Avain

-6.7 here last night, incredibly cold for March!!

Although we have not had the snow (In the south at least) for as long as the 1963 winter, certainly we seem to have retained the cold for as long, I'm wondering what impact it will have on the Birds and Gardening etc, already Sand Martins have been seen here, but are there sufficient insects around to feed on? You get what your given with weather of course, but I will be glad when it starts to warm up a bit and not just for my own sake, although there is little sign of it happening on the current charts, though the 06z 180 GFS looks quite good, it's way off in the distance.

Was this 63? I think it might be. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00f2ksz/Snowdrift_at_Bleath_Gill/

What is a Euro High and it's significance?

The in depth discussion thread Here seems to feel that it is possibly not East that we ought to be looking but West, not for mild but cold, a while away yet but with more of an unsettled picture for us than a cold one for the short term. Considering the constant seesaw of the current model output it is certainly worthwhile reading the the thread to get a different perspective on the current situation.

I plan on traveling up to the midlands on Saturday using the M4 M50 route to Pershore and Evesham, anyone got a rough assessment on current conditions and likely road conditions for Saturday?

Hmm, the other day when the GFS 18z "pub run" (what does that mean? the forecast team went to the pub and got plastered?) came out and showed a warmer trend many of the cold lovers were decrying it and saying don't take any notice of the pub run, it's usually no good etc, but tonight, because it shows a colder aspect, it's suddenly got more respect than a hoodie with a tank? A certain lack of objectivity with the assessment of the models perhaps?

Thanks John, and Also Village Plank for your help. I did wonder if the chart referred to a division between the two pressure types but wondered why it was not on the 1000mb line as the natural/average sea level pressure, I am very well acquainted with the use of the 1013mb or 2992 inches in the USA as the standard altimeter setting above the transition level for various nations, so it is interesting to see it marked on the chart.

On this image of Sundays UKMO chart What is the significance of the black line that separates the blue isobars from the orange?

In keeping with what was predicted yesterday it snowed continuously here from 10 AM till 3:30PM mostly fairly heavy with largish flakes, yet even on top of existing snow only about a half inch accumulated, on clean areas such as roofs, branches etc, nothing remains. Unless the air on the incoming LP for Tue/Wed is a colder surely, Particularly as a lot of the air seems to be sourced more from the bay of Biscay rather than the continent, for this section of the country we are looking at a thaw rather than a freeze again? (I don't mind that, it would give the smaller country roads a chance to clear some.)

Temp got down to -11.9 here, just 3 miles from the west coast as the crow flies! I was expecting it to hit -12 but it never quite got there. Warming up now, -9.6.

I'm very much in the amateur section here, still, I'd be pretty surprised if we got anything but snow from the Sunday event given that is happens,and considering the fax and where the air is coming from, you could expect snow from that in a normal winter never mind an entirely sub zero European landmass that we have now. If I had to make a bet I would be putting the stake on the white stuff. (Of course, when cooking I put the white stuff on the steak!)

Here we got another good inch of snow in the early hours, the stream of cloud has drifted to the west now though. Temp was not as low as many, -5.7.

Pembs will get another lot from that tail that is out to the west, it looks like it is developing more as it progresses too. Actually snowing here now anyway!

Ian Fergusons post in This thread seems to show the band of ppn currently over the Isle of Wight region sweeping up and back into south wales with a ton of snow, tomorrow could be very different, Pembs could equally get a lot from the western flank.

The way it's moving at the moment it looks more like it will sink into Cornwall, the surface pressure charts seem to show a more southerly development for it later as well, with a stiff north easterly wind associated with it Wednesday Chart

Now it's reached us and is solid snow, i.e. not sleet.

The next lot has just started here and despite the temp being 2.2 and dropping as I type is falling as all snow this time, finer flakes too which I think indicates a slightly colder set up, a big patch heading this way in the next hour or so.

It's moving decidedly SE rather than south and the western arm is weakening as it moves right now, I doubt we'll see much from it.

It was always on the cards that this could fall asa sleet or even rain due to the warm air pocket associated with the front, the better chance of snow "proper" comes after the cold front with streamers off the sea. Sleet here right now OAT is 0.5 and yet there is a general thaw taking place. Not a huge amount of precip on the radar, unless it's very slow moving

Many thanks to you both, the explanations in the pdf were very helpful and BF's explanation with the excellent diagrams have certainly made it a lot clearer, I realise that there is much more to learn as John says it gets a lot more complex afterwards, but I do now have a much better grasp of what the chart is showing. It's great that you can get help like that. Many thanks again!