Northernlights

Last one from me tonight as I see another big shower coming into the Firth on a more northerly wind . Snow building up in the garden

Another shower just finished another half inch This cold spell.is going to go.out with a bang in this area

Showers to the north have arrived with another inch added in the last hour What a fabulous winter week and I am sure it won't be the last snow of winter/early spring I am beginning to think Honga Tonga Volcano has a lot to answer for with the exceptional humidity and wet of last autumn/ early winter and the really good ice growth in the Arctic even on the Danish and Swedish coasts as alluded to by MIA on here. Looking to the north seems to be a lot of snow heading in our direction for this evening.

Also in my schooldays only having just shut school at bottom of the road road gritting lorries would be round before 6.00am prioritising school bus routes Now it can 8.00am onwards More photos and stove room now 75f next to single glazed windows

A few photos from this morning .

Biggest problem is school transport modern large busses are useless on snow and ice a bit like artic lorries. A case for reopening old country schools which could all be reached by walking. Its just progress!!!

-4c no more snow but we have a breeze from the north and more showers to the north

A few photos at dusk showing a snow laden sky and dry snow on all trees. Snow on the ground is squeaky to walk on.

Steadier snow now begins to accumulate

Steady light fine snow on here at -0.5c giving a light covering. Sky looked full of snow earlier this morning all round the horizon. Real old school winters day.

A few photos from round the Firth about an hour ago Shower activity decreasing but still -1c so an ice day expected 9

Just looking at extended forecast for next week on here for our area and it did not seem very mild with ground frosts at least at night, Just read John Holmes post on model thread there he was saying we would have cold westerlies next week. Linked to that the cold of this week will be helping to cool seas to their lowest levels in winter so less moderation for these cool westerlies On that basis ground over a thousand feet will keep any fresh snow we get this week. Old fashioned mid winter period with only low ground thawing a bit.

Ben Wyvis takes most of our showers on a NW wind so we only have a couple of centimetres. penetrating frost with a strong wind and -2c. Real arctic sky with all the intense colours. Much dryer air too so steading dry and cattle and me breathing easier . A lot of sublimation going on with this very cold drying wind. Another load of wood barrowed over so we can keep the log burner going Most of the neighbours lighting theirs just now judging by the smoke from chimmines

Slight powdery snow shower on just now. Looking more stormy to the north.Wintering sheep on last shift of fresh grass. Not been any fresh growth since early December's two nights of -8c so will need to get hay supplement now and neeps if it stays cool or cold. By cool I mean under 6c as that's roughly where plants start to grow. Wind seems to be getting up a bit making it feel even colder so in stoking stove. Cattle comfy on fresh straw.

Just left with a sparkling dusting on the grass. More showers lining up to the north across the Firth Still breezy

Same here for temperature after a dull start got one really heavy snow shower which dropped the temperature below zero with ground rapidly freezing up in the wind. Its amazing to watch the ground freeze up in front of you.

One of those in between cod spells sort of days. Quite a bit of retained snow above 2000feet on the hills. Dreich dull damp with a maximum temperature of 6c which is not cold neither is it mild able to fall easily to freezing when cooler air arrives. Delivering lots of hay to horses this afternoon.

Said enough to walking around on damp icy surfaces on a very dreich foggy day and have got the job of keeping log burner stoked.. Benefits of being senior management.

Ice on single glazed windows yestetday at outside temperature of -7c. Today we have 0c and freezing drizzle making everything very slippery. Roll on a bit of snow.

A frozen garden.

Freezing fog rolled in about 2 hours ago Maximum temperature of -2c so a second ice day this month.

-7c start to the day clear and calm.

Maximum temperature this sunny afternoon of -1c currently-3 so a January ice day here quite rare for recent Januarys Young Mr Northernlghts taking opportunity of frozen ground to restock straw sheds with outside bales which are hard to take frozen string off and we do not want to take them in with snow on them which melts in the fold so adding to the wetness.

Finally an air frost at -3c.Very welcome. Have explained to several other farmers that a frosty spell would give the saturated ground the best chance to dry out as it usually means there no rainfall. Below the frozen surface the water slowly drains away and on the puddled surface cracks are made to help this draining process when it thaws into the dryer subsoil We are also approaching the time of years when a long spell of frosty spell of frosty weather results in sublimation ( water goes from solid state ice or snow straight to a gas or water vapour bypassing the liquid state ) thus speeding up the ground drying process even more. Thus there is hope for flooded/heavily tracked fields to have the damage repaired . This is especially true of carrot fields where they have forced huge tractors through to harvest them for the supermarkets on a weekly basis to satisfy their just in time delivery in spite of the soil damage done. Usually takes soil several years to recover from a crop of carrots this usually reflected in a high rent for these fields as following years crops are usually poorer.