Aleman

We had snow which turned sleety and then snow again and we're only at 30m altitude. It even tried to settle a bit but never whitened. The kids put their shoes on to go outside and catch the flakes. We would not allow that in sleet. I was monitoring radar and it just said rain. A couple of weeks back, my other half had settled snow at her school when it just said rain. I've seen photos of snow on high ground where no snow was seen on radar a few times in recent weeks. I've found it spot on in previous years but I think there is something wrong with it this year. It's missing too much wintery stuff. Today's high was 2.3C. Currently 0.3C

Don;t worry too much about the estuary as I was actually more taken by the big blob off Newfoundland which now looks to be melting back a little.

MIA - Have you seen the new ice in the St. Lawrence Estuary and up around Newfoundland? A record breaking snowstorm has just gone through that dropped up to 4 feet around the New York State area. It supports my understanding that heavy snow is often a big driver of rapid ice growth if the sea is cold enough. (How much of it then sticks is another matter.) Edit - I don't know how much fell on Newfoundland but I found a weather a weather forecast that predicted 15-25cm for Thursday and Friday for Nova Scotia. It also indicated there had been a cold air mass move into the area dropping temps to -5 to -10C ahead of the low running up the coastline to bring in the moisture.

Odd things near Iceland: free floating ice and an odd extending range of cold air temperatures. Has there been heavy snow and there is floating slush everywhere?

I always thought snowfall was major contributor to ice formation in two ways. Once the sea cools to -2C and lower, it will want to start to freeze but any movement will inhibit that. A good snowfall will deposit pure ice which will not want to melt if the sea is -2C or lower. The snow layer will then dampen the surface movement down, allowing the seawater to start to freeze under the snow, with the snow also acting as a nucleating/propogating point for ice crystals to form downwards.

5.2C high here in the Vale of York in a brief lunchtime sunny interlude. It's generally been grey, cold and wet, with a little sleetiness in a niggly, variable breeze if you watched carefully. (Altitude about 30m.) Mrs A reports regular snow showers through the day and slush on the floor at her school in West Yorkshire at about 140m altitude.

It rang a bell and a quick search found an old post of mine on another site which might help: "Aleman - 31 Dec 2017 - 18:32:26 freddie - ice is still not extending any further from Greenland to Iceland but Weatherbell is now showing patchy coastal sea ice forming around the West, South and East coasts of Iceland. I've not seen this before. DMI seems to partially confirm by showing patches of 1C+ colder than (1981-2010) average sea in the same locations." Anyway, why should it not happen on the south coast? I've seen "sea ice" form temporarily from snow on very cold sea away from land before a couple of times, notably northeast of Nova Scotia (for a few days before remelting) where cold currents sometimes come down with melting icebergs. Could the Icelandic patches just be where it happens to snow heavily on cold calm seas? It's been snowing from moderate northerlies recently so the south coast would be the calmer side. I've put some flash freezes in the Arctic down to heavy snows in the past. The only difference would be it's a bit too warm around Iceland to stick around for long.

http://www.real-whitby.co.uk/whitby-harbour-frozen/ https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-bridlington-harbour-frozen-over-in-east-yorkshire-52647199.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/york/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_9267000/9267013.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/york/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_9262000/9262697.stm https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-the-river-entering-lake-windermere-totally-frozen-over-during-the-33723713.html http://www.ayrshirehistory.com/ayr_river_ayr_ice_december_2010.html

I remember that one. Our hot water and central heating combi boiler packed in on Christmas day, with everybody else's, as condensate outlet pipes froze solid everywhere. Two cold days later we got somebody who quickly sorted it out. I remember it well because my firstborn was already overdue from the 23rd but had the sense to stay where it was warm until a few days later!

The last couple of nights have not been as cold as I expected but the Mrs has just set off home from work after scraping the frost of the car windsreen!

