Joe Snow

A foul start to meteorological Spring this morning heavy cold rain but a better core of the day than expected with a brighter clearance, even some brief spells of sunshine & the odd shower. Cold out of the sun & in the wind.

Dark Horse Yeah even slightly more elevated lower levels like yourself don’t look likely to see much - higher parts of Gtr MCR, towns like Macclesfield down to Stoke etc... all seeing more than likely sleety rain. Plain cold rain here at 65m asl! ️

Buxton Weather Watch going for a few cm of snow there and over the higher Peaks tomorrow - Buxton was one of the few areas that did well out of the last battleground event. MO maybe waiting for precipitation to arrive before issuing a hill snow warning stranger things have happened Might see some sleet but not expecting much here other than cold rain on the Cheshire Plain tbh.

Day 10 Would be great to see a 10th Mar 2023 repeat its similar timing wise too with sleet turning to wet snow giving a 2cm covering here last year. We were burnt by the charts the other week so can’t see it being more than sleet away from high ground but would love to be proved wrong -a final covering no matter how brief would be a nice end to Winter

Iceaxecrampon That’s low level cold sleety rain in early March that sadly memories are still fresh of that hideous Thursday supposed snow-rain event a few weeks back that looked a wet snow fest a few days out but was cold rain for the majority away from Buxton and East of the Pennines. High ground again could catch a few flakes though I suppose. Heavy showery outbreaks of rain here the last hour, chilly too roll on Spring proper now

Nice sunny frosty start got down to -1c overnight. The first proper frost of February 2024 locally.

Here comes the rain again... Torrential squall line went through around 4-4:30am a drier slot between 8 & 11 even a brief spell of brightness but yet more heavy showery rain setting in now ️

Tomorrow morning at least looks a wet affair heavy potentially squally rain moving through, heavy showers following marking the transition to a more seasonal feel to the weather to end February into March. Early March can be particularly chilly, showery & bleak despite the lengthening days.

Dark Horse Summers are definitely becoming more extreme Manchester’s average hottest day of the year used to be 27-28c now it’s probably close to 30-31c. 2022 was extreme but we have a tendency to develop more easily these 1-2 day hot plumes even within fairly mediocre summers - late July 2019 & early July 2015 for example. A warmer than average summer looking likely for this year too.

A Face like Thunder Too many mild/ very mild days to mention this past few weeks sadly. It's a shame as early-mid Feb given the right conditions can be dry, crisp and frosty with brighter mornings than the gloom of Dec/Jan but still feeling like winter sadly not so under the SW'ly mild muck fest and false Spring of recent weeks.

Winter 2023/24 stats so far for Sandbach, SE Cheshire, 65m asl Lowest overnight temp Dec: -5c (2/12/23) Jan: -8c (18/1/24) Highest daytime temp: 15.5c (14/2/24) Lowest Daytime Temp: 2c (18/1/24) Ice Days: 0 Highest snow depth Dec: 5cm overnight 2-3rd Dec Jan: 2.5cm 16th Jan Feb: 0cm Falling snow days: 4 Frost Days: 10 Highest Wind Gust: 60mph I haven’t been able to measure rainfall but safe to say it’s been very wet even for a NW England Winter, following on from a wet autumn and mid- late summer. Cheshire normally sees some shelter from the Welsh Hills but not so much this winter, persistently wet & at times stormy with brief but fairly potent cold snaps. February is looking notably mild even if we do dip slightly below average to end the month. So much for a back loaded Winter This Winter more than most has trolled us all I think so many background signals & favourable set ups that have been watered down or just not materialised at all. It’ll be interesting to see if Iberian heights see us under a hot plume again this summer a scorching 37c back in 2022 will take some beating or will it?

tricol It’s been rubbish S Cheshire way hasn’t it... moderate-heavy rain throughout late afternoon & the evening yesterday - got woke up around 4am to a torrential burst of rain hammering the window. A familiar sound this winter. Early March maybe chilly but really hope we get a half decent Spring & early Summer as mid-late Summer is never reliably dry for the NW England even in a warm summer year.

Morning all a drier start down S Cheshire way this morning but not by much, v mild but with yet more rain due from around mid afternoon ️ In total contrast to the East coast of the states where DC to NYC are being blanketed by another few inches of snow on top of an earlier Winter Storm that impacted the region this week. Areas right on the coast such as Atlantic City, NJ seeing decent accumulation. They’ve had a much more winter like winter this year compared to last year that was snowless for many of those areas.

