If you are off to Lapland and have worries about the lack of snow, here's an update on the conditions and a look ahead.
Part 3 There is now snow in Lapland, finally. A bit of snow did arrive earlier in December for a few resorts giving hope to families, visitors and the travel companies but last weekend it turned mild again and even rained, wrecking the additional artificial snow. Below you can see the gradual changes in snow depth across Finland.
This has been greeted with relief by the tour operators no doubt and those whose magical trip is still to come. Earlier this month there were alterations to itineraries of longer trips and cancellations of day trips. Some people have managed to take the rearranged trip.
There isn't much snow in the forecast this weekend although it will be cold in the far north. Santa's Village Rovaniemi has also had a bit of snow now. The snow depth graph from the Finnish Meteorological Institute shows how bleak the conditions were earlier in the month.
Last weekend's mild air and rain was a nightmare.
Transun -As you may be aware from recent media coverage, it has been an unseasonably mild winter so far with limited snowfall. With this in mind, we have been creating snow using snow cannons, which pumps water into the sky and then forms snow as it freezes in the air. We have been using this to create tracks and trails on which to run snowmobiles, huskies and reindeer sleighs – some on paths through forests and some across frozen lakes and rivers. For a number of weeks we have been running the cannons 24 hours per day, through the night. It has been an enormous effort.
Unfortunately, yesterday, the forces of nature conspired against us. In the morning, temperatures began to rise again, which means that we could no longer create snow because the water would not freeze. Then, in the evening, it began to rain quite heavily. In a few hours, much of the snow had washed away and some of the lakes and rivers which we use for our daybreak locations began to melt.
Canterbury Travel - Luosto/Pyha Update The difficulties surrounding the poor weather conditions of last weekend in Lapland are now coming to an end. Tours are now operating in both Pyha and Luosto with good snowfall over the past 3/4 days. Tracks for husky safaris and snowmobile sleighs are still being worked on, this is ongoing because despite the lovely snow, our suppliers are starting again from scratch and this takes time.
Forecast
If you are off to Lapland this weekend, it does look cold, especially for Enontekio region in the NW -15C showing on Saturday. A few snow showers are showing for Sunday, but still light. the windows are also light which is good news for visitors, although it will still feel like -10C for other parts of Lapland. Click on the forecast image above and it will take you to the Finnish site to input other locations or resorts.
Next week high pressure seems to settle over Scandinavia, so that usually just brings dry and settled conditions. Still not huge amounts of snow, but at least it is white on the ground now.
Part 2 Lapland Snow- A little bit 2nd Dec
Part 1 No Lapland Snow 29th Nov 2018
