A Winter's Tale

I find it amazing how the heavy and persistent precipitation can stretch all the way to Argyll or Galloway - crossing the mountains such as Ben Lomond and Beinn Ime, yet there is always a bloomin clear patch that covers Inverclde, Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire and Falkirk. This cold spell will be remembered for: - the snowmageddon at fort SS and Catch my DRIFT's new house - The infamous poor show from the models and spectacular underwhelming snow events, including losing an epic blizzard - And how frustration has reached record breaking levels for the great citizens of the central belt and also to include the city of Aberdeen and even the Black Isle. I've given up on snow here but good luck to those who are in warning areas, and hopefully the situation will improve in the hardest hit areas. As conditions become a bit more settled, there is the potential for some very low temperatures - especially over the snow fields. GFS 18z shows that temperatures could drop to -13 to -15C on Wednesday night in the Cairngorms National Park. A spell of snow during the breakdown Turning milder during the weekend and especially into next week but at this range this could all change. Hopefully, we won't see a something like the mild spells that followed the cold spells of February of both 2009 and 2012.

LS - Is there any hope of lying snow here and in the other snow starved places. It seems likely the cold spell will end by the weekend but how do you see February panning out?

How much snow have you got already. It has been a very impressive spell of the Borders so far.

It's now beyond a joke. Time to move to Tomintoul.

LOL. Knowing our luck it will dry out, get colder but that telephone boxin snow shield will torture us all again. Just seen BBC News reporter in County Durham, boy aren't we missing out.

The 'cold' spell has been fine but the snow has been so frustrating considering how everywhere else has had a great time. Let's hope the breakdown brings a frontal snowfall - a bit like the 2nd December earlier this winter - and after that I'm counting on February to deliver. If it fails.........

I think you could see some snow tonight but much of the snow will be to your NE. After that and the best chances for snow is when the breakdwon comes and with some cold and dry days ahead of us then there could be a better chance of lying snow.

Sure does!

I like it!

Getting drier here so it will be a while until some parts of the central belt see snow again tonight. Today has reminded me of the sort of snowfall you get during March - the set-up seemed pretty good for the snow to settle. So Sunday morning brought a brief cm of snow here; a few flakes and flurries towards the end of last week and the weekend and today so wet snow persisting throughout much of the day but there was only a brief covering in the morning. The good thing is that at Glasgow airport this month is already snowier than Jan 2012and duration of the of the cold spell has been pretty impressive. Let's look at what the remainder of this cold spell has in store for Scotland and what chances there are for the snow starved. As we go past dusk, the temperatures should fall so the prospects of settling snow will improve. Parts of the Borders and especially Angus, Perthshire and parts of Aberdeenshire should see further snow overnight with significant accumilations on the high ground and the snow in NE areas could persist into Wednesday. There could be some hope for those further west and in central areas but the best of the snow should be north of the Campsies and into Stirlingshire/the Trossachs. So there could be further snow for Glasgow and the surrounding regions and towns, but it doesn't seem favourable for accumilations given the heavier precipitation is further ne but I could be wrong. Temperatures tonight should be around -2 to 1C in most areas. And Tuesday is looking cold with maximum temperatures struggling to reach above freezing. A widespread air frost Tuesday night/Wednesday morning with temperatures possibly as low as -10C in the borders. The coldest temperature of this spell at Glasgow airport was -4C, we could go lower than that on Tuesday night and if we aren't going to get snow then we might aswell enjoy the low daily maximum and minimum temperatures. A slack easterly flow on Wednesday, lingering and localised ppn, a cold day is in store with possibly an ice day in many areas. A settled night to follow and possibly the coldest of the spell so far, minimum temperatures mostly below -3C and it could go as low as -12 to -14C in parts of the highlands - Braemar, Aboyne, Aviemore. Maybe another ice day for some places on Thursday but there could be some rain for the western isles. Thursday night could be another cold one with temperatures mostly below freezing but cloud cover should increase from the west with rain turning to snow for a while but much of it would be in western areas. Despite milder uppers, surface cold could remain on Friday. But there won't be much in the way of air frosts afterwards but in some sense the cold spell could continue into the weekend. So not much snow for us poor folks further west but there could be some promise for snow during the breakdown. The lack of significant snow is frustrating but I'm sure the cold, seasonal conditions and possibly very cold nights will cheer up those who have missed out on the white stuff. I am hoping that February delivers, this wasn't meant to be the main attraction so I'm putting my faith on the effects of the SSW on the troposphere resulting in another period of cold and hopefully snowy weather - once this cold spell is over then it's all eyes on the models to follow renewed HLB and hopefully indeed February turns out to be 'the main course'. If February delivers then this would end up as a special winter with decent cold and snowy periods in all three winter months, if it fails then it would end up being a decent winter, but a very frustrating affair for us further west with the best of the snow in early December (again!!!).

I give up.

Heavier snow now but there is no chance of it settling.

I am glad to hear it's improving for you and there is more hope for some but it will take a miracle for there to be lying snow here by the end of the day.

