Snow At One of World's Highest Observatories Melting Earlier Than Ever Before

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: The snow at the highest observatory in the world to be operated all-year-round is expected to completely melt in the next few days, the earliest time on record. Scientists at the Sonnblick observatory in the Austrian Central Alps, which is 3,106 meters (10,190ft) above sea level, have been shocked and dismayed to see the snow depleting so quickly. Some years the peak is covered in snow all summer. But this year it has melted more than a month before the previous record time, which was 13 August in 1963 and 2003. Throughout June, snow has been at the lowest levels since records began in 1938. The observatory publishes the snow level every 10 minutes, along with other data. Rainfall affects the measurements. But the steady downwards trend is clear to see, and as of Tuesday the snow was down to just a couple of centimeters. Sonnblick was built in 1886, for scientists to explore the higher levels of the atmosphere. Since then it has been used by meteorologists to forecast the weather, and hosts the mountain observatory with the longest and most reliable climatic data.

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