Skiing And Climate Change
The 2006/7 winter season was the warmest since 1950 with, according to Météo France, average temperatures 2.1 degrees higher than the seasonal normal. This makes 2006/7 one of the hottest winters in France since 1950 including those of 1989/90 and 1974/75 both of which had temperatures of two degrees above the seasonal norm. This has meant that rain/snow limits have been higher this year than most winters, generally hovering around 1300m in February, but as high as 2000-2500 at the start of the season. As a result of this resorts situated below 1500m suffered with little snow cover on the lower slopes and the impossibility of making artificial snow, as temperatures were too high, resulting in many resorts having less than half their normal snow base on their lower slopes in February - although this situation was rectified in March with above average precipitation than normal.