There was a covering of snow earlier in the morning so at least there was a lying snow day but that cover has all gone. It's still snowing so hardly a non-event but it has failed to bring a depth of snow of at least a cm that would stay on the ground for a while. The snow is too light and too wet to settle, nevertheless it's nice to see the snowfalling. I'm hoping for the temperature to drop and for the snow to get heavier this evening but I would bet against lying snow here. After that then I hope to enjoy the last few days of the cold spell, hoping for some snow in the coming days and fingers-crossed for a snowy breakdown. Then it's all up to whether we see heights over Greenland bringing a better spell for snow. If you've got snow today, enjoy it and I'm glad to hear that it's been a very good event for Catch.

lol. It's been impossible to do anything with a covering of snow flakes on roof tops. But if tonight delivers then inbetween my studying for prelims then I'll sure be out and about making the most of the snow. BBC has no snow for Glasgow but there are lots of conflicting forecasts so I think it will come down to nowcasting - unfortuantly there is fine line between snowmageddon, a covering and nothing west of Falkirk. Hopefully the latter is the end result but I'm certain that some of you in the east could have a spectacular event and please upload your pics if you are lucky enough to get absolutely pasted.

What are the chances of us further west joining in with the snowfest?

A cold, grey day here and I believe that there has been some snow flurries. Many areas will have a decent fall during the next 36hrs - it should snow here but the only concern is that the precipitation could end up being too light for a snowfest here - a snow depth of at least as cm is the threshold. Cold spell should last to Friday, but will the breakdown be pushed further back and could we start seeing even more impressive synoptics for snow and cold in the following week?

We've now completed a full week of the cold spell and are into the second week. Last Saturday saw SEly wind arrive. Saturday night into Sunday saw a front moving in from the north-west but it brought some wet snow to lower levels, much of the accumilations were on the high ground but briefly it was a bit of a winter wonderland here in the morning. But all in all that was a disapointing event followed by a band of rain that failed to turn to snow during the early hours of Monday. There was a little bit of snow in eastern areas during the week and some cold nights and a little bit of patchy light snow from a band moving in from the west around Thursday. The blizzard to finish the week failed as the band of precipitation failed to go beyond Dumfries and Galloway on Friday. But this was followed by impressive convective snow showers in eastern areas but the alignment of shower activity wasn't favourable for western and central parts and this has continued into Saturday. Some pleasant seasonal and crisp conditions here, some snowfalls here too and very decent snow further east. I suppose the only negatives is the last minute let-downs and how western and central areas have missed out on measurable snow depths, it's a pity that there hasn't been much lying snow here as it would have enhanced what has been pretty decent cold spell. I've not got too much time to analyse but Sunday should be a quiet and cold day with a risk of snow showers in the east. Eastern areas are favourable for the heaviest of the ppn of Monday - possibly falling as rain near the coast. For the snow starved Falkirkians etc there's a better chance of snow on Monday but it'll be a nervous affair, especially further west where the snow could end up to the east or the snow ends up on the light side. GFS 18z, different from previous runs so model variation continues but I'll focus on this run. After Monday's event we keep the easterly flow on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday night into Thursday, possibly another go at a frontal snowfall It stays marginal for Thursday into Friday but the cold spell continues. Followed by possibly another frontal snowfall on Friday It stays cold overnightb into Saturday - then we have the blizzard part 2 - Colder uppers hang onto north east areas the longest- here there is the greatest chance of this cold spell reaching the two week mark and possibly extending well into the third week. It's all guess work at this stage but if we keep the cold spell going through this week and into the weekend - possibly further snowfalls which would improve surface temperatures - then quite possibly it could merge with the possiblility of further cold conditions associated either with the Scandi high lasting into the following week and possibly a Greenie high - this would create one epic cold spell. But we've got a week of model watching to go, it'll be interesting to see how the models handle the breakdown as we could see it be pushed back further, we could see further potential snowfalls aswell. I said that this current cold spell is the starter, it could end up being the most notable of the cold spells but I believe that this cold spells has occured as a result of a transition of synoptics following the SSW. This 'starter' has been a lot more potent and longer than anticiptated. I still believe that we 'should' see the proper effects of the SSW resulting in more substantial HLB and I suppose as we go through this week, we'll learn about the sort of weather we'll experience during the first few days including possible snowfalls that aren't yet appearing on the models, and we'll also learn a bit more about what could follow.

Shows snow throughout Monday and into Tuesday for Glasgow. I know how you feel. Hopefully us snow starved kilters will be in luck within the next 48hrs. Also, good luck with the new home Catch!

vA Forth-Loch Fyne streamer

Even the Arrochar Alps have seen heavier and more precipitation.

It was nice to see some snow earlier which left some deposited flakes on car roof tops.I still Don't expect any lying snow by morning.

Other than the usual 4 flakes.

Well that's a start But the blasted snow shield is well and truly up and running for Dunbartonshire.

It looks like parts of the lothians are seeing some snow from quite a hefty shower. A straw to clutch but at least the NAE rain/snow chart shows something of interest for midnight. And with a bit of luck we'll see charts for Monday looking like this by Sunday night.