Spindrift2017

Finally managed out of doors this afternoon but didn't want to chance the Leadhills or Wanlockhead areas given the reports of vehicles stuck on the Dalveen Pass and deep snow. Had a wander around the Strathaven area, where there was a lot of melting and running water! Things were starting to look pretty green, particularly on south-facing areas . Later on, a heavy snow shower came on and things looked a bit more wintry. Just a wee bit short of the depths of snow found in Highland Perthshire and Braemar, mind you...

I think it’s the temperature as read by a thermometer with wet cloth wrapped on the bulb, and it therefore indicates the lowest temperature the air at any given time can potentially reach through evaporative cooling. But someone who really knows what they are talking about can correct or confirm this!

Looks like a nice day for the beach at Loch Morlich.

Another deluge of hail swirling around in the wind here in the Lanarkshire lowlands. It’s the only thing that’s properly turned the ground white, despite heavy snow showers on and off all day. I expect it will disappear again once the sun re-appears.

Thunder, lightning and a torrential deluge of hail a few minutes ago. There's a thin covering of white stuff but I think it might just be hail!

A few photos from this afternoon, taken at Glengavel, above Strathaven, just over 250 metres above sea-level. I wasn't able to get out until mid-afternoon, so thawing on the lower ground was well-advanced by the time, but there was plenty of wet snow around higher up. Felt pretty raw as there were showers of icy rain, sleet and one heavy burst of wet snow in the hour or so I spent there.

Looking wintry up at Leadhills this morning.

And people said I was wasting my time when I carried out these modifications to my old Fiat!...

Turned to heavy wet snow here, and all surfaces starting to turn white (at about 70 metres asl) Was very wet sleet on the car windscreen on the M74 near Uddingston, but suddenly turned to proper flakes in a heavy burst.

The photos below show the kind of visibility which could be 'enjoyed' in parts of rural Lanarkshire and Ayrshire this afternoon. Mist and moisture everywhere - it soaks you without the need for any rainfall. The lack of sunshine suppressed the temperature to about 7 to 8 degrees Celsius so not quite as mild as some places. Looks like back to a more mobile pattern fairly soon, and probably back on the cold side of the jet stream as next week progresses, but still very little chance of any low ground snowfall in the near future by the looks of things.

Fantastic winter light this weekend! Had a great walk in the Luss Hills on Saturday - not quite the deepest snow I've ever seen but I don't really mind as you can't argue with scenery like this.

Not the full picture though. The west has done pretty well from the recent Returning Polar Maritime airflow, which is never likely to deliver much for the Lecht given its location and comparatively low altitude. It has undeniably been a poor winter for snow and cold, and it might not last too long given the resurgent Euro Heights, but the west Highlands are looking pretty good at the moment.

Big flash of lightning just after my last post. Very unstable air mass!

Heard the thunder (actually, I felt it, as the ground seemed to shake). Wasn’t at the window to see the lightning.

Had a bit of an extended lunch-break to go on a snow-hunt today (one of the small pleasures of being self-employed!). South of about Lesmahagow there was a smattering on low ground, but decent-looking cover on the hills. Surprisingly dry and powdery as it turns out! Didn't have time to take a proper walk up Tinto, but went round to the quiet side of the hill on the back road to Wiston and spent an hour or so wandering up one rise which goes up to 400m or so a.s.l. and then down the other side. Back up the M74, and quickly back to bright sunshine and green fields after the monochrome world of the Southern Uplands!

Last time that gold-mine was prepared for opening in the 1990s, the gold price plummeted and all the equipment was left to lie around to rust for many years. The only gold-mine in Tyndrum since has been the Green Welly Stop - that must turn over a fortune as its mobbed on any half-decent day during the tourist season! If gold prices are economical this time, it could be good for the local economy, but I hope environmental controls are stringent, particularly as the gold companies have had their eyes on other hills in the area too (Beinn Udlaidh, etc).

It seems like the middle part of Winter in Scotland these days is often dominated by the kind of weather which is wintry at the highest altitudes only, with frequent thaws and rain to high levels. Although freeze-thaw cycles have been the default conditions on the Scottish hills well beyond living memory, it seems like we now often get wishy-washy December-type semi-wintry mountain weather in January, with any real persistent snowstorms and lower freezing levels pushed to late winter and early spring. That said, November was cold and snowy this year - the weather patterns seem even more unpredictable than they have been historically! Anyway, quite a nice day here today as long as you keep out of the wind - plenty of brightness. Yesterday was grim with relentless grey and pouring rain. The best day of the holidays for me was during the day on Hogmanay with the brief ridge of high pressure and the lingering frost. Burned off some excess Christmas calories by racking up a few miles on foot in the hinterlands of Ayrshire and Lanarkshire! A fine farewell to 2019! Happy New Year to all Scottish thread posters and visitors!

Yes, 18.3 on 26 January 2003 at Aboyne, and it snowed a few days later... Today was mild, sunny and windy in the central belt of Scotland - felt reminiscent of a late March day.

Worth noting in these setups that places like Cassley, Sutherland are actually further west than Exeter. 18.3 at Achnashellach in the north-west Highlands on 2nd December 1948 is another that jumps out from the daily maximum records list. http://www.torro.org.uk/hightempsyear.php#December Places in the north-east like Aboyne and Lossiemouth can get high temperatures from the Fohn effect too, mind you, being in the lee of the Cairngorms from a southerly/south-westerly.

^^ Great photos. Largo Law in the background of the bottom photo there - a pleasant short (and steep) hillwalk from Upper Largo, with great views along the Fife coast on a clear day.

Having consulted a map now, the second photo down in my post above is Stuc Odhar, not Ben A'an (638m high rather than the latter's 461m). Anyway, its a hill in the Trossachs with snow on it, which'll have less snow on it in a couple of days' time.

Made the most of a rare opportunity to get out midweek today for a walk in the Trossachs. Ben Ledi has a good coat of snow (at least until the milder weather arrives at the end of the week): Ben A'an has a decent snowy cap, despite its modest height: The River Teith is quite high, as it often is in winter, and low winter sunlight was catching the trees nicely: A view across Loch Venachar:

Some wintry scenes on the SAIS blog during the first few days of this year’s avalanche forecasting service! 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 continuing pilot period for the Torridon area

Might well have been hail or graupel. There was a torrential deluge of icy pellets rattling off the window here at about 1.30am. Made the ground white anyway, and some of it was still around this morning. Some slippery pavements and car parks this morning, with sleet and icy rain falling on frozen ground.

Not quite as dramatic as the winter of 1950/51, but managed a few photos of frosty Lanarkshire yesterday, before today's dreich greyness arrived.