It seem airport operator BAA has realized that Global warming has really dumped on them the last two years and rather than be caught with their pants down again, they 3x increased their equipment and staff ready to clear snow.
From BBC: Heathrow airport triples snow clearance fleet
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15105627
Heathrow airport has tripled the number of snow clearance vehicles to tackle severe winter weather.
Operator BAA also has three times as many staff ready to clear snow compared with last year.
Thousands of passengers were left stranded at the airport as 4,000 flights were cancelled over five days for heavy snow before Christmas.
But BAA said it now has 185 snow clearance vehicles and has 468 staff per shift, compared to 117 last year.
The operator said it has invested £32.4m so far to tackle severe weather.
BAA had been criticised following last year’s disruptions and a report accused the operator of a breakdown in communication and lack of “preparedness” for the bad weather.
After the publication of the Winter Resilience Enquiry Report, BAA promised to invest £50m to avoid facing disruptions on a similar scale.
Announcing its “winter resilience programme”, the airports operator said it has introduced a new “reservist” role whereby up to 950 staff will be deployed to the terminals to help passengers during disruption.
h/t to WUWT reader “rg” in France
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Not sure if climate physics laws are creating a warmer or colder world, but Murphy’s Law dictates that the next winter will be now be a warm one in the London area.
I know it’s all been said ad-infinitum already but just how long are we going to maintain the charade of AGW?.
In the theatre of my mind I entertain ideas of how (near) future historians and documentaries will portray these times?…
I actually find my language fails to convey my emotions around the subject.
No adverse outcome will visit Pachauri et-al either just to rub salt in the historical wounds…….tis always been thus I suppose…
“But BAA said it now has 185 snow clearance vehicles and has 468 staff per shift, compared to 117 last year.”
Ah, are these the start of the promised “green jobs”?
It occurred to me the other day in a shoe shop, faced with wall-to-wall furry Winter boots and other ‘serious’ footwear for Winter weather, that professional forecasters, who are in the pay of big business, can’t afford to be wrong too often.
So while some might scoff at the ‘heavy crops of berries’ and ‘early bird migration’ forecast lore, I take the southward migration of snowplows and appearance of vast herds of Winter clothing quite seriously.
IF AGW causes more cold and snow, then we should be able to make ice cubes by turning up the heat in the oven!!!
Since they were using the MET forecast they were only prepared to handle Model planes.
Reality bites.
I remember once in Minneapolis, Mn. the deicing trucks and deicing fluid was stored quite away from the terminal and a big snow came and the deicing trucks and equipment was “snowed in” causing lots and lots of delays and canceled flights .Better have it in the right place too.
Well, if they need road grit they can always break up that decrepit old building full of transients and criminals in New York using debris from the masonry to provide traction on the iced roads.
You can find it at 760 United Nations Plaza, New York City.
Are we talking about the same winter? The BBC has an article about the current warm Autumn, which it is, but then says this: “In the last year, the UK experienced an incredibly warm winter, ”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15107243
The question remains, what did BAA do in the past and how much did they rely on the Met predictions about snow being a thing of the past in thier decision to have only 117 people on staff for handling snow events? If the Met Office believed that snow was not a concern anymore, then they are responsible for the financial losses by the BAA. If that was based on projections from UEA and the Team, then they are also responsible. Maybe fiscal responsibility will cause more scientific responsibility. If there is no penilty, there is no risk. So anything goes at that point.
Mr. Watts, perhaps you could explain for your readers how a warmer atmosphere could lead to more snow in some areas. There seem to be some who are confused about this.
REPLY: perhaps you could explain how without cold, snow forms, you seem to be confused that it takes two to tango, Surely you understand this living in Minnesota? But then again your point isn’t explanation, it’s snark. Your M.O. precedes you. – Anthony
This can only mean one thing. No snowfall this year.
Snowball warming
Don’t they believe in global warming? Enlgand will soon face a serious glut of snow removal equipment. Maybe they can be converted to remove the drifts of sand that will be wafting over Heathrow any year now.
@ur momisugly Stephen Skinner.
Yes they are correct. (surprisingly) – Whereas November and December were very harsh in 2010, January February and March 2011 were quite mild, as far as I recall.
Stephen Skinner says:
September 29, 2011 at 3:35 pm
I read the article. I laughed. I’ve seen flowers bloom in autumn at least twice in my life, and I’m only 31. I’ve seen two harvests in a year, and I’ve seen years when barely anything flowered at all. They’re off their rockers.
And re-writing history. Again.
The Met Office has for years made weather forecasts on the premise that each year is warmer than the last, due to AGW. Surprise, surprise, they have been consistently wrong. We have not had BBQ summers and mild, snow free winters as predicted by the Met Office for the last three years.
Their website shows more interest in AGW propaganda than providing accurate weather forecasts. It is highly significant that they now refuse to produce long range weather reports, but smaller forecasting companies do, with a high degree of accuracy.
Heathrow has obviously made a multi-million pound commercial decision to put it’s faith in predictions by one or more of these smaller forecasters to keep their airport open this winter.
It is a pity that our government has not done likewise.
Stephen Skinner: “Are we talking about the same winter? The BBC has an article about the current warm Autumn…”
This month has seen higher than usual temperatures, I expect BBC will be showing the (above) average temperature graph on their end of month weather review. They did not show one for August or July when the months were below average. Nor for December 2010 which was the coldest for ~150 years.
As I recall it was Baden Powell that made the Scout motto popular. For all those who have short memories, such as many civil and corporate managers, it is Be Prepared! In my not very humble view, anyone in a decision making position that fails that advice should be removed from that position.
The Met Office is an embarrassment. What ever happened with all that hoo-hah last year when the government blamed the Met Office for misleading them with a warm winter forecast while the Met insisted it had given them a forecast for cold….despite the fact that they also said they were no longer issuing long range forecasts at all (no doubt because they’d made asses of themselves one too many times)…
I think the first two months of last winter were historically cold. It warmed up after that, but there’s no way you could describe the winter of 2010 as “incredibly warm” if memory serves. And I’m pretty sure it does…
BBC a joke as well…
REPLY: “perhaps you could explain how without cold, snow forms, you seem to be confused that it takes two to tango, Surely you understand this living in Minnesota? But then again your point isn’t explanation, it’s snark. Your M.O. precedes you. – Anthony”
Can you show me where AGW predicted and end to cold by 2011? Strawman, or as you like to say, I call BS; It doesn’t, although it does predict increased precipitation which, when it is cold, falls as snow.
sceptical says:
“Mr. Watts, perhaps you could explain for your readers how a warmer atmosphere could lead to more snow in some areas. There seem to be some who are confused about this.”
Let me provide some assistance to Mr. Watts.
Could. Might. Maybe. Possibly. For those who remain confused, saying that it “could” demonstrates that you really don’t know, and you’re guessing.
I have not read the Winter Resiliency Enquiry Report, so I don’t know if Heathrow had reduced its snow clearance capabilities prior to 2009 for cost cutting measures or some other reason, or had been getting along fine with what they had until 2009. How many times in all the years that Heathrow has been in operation has it had to close because of snow? And how many days were lost each time it closed? Or were the last two years one-offs? My reason for asking these questions is I’d like to know if all the global warming BS had in any way influenced the BAA’s decisions on how much snow removal equipment and personnel were required at Heathrow.
The highest temperature recorded today at Heathrow was 28C. I believe that a temperature that high has never before been recorded there on this date before. It’s pretty funny that you think last winter’s weather is suddenly worth highlighting now.
Maybe they are assuming that Al Gore is going to fly in for a visit ?