Don’t panic, I’m not about to break into a Barbra Streisand impression, and nor is this a description of the view from the summit, though that suggestion is actually surprisingly close.
We were in Hafod Eryri, the summit building, having lunch and the usual hot chocolate, when I heard someone one asking, “Am I imagining it, or is it misty in here?”
He wasn’t imagining it; it was getting misty in there, and this is by no means an unusual occurrence when the cloud is low.
It was one of those days when the cloud was very low on the whole mountain, and the summit itself was in thick fog. Although it was May, the temperature outside was close to zero, there was a cold wind, and with the windchill it was below zero. Moreover, it was raining, so humidity was at maximum.
To be honest, we hadn’t been sure that Hafod Eryri would be open that day because of the high winds, but our keen ears on the way up had caught the faint hum of the diesel, which told us all we needed to know. And in conditions like this, people aren’t keen to spend a lot of time outside at the summit, so the café can get very crowded.
It stands to reason that if it’s foggy outside, then with the doors constantly opening, the cloud is going to drift into the building. The main entrance doors are electrically operated and a little slow to close, such that on a busy day they are fairly constantly open. The doors at the other end of the building go down onto the platform, and when a train arrives or is about to leave, these doors too spend a lot of time open as up to seventy passengers pass through them. And even between these times, staff have cause to frequently use these doors.
In summary, it can on occasion get quite cold and draughty in the building, and although in conditions like this it will always be warmer in the building than outside (and indeed feel much warmer), the temperature can still be at a low enough level for the humidity in the air to be high when this air (i.e. clouds) blows in. And that’s what was happening on that day.
All this reminds me of when the Americans were sending men to the moon. The Vehicle Assembly Building – at 170m tall it is still the largest single-story building in the world – was used to assemble the Apollo Saturn V rockets, and later saw use with the Shuttles and even current vehicles. An urban myth developed at the time, stating that the building was so tall that clouds formed inside, but in reality it has never been able to generate its own weather. Rather, when the doors are opened, if there is low cloud around, then this will naturally enter and linger. And as long as the doors are wide open, conditions in the building will be the same as out This is similar to Hafod Eryri; any cloud outside can drift in, and will briefly linger, but this building is far from fully open, so the much lower humidity and warmer temperature inside means that any cloud soon disperses – until the next lot wafts in.
It must be said that on this particular day at the summit we were only to pleased to leave the building and return to the grimness outside. Inside it was rammed, and aside from the cold, most people were soaking wet and the slate floor was starting to turn into a swimming pool.
As pertinent as the lyrics seemed at the time, I’m sure that the writers – Alan and Marilyn Bergman – weren’t thinking of the top of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) when they wrote them.