Northernlights

Fine day today with no wind and sunny periods. Currently 3.5c Yesterday however started with a dawn frost that must have produced a lot of black ice because wherever I went in the afternoon there were abandoned cars through fences, in ditches or hedges. I remember a time when the councils started treating the roads at 6.00am but today we are lucky if we see them by 11.00am by which time the going too fast commuter traffic has left the road!!!

Just the same here quite a few branches down. Cooler at 4c Having a discussion with neighbours about schools closing in bad weather and pointed out that all the transport needed today needs clear roads without snow,ice or branches.In my fathers day they never missed school because of bad weather as they were all over the countryside well within walking distance. In our case I went to the local school at the end of the farm road half a mile away for the last six weeks before it closed in the early sixties. It had a role of 88 just after the second world war.

I meant to add that it was bliss to walk around on hard dry surfaces last week in spite of the ice.

Yes the mud is back with a vengence thats almost six months in the wellies .Oh for a droughty summer! Currently wet and 7c

Yes there is something different about this winter and this last very wintry week .The main point being that the cold came in on a westerly wind giving powder snow showers, ice days ,thundersnow in the west, fantastic arctic skies and cloudscapes and to top it all today quite a few areas of purple freezing rain on the radar. Its still only 1.5c here with extremely icy surfaces. A couple of reasons possibly are the very meridional jet stream and my own strong belief that a quieter sun is having an effect too driving the jetstream on a more southerly route.

Temperature back down to 0.5c with strong SE wind still blowing. See the radar has freezing rain to my west on it never seen the purple colour before so another first for this spell of west wind snow. All in all proper winter weather It"ll be interesting to see how mild it gets tonight I reckon it will stay fairly cold overnight especially if the cloud clears.as its mid winter and the ground is very cold.

Just been round wintering sheep to check and count in a strong SE wind and watched snow come at us from all points of the compass to develop into a mini blizzrard with the temperture falling from 2c to 1c. Snow blowing cross all the fields now but snowfall intensity has eased a lot

Front moving NE but can see it meeting bit of resistance as it appears to have cloud moving NW on its edge as it meets the cold air with the strong SE wind.Have seen this in the past where it was supposed to move through quickly only to slow up and coldish air hangs on for another day or so. Still 0c and can still see snow showers way out over the North Sea on the horizon

"Sublimation "in a word when water in its solid state ice or snow goes straight to its gaseous state bypassing the liquid state (water) .It happens when tempertures and humidities are very low which happen much more in late winter especially February and March.You can see the effect on the roads when even if the banks have snowcover the road surface becomes bone dry.If this goes on for a few days even the banks of snow start to evaporate into the air. Farmers love this effect as the ground is left dry ready for spring sowing. For instance this morning the RH is 20% so plenty of space for water vapour and our thin snow cover has been shrinking every day too. Currently overcast and -2c with a low of -5c overnight

After two dry cold days it seems there are some small snow showers heading towards us from the NW on the radar. Lost count of the number of times over the years we have a last minute snowfall just as it is about to get a bit milder. Currently 0c so temperature slightly up so there coud be a little snow on the way.

Well thats another sunny ice day with a maximum of -0.5c.I think this about the fifth ice day this winter so far. Some marvellous cloudscapes today again to the north and east. The ones to the east I have heard descibed as "Buchan Boaters" as they come on to the Buchan coast off the Firth . It seems that it will become less cold next week but on our local forecast but there will still be a risk of a ground frost most nights except Tuesday/Wednesday night and snow showers and an air frost return on Friday. Winter is not over yet and it seems this winter the milder spells get shortened every time they try to take hold.

Another fine frosty start to the day at -3c Snow showers to the north again. A bit of spring light starting to show giving these amazing colours. Slight change of wind sending showers in the North Sea onto the Abedeenshire Coast.Seeing these showers off on the horizon always reminds me of spring as this is usually our last view of a cold spell as it moves east before milder weather moves in. Another point to consider with regards to liking snow or hating it is that a lot of farmers especially with livestock spend the summer securing feed for when it arrives so it has an economic impact too.

