“These next two weeks, it’s summer in the Pyrenees! No need to bury your head in the sand. » This observation, not really encouraging for ski enthusiasts, comes from Christophe Dedieu, the president of the association Weather Pyrenees. “Until this weekend, we find ourselves with values from the end of May, the beginning of June, in the afternoon. We are currently at 10-12°C around 1,800 meters, and 15-16°C at 1,500 meters,” adds this specialist. “These temperatures, which are far too hot for the season, even compared to the most recent climatology, will undermine the already erratic and overall extremely deficient snowpack,” indicates Météo-France. In the massif, the “anomaly” is generally +8°C compared to the usual average in January. And forecasters will in particular be watching for the fragile heat record for a month of January at the Pic du Midi (2,876 m altitude), of 0.2 °C in 2022 for the moment.
“Like summer”
This exceptional mild spell, which contrasts sharply with the freezing rains of last weekend, is due to an anticyclone which brings very mild air up from the south and chases away the depressions. “Like in summer,” insists Christophe Dedieu. And the situation is here to stay. The frost limit “will end up being above 3,800 m, and should remain above 3,000 m by the first days of February,” specifies Météo-France.
So, in this exceptional context, should we be worried about the winter holidays which start for Parisians, Montpellier residents and Toulouse residents (zone C) on February 10? For Christophe Dedieu, stations without cannons can turn white hairs because the natural snow will “melt very, very quickly”. Some of the webcams placed in the stations also show particularly steep slopes. The Hautacam station has already been closed since January 14, that of Gavarnie-Gèdre (Hautes-Pyrénées) forfeited this Tuesday. The others are anxious, and few agree to express themselves.
No south wind… fortunately
In Peyragudes (Hautes-Pyrénées), where temperatures should remain positive at night until February 2, the snow cannons will remain under maintenance. “We are being tested by this mild spell,” recognizes Hervé Farfal, the deputy director of the station, but he intends to get through it thanks to “the excellent work of the technical teams.” Currently, 21 of the resort’s 46 slopes are open, “with good snow”. The upcoming temperatures did not escape the responsible party. But he also notes that there will be no cloud cover to send the heat stored during the day back to the ground and no southerly wind to come and lick the slopes. By packing it well, counting on the grass patiently sown underneath in the summer, he hopes to be able to “maintain the snow cover in its current state for around ten days”, even if it softens a little during the day.
“Frankly, an anticyclone in February is no longer rare. We had the same problem last year, and finally we closed the station on March 26, as planned,” recalls Hervé Farfal. Christophe Dedieu is much less optimistic, he is convinced that this warm spell will be “exceptionally long”.