TALLINN - Estonia's unseasonably warm winter could force the cancellation of a major international cross-country ski competition due to a lack of snow. According to statistics released by the Estonian Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, the last month of 2006 registered as the warmest December in recorded history.
The average air temperature last month was 3.8 degrees Celsius, a full seven degrees above the historical average, the meteorology institute said. By comparison, the monthly average temperature in December 2005 was negative 3.1 degrees Celsius.
"It has been warmer here than in some parts of southern Germany," meteorologist Ain Kallis said. "The last record high temperature was in 1972, when the average was 1.4 degrees Celsius for December in Tartu. This year, Tartu's average was 3.3 degrees, much higher than ever before."
Estonia is not alone in suffering from warm conditions. According to the World Meteorological Association, the average air temperature of the planet is higher than normal.
"Consequently, the past year was the sixth warmest since 1861. The warmest was the year 1998, when the above norm was surpassed by 0.54 degrees Celsius," Kallis said.
The above-zero weather has most of Estonia begging for snow, and Kallis said there is still reason to hope.
"We have seen several years when there's no snow in January, but then it arrives in February. This year, we have forecast that temperatures will drop bellow zero toward the end of January."
Among those desperate for a snow dump are the organizers of the FIS World Cup Cross Country event, scheduled to take place on Jan. 27 - 28 in Otepaa, in southern Estonia.
Although Otepaa is known as the country's winter capital, its famous cross-country trails are still green.
Organizers will meet on Jan. 19 to decide if the event can go ahead.
"After Jan. 20 we expect the temperature will drop to below zero. If it hits negative 6 degrees, then we can start producing artificial snow. We need three days to produce enough snow to cover the 5 kilometer course and the skiing stadium. Then the snow will have to be spread about the course," a spokesman said.
"The real prognosis is that if we can't start producing snow on Jan. 20, we won't have enough for the whole lap. The course will be shorter 's 3.3 kilometers or even 2.5 kilometers. It would be very disappointing to have to cancel the event, and it would also be a large financial problem."
Already the opening round of the FIS World Cup Cross Country competition in Italy has been cancelled due to poor snow, while the inaugural Tour De Ski competition has suffered a farcical opening season, with two of its 10 stages in the Czech republic cancelled and the time length drastically shortened.