It's not quite the pretty picture of snowy Scottish hills but I saw some pink pixels on the radar indicating the first snow on Lake District mountains a couple of hours ago.

First snow expected in Texas on Wednesday. I believe the previous record is September 29th in 1984 so this could smash it. https://www.meteociel.fr/modeles/gfse_cartes.php?&ech=78&mode=16&carte=1 I follow the Northwest Passage attempts. (Cancelled this year for Covid.) It sort of opened on the same day as last year - August 20th - but there is more ice about and it has been iffy since in a closed here and open there sort of way. Melt has slowed early with lots of early cold wintery weather which would have made it very hazardous so probably as well they've all been banned. The weather has been a bit this way for a couple of weeks at the most northerly trading post of Resolute so fresh water and brackish areas will be freezing up early even if deeper sea might still be thawing slightly. https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/nu-27_metric_e.html

0.6C in North Yorkshire, 0.2C in Scotland and 0.1C in Northern Ireland last night. Https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12541541/brits-chilliest-bank-holidays-ever-temperatures-zero/ Countryfile weekly weather forecast indicated a subzero temperature in Northern Ireland the previous night, if I heard correctly. I was not really paying attention. I read somewhere the last August frost was Aug 24th 2014 at Katesbridge?

Seen our first daffodils in bloom. The general tide of crocuses and daffs look set to come out this weekend. When can I cut the grass? It needs doing but always wet.

Just had a bit of snow here. I'm not even 100 feet. It only shows sleet on the radar but we're getting rain, sleet and snow. Each shower is different. It must be fun on the hills in this wind.

An online acquaintance has reported a "white out" somewhere near Nottingham after lunch. He said there was heavy wet snow for 3/4 of an hour, dropping the temperature to 1C, and settling for a while before turning to slush recently. He said they issued a snow warning for it after it finished. Radar is just starting to show hints of snow amongst the sleet on Exmoor and Dartmoor, and even sleet in London. Keep your eyes peeled!

N.Hemisphere snow extent might yet reach an average peak. I wonder what the record for mass is. It's certainly looking a strong year.

Dandelion! Aaaarrrgghhh! Hate 'em.

Can't cut my grass because it's too wet with melting frost. Definitely needs doing. Maybe tomorrow. I did manage to sit out for a cup of coffee at lunchtime. 1st time this year. Usually happens around early to mid Feb. Rarely, March or late Jan. So maybe a few days ahead of typical.

When my lazy eyes look back at histerical cold snaps (in Europe), I get the impression they seem to follow solar minima by to 2-3 years. Of course, we are at a solar minumum now, but solar output will be low for another couple of years yet so tropical seas might still be expected to have some more cooling to go - and then it takes a while for North Atlantic currents to bring those cooler than average tropical waters up here. Of course, the weather makes our forecasts look foolish, but I'd hazard the guess that our next cold winters wlll maybe be 2022 and/or 2023 but that's just my simple interruption of some histerical data.

Crocuses! Some colour at last. Plus the garlic I planted last year, that was overcome by leftover spuds from the year before and I thought had died, was 10 inches tall when I went down there to clear some ivy away. Likewise a few onions - though they're only just sprouted. The neighbours will think it looks and sounds like Spring if I get time to cut my grass tomorrow. It looks like I might not be able to do it next week for snow!

I just picked the map times that looked a bit more dramatic but most bits in between have a bit of snow on exposed areas to north and west. Whilst snow is showing all week in the usual sorts of NW high places, it's still looking more like cold drain or sleet for S/SE low ground.

Snowdrops have come out widely in the last week, which seems pretty normal by recent years and a few days early longer term. We have no crocuses or daffodils out yet, though heads are forming, so that's the same. Shrubs and and grass are growing quite a bit in places though and trees are budding a little so they seem ahead of normal. Is the deeper ground temperature warmer? It does make you wonder what drives all this stuff since it's been pretty warm and fairly sunny yet not too dry.