mikeocarroll

Yes I posted "mild for the forseeable" just before the models did their mighty flop last week and started showing the coming cold weather. Just goes to show that the "foreseeable" isn't very far ahead in forecasting terms.

Been away all week so no idea if we had any thunder in this part of the world, but what has struck me this week is how warm the nights have been, it hasn't dipped below 10c so far this month and the last two nights have had a min of over 15c, which I would consider warm in August, let alone October. Mild weather looks set to continue for the forseeable and it is a real boost not to be spending anything on heating at the moment. Having said that I would be disappointed if we don't start to get some frosts etc towards the end of the month.

Yes the second half of Sept has been a real boost not having to have the heating on in the hotel here, some really mild nights (min of 15.5c on the 22nd, but still a pretty decent 10.3c last night). Personally I'd prefer if it stays that way through Oct and then goes cold from November onwards. First frost is always exciting though, has been mid-Oct here the last 2 years, wouldn't be surprised if we had the same again.

11.4c please.

I don't know about the winter, but the second half of this month is looking like it will turn hot and sunny, which will be a positive in my opinion after the cold and wet weather of the last few days. Be nice (and cheap) to have the heating off until a bit later into the autumn. Winter will come in its own good time, whether cold or mild we will just have to wait and see.

Pleasant weather here again today, there've been a few occassions this summer when we've had better weather over here than they've had in (eastern) England. Looks like ending with a wet and windy interruption come Sunday: That'd be interesting in the middle of winter. Very autumnal nevertheless.

Could be another cold night tonight if the skies stay clear, close to freezing possible in some places. Otherwise some pleasant weather to look forward to over the coming days, nice and settled but not too hot.

A frost here last night as well, -0.9c. Frost is unusual but not unheard of in the last week of May, incredibly frosts have been recorded in Wales in every month of the year, with -4.0c in St Harmon on 8th June 1985. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/extremes/monthly_temperature_country.html#lowest_daily_minimum_wales I've been really busy at work this month so haven't been posting, but has been a really interesting month. Another cold one (my CET guess of 10.5c looks like it could be bang on the money), we had a fair bit of snow on the hills on the night of 14th May. Was snowing down to about 300m when I drove back from Aber that night but I don't think we had any snow or sleet down here in the environs of Llandrindod. Frustrating I wasn't around during the heaviest precip so I couldn't observe. 21mm of rain that night though is a lot for here. Enjoying the sunshine this weekend, looks like a bit of a dodgy week but then some hints of high pressure returning next weekend. Has been a fairly dry spring overall.

I'll go 16.4, got to be a warm month eventually!

Just scraped another air frost here last night (-0.2c). Wouldn't be surprised if the mountain tops in Snowdonia and possibly even the Brecons have a touch of white on them from wintry showers overnight.

A cool 10.5C. I'm giving up hope of seeing a return to above average temperatures!

17.9C! Come on, that's more like it. Now how many weeks until we get this warm again?

So when do we think summer will arrive? (1st June I suppose :-)) Still the trees aren't in bloom here yet and the daffs are still going strong. Tomorrow might be a nive day if the sky clears, but looks like getting colder again come the weekend. More frosts perhaps? 77 air frosts here so far in autumn-winter-spring period, would still not be surprised to see that get to 80.

A real blow here tonight, windows a-rattling. Happy to be indoors!

Yes 11.4c min here last night, pity it wasn't much warmer than that during the day. Pretty windy too last night, blew over a couple of bushes. Only 12mm rain in the last 24 hours but seemed a lot more in the strong wind, was big droplets too at times so very loud on the roof and windows.

Pretty dry ground here too, much drier than last summer at any rate. Wouldn't be surprised to see the east of England moving into drought conditions if this keeps up. Wales will still have plenty of water though! Some hail in heavy showers this morning, but no thunder here. Still a fair few snow patches on the hills, the deep drifting and frequent freeze-thaw have made the snow rather persistent, similar to the conditions that allow snow patches to remain on some Scottish mountains all summer long. Not that these will last into summer but the odd patch could easily make another couple of weeks even if the weather heats up. Speaking of which, both ECM and GFS tonight suggest a blob of high pressure over us at some point later next week, could get nice and warm if the sun comes out. 20C perhaps? I'd settle for the first 15c of the year.

Might get to double figures in the sunshine. Would be the first time in almost a month - it'll seem warm when (if!) we return to seasonally average temperatures. Heating bills for the last 6 months have been ridiculous, all months below average some significantly so.

Finally dug out the photos from last weekend. It's hard to give any sense of perspective as to how deep the snow was, but the fence posts in the first picture are 1 metre so you can see that those drifts are 90cm+. I would imagine most the snow is still there. Still the odd patch of snow persisting down here, temp was -4.9c last night almost exactly the same as the nigh before. The 68th frost of the autumn-winter-spring period, would expect a few more yet, might get to 80.

Didn't get above 5c here today, snowcover has all gone from down in the valley here (except for the odd persistent patch), but still plenty on the surrounding hills. March has seen an incredible 11 days of snow falling here, and 4 days of snow lying > 50% at 9.00am.

8.7c

I've only spotted one solitary snow plough here in Powys all winter, they seem to be an endangered species in Wales. In strong winds such as the last few days, following heavy snowfall, roads can only be kept safe through constant ploughing. I understand the argument that heavy snow is rare in Wales, so investment in snow clearing equipment would be infficient expenditure, but actually I think given the huge impact that snow in fact has on the economy then I think more consideration should be given to lessening its effects. How many times do we here "economic growth in the last quarter was lower than expected to the severe weather conditions", seems to be pretty much every year. If the whole UK GDP is being reduced by even 0.1% anually due to snow, think how many billions of pounds that amounts to As a small business owner I can testify that any snowfall has a damaging effect on my business. I love snow but I really do think we should be more prepared for it, both individually and governmentally, and investing in some snow ploughs would be a decent start!

Lake Vyrnwy had a max of -3.3c yesterday. Surely a record for this time of year?

I knew deep snow wasn't far away, drove up to Radnor Forest, about 20 miles north of here, and the A44 east of Crossgates is lethal with drifting snow taking it down to a single carriageway in several places, lots of bits and pieces of cars left lying around as well. Then went for a walk up the top and the snow depth was incredible, 50cm lying and drifts of 1m+. Will post photos tomorrow because I can't find my camera cable at the moment and I'm too exhausted to look for it. Walking in that snow depth more or less impossible I resorted to crawling across the top. Still snow cover here but down to about 3-4cm. Max today on -0.4c, incredibly low for 24th March. Was18c on 24 March 2012.

About 6-7cm here overnight and snowing moderately. That picture Hywel is insane, when did we last see snow that deep in Wales, let alone in March?

Moderate snow here now. Settling but not all that well, not on the road.