Got caught in a odd spell of soaking drizzly rain coming home tonight, nothing on the radar though. Chatting to a friend on the east coast/ mid Atlantic of the USA (Delaware) so by no means the colder, snowier New England States N/ NE of New York - they are expecting a few inches of wet snow tonight and quite often see despite their coastal location and similar daytime winter averages close to 6-8c, battleground snow events that dump 4-6+ inches of snow quite widely. In NW England that would most definitely be cold rain/ sleet on the hills maybe a few flakes over Buxton!

Some brightness peaking through this morning, mild, ground soaking wet from recent rainfall. It’s a month since we had the mini January freeze a smattering of snow, cold days, hard frost & sub zero -8c nights. It seems a world away now, early signs of Spring are all around but Spring proper doesn’t really get started till late March so a good 4-5 weeks of transitional weather yet - even good Springs like the lockdown Spring of 2020 didn’t really get started till mid March. This Winter has been a 6/10 winter for me - not a total bust but less than promised given the background set up for sure, we’ve eaten well off the scraps it’s thrown us as a region with snowfall albeit brief in both Dec & Jan with sub zero minima, no chance of a dry winter though with storms and soaking rains adding to the wet summer & Autumn totals.

More early April feeling than mid Feb today. Some brightness earlier but standard Winter SW’ly very mild drizzly murk this afternoon 15.5c the high - maybe a date record breaker?

It’s felt v mild here in S Cheshire today, dry for the most part but with moderate rain moving in from around 16:30 - 14-15c maybe even a localised 16c at somewhere like Hawarden looking possible tomorrow. As for late month into early March chilly with a chance of wintry showers comes to mind looking at the current output.

cheshire snow Let’s face it it’s going to be cold sleety rain Wake me up if it starts snowing or Spring properly arrives though

A Face like Thunder Yeah wind chill in London was something else too never felt so bitter it was like walking through Moscow where I was in the N London suburbs we had 6-10cm overnight on the 27th into the 28th from heavy snow showers piling in from the Thames Estuary - the 28th Feb 18 started sunny but by mid morning a brief but blizzard like snow squall very much like up north dumped a lot of snow in a short space of time followed by the tail end of Storm Emma on the 1st/2nd March that added a few more cm on top. London & the SE didn’t have as good a mid March mini beast as up here but I’m glad S Cheshire didn’t miss out on the fun & games. Think it’ll be a while till we see a beast on that magnitude & intensity again.

Fog has lifted and some brief spells brightness now peaking through the clouds. Off out for a long walk with the dog this afternoon so hope it stays dry at least. Out of interest (and because I’m sad ) I wanted to see what the 2018 BFTE was like here in S Cheshire as I was in London for the beast and easterlies although cold always tend to be not the best for low level NW England snow chances. I took a look on a few local pages for pics and it didn’t disappoint however - the pics are of Sandbach from the 28th Feb 2018 where heavy snow showers on the 27th were followed by a brief but intense very heavy snow squall & whiteout on the 28th.

Foggy 🌫 Damp, 4c here in S Cheshire this morning.

The core 8 weeks of ‘peak winter’ for me is mid December around the Winter solstice to mid Feb. March like last year & 2018 can still deliver as can late Feb but aside from a BFTE scenario it’s often watered down winter conditions where you’ll struggle to get ice days and any long lasting snow cover to low levels - it’s hard enough in peak winter these days anyway Winter might not be done with us yet but Spring will be creeping up on us soon.

Foul day on the Cheshire Plain basically a colder version of Tuesday’s washout sleety rain this AM then just heavy rain easing off this afternoon, dry now. A bitter feeling E wind. So near yet so far as you can see a wet covering of snow on hills to the East & a dusting to local high points like Mow Cop on the Cheshire East/ N Staffs border, Stoke on Trent unusually not seeing any snow though. It’s been a bust for lower level NW England really rain-snow battleground events can deliver like Storm Christoph. Snow-rain tend to be just sleety rain at this altitude.

Definitely more marginal than even the most conservative of forecasts - sleety rain in Sandbach, just plain cold rain in Crewe just 10m lower in elevation.

severe snowstorm Schools closed in anticipation of heavy snow & an Amber warning in NE Wales too - MO will face a lot of slack if it turns out to be a bit of heavy sleety rain for the majority especially with the likes of Saltney, Connahs Quay & Deeside on the Cheshire West/ Flintshire border seeing their schools closed when they might just see sleet or rain at their elevation. It also dents confidence in the MO so when a big snowfall/ storm etc... happens Joe Public takes no notice.