Weather forecasts
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Current snow conditions and a ski report will appear on this page only when there is skiing to be had. Inevitably, given the ephemeral nature of the snow cover, any report based on experience actually skiing is going to be a day out of date by the time you ski it, by which time the snow may be totally different. This means that snow which arrives one day and will be unskiable the next doesn't generate a report here.
2004-01-29
Deep snow all over the country, especially in the East ! Hmmm, well there's very little in the Barnard Castle area, at least low down, and drifting will probably ensure that it is patchy higher up. Hearsay reports suggest that there's a lot more snow in the North York Moors, so if you're coming from Teesside or the east coast, I'd recommend trying there first. Or you could try paddling - the Tees at Abbey rapids was a nice level yesterday (Wednesday) despite the freeze. However, the snow at New Year seemed to be quite localised (again there was not much in Teesdale, but apparently a lot more in Wensleydale - at least judging by the level of the Ure at Sleningford Mill when it thawed !) so it is worth making local enquiries.
2002-2003 season
Quite a good season, with your author getting several days out, on both nordic and alpine skis, and even featuring on TV !
2001-2002 season
Continued the pattern of recent winters, though there were certainly some accumulations of snow in gullies on the Tees/Wear watershed. Unfortunately, your reporter was somewhat overstretched for time, being committed to the glass/epoxy stages of his first cedar-strip kayak during January and February and didn't get out.
2000-2001 season
A few short days with snow, never long-lasting enough for a useful report.
1999-2000 season
One day skiing, which was excellent in the morning (at which time I was skiing round fields at 240m altitude towing two children in a pulk), but was pretty sticky by the time I got to the Stang in the afternoon, mainly because the ground had not been frozen beforehand.
1998-1999 season
A terribly disappointing season - didn't get skiing once, though there was possibly enough snow for some early-morning trips on a couple of occasions :-(
1997-1998 season
Well, very disappointing ! The first year for ages when skiing was almost impossible. Enough snow for some early morning skiing on two days in March was about it - by the time we could post snow reports here it was too late to be of any use. We are hoping for much better in the 1998-1999 season !
1996-1997 season
Skiing was possible on several occasions, sometimes for days at a stretch. Snow reports are archived here for interest. Note that they aren't complete, since your reporters had new offspring in mid-January which rather stopped us getting out :-) A long period of snow in November promised an excellent season, with December a little disappointing in comparison (this seems typical of recent winters). January was again good, the Stang Forest proving increasingly popular, with several parties out on planks in the January snow. February was again a bit of a let down this winter, and the season ended fairly early - much to the relief of motorists on the A66, but a bit dismal for skiers.
Future Prospects
Lets hope that one consequence of global warming will be major melting of the north polar ice. This will result in the Warm North Atlantic Drift Ocean Current (Gulf Stream) shutting down, and giving Northern Britain long cold winters with snow for many weeks at a time. But it'll be windy ...
Weather forecasts