Zerouali lives

This is my first post for a few days so I'll include yesterdays snow as well as today's. 8th Feb : Sleet shower at luch-time (80m) moderate/heavy snow shower at 1700 which left a slight cover, these snow showers continued from late evening onwards and awoke to an 'untidy', slight scoured covering of snow. 9th Feb : A few snow showers am, slow thaw but still light occasional graupel showers all afternoon. :wacko:

Indeed Mike- the stubborn high has meant many windless days, hower come the Spring I can assure you that the wind shall return - just like last April, May and even June - where there was a copious amount of strong northerlies during those months. Ah, nothing quite like getting a Northerly just when you like them!

Exactly - good point Shuggee - I was trying generalize to make my point more pungent. :huh:

Yes I agree that this Winter has been very unusual. November and December both below average??? And yet the ski resorts have barely opened in Scotland! The reason for this of course, is due to the persistance of High pressure over the British Isles - dry weather with cold nights and it's the nights that have really 'done the damage' with regards to below average temperatures. IMO, these below months give a very misleading picture. Incidently, it looks as if Aberdeen could experience a snow-free January...I wonder if that has ever happened before? January has been like a Spring month since the turn of the millenium it seems.

Wow - yes it's chillier in Aberdeen today but snow never came into my head as a possibility! :o Right enough though - Aberdeen = 5°, Lerwick 0° currently. -_-

I personally have not observed any wintry precipitation here in Aberdeen today but Weatheronline has reported 'Snowy rain' at 2050hrs. http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/cgi-bin/akt...x&SORT=2&INT=24

Well unfortunately I don't remember this snow event which is not like me. Just checked the archive and it shows the formation of nice Greenland HIGH setting up a week of cold conditions. My own city of Aberdeen must have received a decent covering, although, as I say I can't remember this event. I could be wrong, but did Rob McElwee do a lot of the BBC Weather Broadcasts prior to that Christmas? Also, the deep depression which swept in on the 31st could've been the one which absolutely soaked me that Hogmanay night out - heavy rain and very strong winds which fell as snow above 200m for a time. I remember an news incident which happened in Wanlockhead in Scotland just after New Year which showed pictures from the scene - the village was absolutely buried in snow! http://www.leadminingmuseum.co.uk/images/V...n_snow_2001.JPG

The Low on this chart produced hurricane force winds (74mph), with gusts of 108mph at Cromer for example - the highest recorded gust was 134mph at Lowther Hill, Strathclyde. An hour prior to this chart, every road out of Norwich was blocked by fallen trees and in Rugby, a large traffic sign was bent by the wind as if were cardboard! Altogether, damage over the country as a whole was estimated at £100 million, a high enough figure to knock quite a sum off the shares of insurance companies on the Stock Exchange. The depression produced a storm surge in the North Sea and by a stroke of luck, did not coincide with the high tide, even though the water remained above danger level for 6 hours. The improved sea defences helped and were not breached significantly apart from in Cleethorpes where over 100 homes had to be evacuated. This was my description of events in my 'What's the best chart ever' thread in the Sypnotic chart section. <_<

Got there before me Kincorth! Yeah best fall of snow this winter from 5am and is still currently falling - moderate snow - probably 2/3" here. An easterly has finally delivered! ...even though there's no wind! Just tested the snow, and it's powder snow!

Good timing! Very light snow now in Aberdeen sticking to all surfaces as the thawed hail showers of earlier has now frozen hard - temperature has dropped significantly since mid afternoon. To cold for hail now, hence the 'proper' snow.

Sounds pretty crazy on the Old Slug Road, Jamie. Only had 1 hail/snow grain (don't know the difference) shower in Aberdeen which has slowly thawed except on the grass. As per usual, an easterly is rubbish for Aberdeen.

Had sprinkling of soft snow grains this morning in Aberdeen which has stuck to the icy surfaces. -1°

With the way the models are shaping up for next week, it is now more important than ever for Europe turn as cold as possible.

Thanks for those replies TWS and Summer of 95. As you can see, the wind did veer more NW'ly on the 1st.

Although Christmas 1995 was regarded as very snowy period, New Years Eve 1994 and into 1995 has produced the biggest snow event I've ever seen in Aberdeen. I remember being at Pittodrie for an Aberdeen v Hearts game on the 31st and there was only a few light flurries at the match. In towards early evening there were a few passing blizzards until around 8.00pm, then I was indoors until 3.00am when I walked out folks' friend's house and there was several inches on the ground and snow was falling quite heavily with large flakes and there wasn't a puff of wind! I also remember feeling relatively 'warm' as the snow can act like a blanket I believe? Come New Years Day morning, there must have been close to 10" on the ground and I remember of more warnings of Blizzards affecting NE Scotland on Ceefax that morning. I wonder if anyone can remember this snowy New Year, in particular Thundery wintry showers for a Tyne and Wear perspective on conditions?

Thanks guys, I was especially looking forward to your reply, TWS, for an account of what happened in NE England - similar conditions but perhaps not as severe as NE Scotland. That 'prolonged snow shower' on Christmas Eve was probably the cold front (trough) which affected Aberdeen during the morning and deposited similar accumulations. Summer of 95, I guess I over-estimated the cold in Shropshire then! Although -9° is still fairly low. Robbie, I'd imagine -20° was an experience! I've certainly never been exposed to that kind of temperature before!

Thanks Summer - I would've thought Shrewsbury would have recorded some very cold night time temperatures around the 26th/27th, possibly getting towards the -20°C mark! And no, I'm not joking, as I'm sure Glasgow (similar shelter) got down to around that value as the Clyde froze over.

