Zerouali lives

You remember that! I thought only I would remember a night like that. It was very exciting watching the mass yellow blob coming in from the North Sea and temperatures were sub zero so we knew it would snow and lie. Started about 9pm until midnight and deposited around 6 - 8".

A graupel (snow grain) shower here in Westhill, Aberdeenshire (112m) at 10am this morning which left roads and pavements white for an hour, clear again now.

What's everyone's guess for the lowest temperature of the cold spell? I think -20 around Shawbury could be possible towards next weekend...

The real cold won't arrive until after midweek anyway, not sure how well Aberdeen will fare though, Westhill will do better where I work

Just about to say - I went outside before the showers arrived and experience told me they would be rain - it's not nearly cold enough out there for snow at the moment, definitely a warm sea influence today. Surprised its rain at Oldmeldrum though

The question is whether those showers coming into the east coast will be rain or snow...

temp is Aboyne has dropped from 5.5 to 2.0 degress in an hour!

Temperature nearly doubled since early morning in the NE - hope this doesn't dash the snow chances for this afternoon...

Is that a cold core low over the UK at T150 on the GFS 06z with a more southerly tracking jet?

Well the snow level for lying snow is at least 100m at the moment as there is still bits of snow lying from a shower at 8.30am this morning and by the looks of things even colder will be digging in through the rest of the afternoon and evening in behind that trough. I expect snow in Aberdeen around late afternoon

Just had a 10 minute snow shower in Westhill - just west of Aberdeen (110m), lying in places.

A southerly tracking jet by 240 hours - maybe some light at the end of the tunnel

The straw clutching seemed to be based around a ridging Azores high giving a northerly outbreak if the PV weakens. I assume there's absolutely not evidence of High pressure building out to the east and north east of us then? All cold potential seems to be pointing towards a northerly as opposed to an easterly...? For Aberdeen, I'm hoping for pressure rises around Greenland for a March 2006 scenario but that about a 20/1 shot for this winter I'd say.

A brief snow shower just passed in Westhill Surprising how many showers are getting across to the Aberdeenshire area in a WNW airflow. They just seem to be bulldozing their way over the Cairngorms only losing a bit of intensity

Cold rain / sleet here in Westhill (110m) 10 miles west of Aberdeen.

Yeah we've barely had any cloud in the past 2 days nevermind snow. Just too much of a westerly component for us. I did see a car with a dusting of snow on it an hour ago though.

Mount Keen is visible from my office in Westhill just west of Aberdeen and it covered in snow today. Hard to tell what the actual snowline is though - this is the most easterly Munro at 939m...at a guess I'd say between 800-850m I know it's not a settlement, just an observation!

Looking at the latest rainfall radar, heavy precipitation seems to be merging around the Nevis / Glencoe area. In addition to the strong NW'ly wind as Firefly mentions above, I think there's a fair chance lasting snow for the winter has arrived here meaning Ob Gully, Point 5, Beag and probably Coasters Cave are home and dry... Here is summit of Meall a' Bhuiridh 3600' (1st image) which is right in the middle of the firing zone http://www.glencoemo...uk/webcams.html

The patches will get a fresh covering Thursday / Friday but I don't think this will be lasting snows.

Firefly Do you know if there is a book on the history of snow patch survival in the Highlands? Something's telling me Adam Watson has detailed reports going back several years although I could be wrong... I follow the thread on Winterhighland with great interest. Cheers

Prime snowpatch retention conditions for the Summer and Autumn ahead in the next 2 days - those north-east facing gullies in Obersevatory gully and Aonach Mor /Beag will be filling up like hell!

So can we now say with some confidence that some major cities WON'T have a white Christmas? I'm thinking about putting on a considerable bet for some places NOT to have a white Christmas as the bookies are giving decent odds as they are still caught up in all the hype. Here are the odds FOR a white Chrismas - odds for no white Christmas will still be quite similar http://sports.williamhill.com/bet/en-gb/betting/e/1463417/Snow-On-Christmas-Day.html

Coire Cas still looking decent - it'll be close if it makes it into September which would be incredible.

So I'd imagine we would of had some really low surviving patches after the 1951 winter?

I visit Braemar every year for an annual golf tournament (first Saturday in July) and noticed more snow patches on surrounding hills than in recent years. There were 5 small south facing patches on a mountain to the North - I've checked these on a map and I think it could be either Carn Liath ot Culardoch and I've never seen snow visible on them before from the golf course and this time of year. I did see a few patches on the east face of Lochnager as I was driving out (what a dramatic looking mountain it looks from the A93 near Crathie!) Beinn a Bhuird seemed to have it's usual amount on it's south east facing slopes. Perhaps Firefly could educate me on more of the above??? I would be intersted to know if snow has ever survived on Lochnager through to the following winter? Keeping a close eye on the threads on WinterHighland which are excellent