Spindrift2017

Yes, just came on to here to check whether anyone else had thunder! Had a rumble just there.

They managed to dig out the Glenshee road this morning with the use of some heavy plant, apparently. It happened some time on Saturday (the first pic shows the slope which avalanched) and the second shows the newly cleared road (photo from SAIS).

For those not yet suffering snow pic fatigue, a few from Friday morning! One more cold day for now - I should've kept track of how many days of lying snow there've been in these parts this year. I reckon more than 20 - tomorrow might be about 23 - on the basis of the Met Office's '50% of the ground covered at 9am' test. Remarkable for this location, particularly nowadays, but many of you are going to have had many times more than this, with quite possibly more to come later this month.

I suspect estates in the west have been taking advantage of the dry conditions to burn off heather for ‘land management’, ie. grouse-shooting purposes. The Muirburn season was suspended last year, I believe, during the lockdown, but is open at the moment, as far as I know. I believe mistyqueen, or possibly another Highlands and Islands poster mentioned it a few pages back in this thread.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/library-and-archive/archive-hidden-treasures/monthly-weather-reports The Met Office has -16.4C at Lagganlia (in Glen Feshie, on the west side of the Cairngorms) on 9 Feb 1979, and -17.7C, also at Lagganlia, on 15 Feb 1985, so last night was easily lower. I think I read or heard somewhere that it has been confirmed as the lowest Feb temperature since 1955.

I think there’s quite a detailed explanation of the topographical reasons why it can record temperatures several degrees lower than places just a few miles away in this article (or possibly another one). Basically due to being in a frost hollow, but a bit more complicated than that, IIRC. Unfortunately, you can only access the article if you have access or a subscription, but maybe someone on here has. https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.1477-8696.1997.tb06294.x

Looks like we peaked at about 9-10 cm here by this morning, where the snow hasn't been tramped down. A piddling amount compared to some, but not bad for this low-lying location, and bonus points for being nice dry, powdery snow.

The blob has arrived in the ‘Well!

Expressing a longing for Motherwell while living in Edinburgh is quite an unusual sentiment. Heavy snow shower on at the moment

A relatively modest snowfall here (about 4-5cm), but still feels like a proper winter's day, with more showers now and then. Quite a change from yesterday - photos from almost the same spot yesterday afternoon and this morning: The odd glimmer of sunshine too, and a tiny snowman waiting for a bus!

I would like it to go a slight bit south, as it feels as we keep catching the very edge of these showers - at least there’ve been a few and the grass isn’t showing through any more.

Some tiny flakes blowing around in the wind here too. Am hopeful we’ll get a covering of some kind here eventually, although (as others have mentioned) I think the Kilsyth-Cumbernauld-Denny kind of area is more favoured in this kind of set-up, as far as the central belt is concerned.

If you managed to make it to the top of the hill, there are some handy drink-stirrers available on the outside of the Glenshee ski buildings (photo lifted from the SAIS blog, as usual SAIS Southern Cairngorms Blog SCAIRNGORMSBLOG.SAIS.GOV.UK )

Is that a phone being thrown out of the pram along with the toys? Some life weans have nowadays!

The higher ground (150m or so ASL) I can see out my window is starting to turn white (the top part of Hamilton and the Glassford/Stonehouse neck of the woods) but still just wet ground here, despite a heavier burst or two. I have my desk set up looking out the window so I can distract myself from work by checking out the weather situation

Light snow falling but not lying here.

Nae snaw in these parts at the moment, although the first pic below shows that there seemed to be something wintry falling over the Motherwell/Wishaw area when I was out for a walk earlier - from catching the edge of it there seemed to be some snow grains or graupel/soft hail. A very pleasant, bright afternoon for a walk though.

This was as good as it got in Lanarkshire today - this was at about 150m asl. Down here in the Clyde valley, it was equally dreich, but without the smattering of wet snow

Will certainly be drifts metres deep in places. The high winds at altitude tend to redistribute snow, leaving some areas scoured of snow cover and others with deep cover, with a lot of snow drifting into sheltered hollows and gullies. The various SAIS blogs should give some idea. SAIS Northern Cairngorms Blog NCAIRNGORMSBLOG.SAIS.GOV.UK

Yes, when a flow of air is forced up over high ground (‘orographic lift’), it cools and moisture condenses into precipitation (in winter, sometimes, snow) which falls on the high ground, and then the air warms and dries on its descent towards lower ground, making it less likely to rain/snow on the sheltered side. It’s the same reason direct northerlies rarely bring much snow to the central belt (without other factors coming into play), but precipitation can pep up again over the Southern Uplands/Pennines. No snow of note from any direction here recently, but a lovely frosty morning.

Having barely left the house in days, and having woken this morning to a rather feeble smattering of slush which quickly vanished, I eventually managed to get out this afternoon and find some North Lanarkshire snow, at the Lilly Loch, just east of Airdrie. A slow thaw was well under way by then, but I still enjoyed walking for an hour or so in a few centimeters of rather wet snow Brightened up nicely in late afternoon, and it was noticeable how much lighter at seemed at 3.30pm or so than it did a month or so ago. The days are stretching!

Classic lowland Scottish winter weather of slush on car windscreens and wheelie bin lids here . Wet snow and sleet falling quite steadily but just the wrong side of marginal. A good night for indoors!

BBC TV forecast earlier was bullish about snow ‘even down to sea level’ although, of course, their forecasts are now provided by Meteogroup (not sure which models they favour) rather than the Met Office.

I was just thinking that earlier, as I usually like to keep an eye on the SAIS avalanche reports and blogs for snow conditions in the hills, even though I am, of course, restricted to the mighty peaks of North Lanarkshire (plus 5 mile permitted exercise zone!) for now. These guys are still going out for the benefit of those who might be able to go out in the hills to some extent. Some stunning images, like the one below from the Lochaber blog (Aonach Mor, I think). The cover generally looks good in terms of percentage of ground covered, and probably more even than usual, with the lack of big Atlantic storms that usually leave some areas with heavy drifting and others wind-scoured. The snow profiles taken at Lochaber and Cairngorms both have depths of 120cm, and I believe they are chosen as representative sites in terms of drift depths. Scottish Avalanche Information Service | Avalanche Reports for the Scottish Mountains WWW.SAIS.GOV.UK The SAIS publish daily reports of observed and forecast, avalanche, snow, and mountain conditions for the 5 most popular mountain areas of Scotland, with a...

A female bullfinch in the frozen weeds is the best I can do (taken just before New Year).