Recently, I was trying to re-live the run up to Christmas 1995 here in Aberdeen and I was wondering if anyone else could remember any details? So here's my account of what happened (this was 10 years ago so I may not be completely accurate):- Dec 23rd - I remember coming home that evening and the sky was virtually clear and therefore frosty. I think temperatures were scheduled to drop to around -6° in NE Scotland with a small trough (cold front) set to encroach from the NNW during morning hours. Dec 24th - Awoke in the morning to moderate snow (not a shower - probably the trough) in light/moderate WSW wind. Throughout the day and into the evening it remained very cold with occasional light flurries in the light WSW wind (strange for Aberdeen to get flurries with that wind direction?). Then suddenly, within a matter of seconds, probably around 10.00pm, the the wind then (backed or veered?) to a straight Gale force Northerly bringing very frequent heavy snow showers almost immediatly. I remember how fast the clouds were moving in a southerly direction - still to this day, i've never seen such a change in Weather conditions within the space of a few seconds. Dec 25th - Awoke about 8.00am and could barely see out my North facing window as it was plastered with snow (note it wasn't dry snow which blew around although it did lie everywhere). I remember watching a BBC forecast during the afternoon which showed a series of Lows pushing down the North Sea which produced heavy, prolonged snow showers which lasted about an hour! The Northerly lasted for the next few days after Christmas although I remember the Snow showers becoming more scattered and isolated as the days past. Overnight on the Boxing day into the 27th, Aberdeen recorded it's lowest ever temperature I believe, -16°C and our pipes froze! These are my recollections of that famous Christmas period and I was wondering if anyone else has vivid memories of it? PS Forgot to mention that Shetland was extremely badly affected during this snap, particularly by severe drifting and much of the island was cut off for days.

Moderate snow shower now in Aberdeen. Very cold - comfortably lying on all surfaces.

2" at Kildrummy (237m) Aberdeenshire - seemed to be the worst affected area between Aberdeen and Braemar this morning. Very little snow from Ballater westwards, too much shelter. No snow lyingg in Aberdeen City just yet - slight covering at Hazlehead though.

Yeah moderate rain now in Aberdeen, must be the cold front heading south. The enevitable high temperatues which normally preceed colder weather should decrease from now on although it is currently a balmy 11° with a strong W wind.

3° Viking? Can be far away from sleet now then, the cold air seems to be digging in earlier than i thought.

February 1978 Towards the end of the first week of the month, pressure started to build across Scandinavia, and as a result, much of Britain became chilled in an easterly polar continental influence. By the 10th, snow showers were widespread except for sheltered north-western areas - both Edinburgh and Durham had reported a foot of snow by the 11th. But it was into the 2nd half of the month when things began to get serious, particularly in the south-west. On the 15th and 16th heavy snow affected Plymouth and on the 17th, parts of Dorset had received as much as 18" of snow. However, conditions were to worsen as an intense Atlantic depression deepened as it approached the south-west causing a severe blizzard upon landfall. Very cold continental air seperated much warmer air to the south of the low which became very slow moving creating enormous drifts driven on by a gale-force winds. Worst affected areas ranged from the Mendips and Dorset in the East to Dartmoor, Barnstaple and South Wales in the west. Snowfall also extended along the South Downs, Cotswolds and parts of Wiltshire. Surprisingly, Farnham, Swindon and Gloucester had no snow at all from the 'South-West Blizzard'. 'South West Blizzard' Snow Depths : Upland Devon - > 24" Exeter, Taunton, Minhead, Dorchester, Bridgend - > 12" Salisbury, Bristol, Cardiff - > 5"

1962-63 On December 23rd, cold, polar continental air began to flood Southern England and within days many parts had over 12" of snow from a trough moving south across the UK (26th Dec) with Arctic air replacing the Continental influence. However, it wouldn't be long before an easterly re-established itself with severe blizzards affecting the south brought on by a northward tracking trough from the Channel. Fine, powdery snow created huge drifts in the gale-force wind, isolating many villages and making many roads impassable, especially across Exmoor and Dartmoor. As January commenced it wasn't snow causing havoc but freezing rain as weather systems started to encroach from the south-west, deperately trying to introduce some milder air which was all in vain as the stronger colder air pushed back the mild conditions bringing heavy snowfalls as the warm fronts retreated. The next fortnight brought only minor snow events before more snow and gales spread across the country on the 19th follwed once more by freezing rain which fell on top of lying snow. By the end of January Tredegar at the head of the South Wales valley's recorded 40" of snow whilst Sea ice began to form in Whitstable harbour, Kent. On the 4th of February, a slow moving depression to the west of Ireland dumped 20" of level snow in Belfast. The first 2 weeks of this month actually produced the worst blizzards of the winter, with prolonged outbreaks of snow again cutting off towns and villages in the moors, some for the 10th time since Christmas. In between snow events, there were many examples of fresh snow falling onto dirty, old snow such was the lack of thaw activity throughout the month - it was possible to estimate the number of snowfalls by counting the dirt lines in a snow section! Unlike 1947 when heavy rains coincided with the thaw, this severe winter ended with a spell of crisp bright sunshine, so there was no serious flooding when heavy rain eventually did arrive on the 6th of March.

16th February 1929 A small track on the South-East fringe of Dartmoor to the west of Holne Chase had an incredible 6 feet of snow in 15 hours without any drifting .Yes it's true! Like a cloudburst of snow - eyewitnesses describe it as coming down as if it were 'shovelled'. This was probably the deepest fall of snow ever measured in a single day's storm in the British Isles at as low an elevation 300m.