
>
> Picture from Saturday morning.

Gone.....?! I counted 5 patches.....! Looks like Garbh Uisge Beag is the best bet for lasting - good to see it hanging in there. Unfortunately, haven't seen any long term forecasts pointing at any coolish, lasting weather in October, so I reckon GUB will kick the bucket some time in October! Possibility of only Braeriach making it this year.....?

I noticed that the summit temp at CM was below 0C first thing this morning. With a few cooler days to come this week then that might help to firm up what still remains.
Would it be the case that snowpatches would create their own micro climate, in terms of temperature. If they do, then temperatures of a degree or two above freezing in the surrounding areas might lead to a freeze within the area of a snowpatch...or is this just 'clutching at straws'
Some suggestions of a colder snap around the beginning of next month...helpful? if it comes off.

Regards
Olderalan

Coaster and Firefly. The patches around Aonach Mor and Aonach Beag are still intact. Was out today and enjoyed superb weather, Sunny and no wind. There is still a patch on the Ben - see pic - most likely the Observatory area.

Aonach Mor still has its 'Pro Tallus' patch see pics.

Took a wander down over to Aonach Beag - as I hadn't done this Munro before. On the col between Aonach Mor and Beag - down the corrie I could see a sizeable patch. After doing the Munro, I descended the corrie towards this patch. I was suprised how low down it was and how difficult it was to get to. Treacherous is describing the route down lightly - Despite the Summery conditions I can tell you that the patch was rock hard. So hard that I couldn't walk on it with my trail shoes. Anyway enjoy these pics of a sizeable patch that will almost certainly last the year.























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more pics of aonach beag patch here !

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Nice one snowpatch! The Aonach Beag patch is quite something considering it's low elevation. Good shot of the Ben too; it still looks pretty healthy. The Aonach Beag patch doesn't appear to have changed too much from the pictures from earlier this month (coaster's?) - maybe the west coast will see some survivals after all.....!

more

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so (excuse my ignorance) is the Aonach Beag patch still retaining some of the snow from the 2007 winter?

I think your right, The Aonach Beag has retained what it had last year. It appears appears to be the largest patch on the go at the moment - perhaps GCM might be bigger. Anyway more pics