Why do we like snow? Well it is pretty rare in the UK and for me its in the genes being of Norse decent according to my surname. The sight of it always has positive effect on me. Currently -2c and dry. Others who hate it can"t understand me!!!

Some powerful looking snow showers on the horizon to the north across the Firth although sunny and frosty here at -2c. Think the arctic sky we have just now with its vibrant colours is just the best with superb visibilities in the clean air.

Looking at last years farm diary and year ago today it was 10c(this year a max of 1.5c) with daffs showing a couple of inches above the ground, this year only just breaking the surface and snowdrops were flowering, there is only one this year next to warmth of waste pipe from bathroom.Ground too was pretty dry and we started crossing fields to remove stones. Far too wet and frozen this year to even think of crossing..What a difference a year makes.! Currently a small flurry and -2c

Fine start to the day, clear and frosty at -2c

One thing about snow the snow dog stays clean on her daily walk. Almost another ice day with temperature hovering about 0c. Mostly dry today but sunny See there is a lot of comment about the lack of snow in the south of England and having lived there till I was 8 I seem to remember very little snowfall or family photos of it but when we moved to Scotland in the early sixties there were many more photos of snow including one of myself and my sister in January 1962(think the year is right) on the coast road at Portessie on top of a six foot snow drift right beside the beach I think it was this snowfall when I first heard and saw thunder snow at night. We are geographically placed nearer to the arctic circle and so can get snow on west ,north and east winds with less of a sea track to warm the air. The SE of the UK will always be reliant on a cold east wind to get snow and as these become rarer with each passing year then so will the snow. North and east winds become more frequent in the spring by which time they are usually to warm for snow in the South unless from a very cold source. However these spring winds can give us disruptive snow fall in Scotland till early May especially on the hills . So there are pluses and minuses in the hunt for snow and the minus for Scotland is often a cold late spring especially in the north.

Woke up to the muffled wind this morning a sign of snow falling on a fresh wind. We have had about an inch overnight.Currently 0c As HC says proper arctic weather/skies are very rare on a west wind especially the last few decades but I remember in the sixties a few times especially in early winter late November early December watching snow hit a west facing window. We certainly are having a winter this year and to see snow right to the beaches over the water next to the lighthouse at Tarbet Ness is even rarer on a west wind.

Not much more snow here but lots of showers round Firth.White right down to sea level even to Tarbet Ness Lighthouse. Hairy Celt Country Looking over to Tain area Currently -0.5c Young Mr. Northernlights has just delivered hay to Daviot where there is 5 inches lying Its been a long time since we had such a cold snowy west wind and it seems odd watching the snow showers come in from the west

Just feeding cattle in steading this morning as had trailers full of feed outside yesterday ahead of forecast.Supposed to be delivering hay to the west of us this afternoon but will stay off road with slow moving tractor/trailer if conditions get poor. Very stormy looking over a white Black Isle with lots of very fast moving rag cloud ( my terminology)

Bursts of snow came on about an hour ago and we now have a covering at 0c. Will fairly drift about if we get any depth in the fresh wind.

Dusting here and currently 0c with ground rock hard with the fresh freezing wind.

This is a talk from Professor Joanna Haigh who I went to listen to in Edinburgh about 2013 after I made the link between the lack of sunspots and hence the lack of aurora borealis or northernlights after 2006 and the subsequent colder winters in NW Europe from 2008 to 2013. Seems to make the jetstream take a more southerly track and is more easily spotted in the mid lattitudes where it has the greatest effect. Aurora Storm my daughter was sitting beside me when she mentioned the link and said well done to me a grumpy old farmer for spotting it. We are approaching another trough in the 11 year solar cycle so colder winters could occur again.

Currently clear, breezy with some cloud to the west and 1c

Very windy here just now but front breaking over us so almost no rain ,currently 5.5c.