Snowandrocks

After another warmish, sunny day albeit with some pretty strong winds a heavy band of rain just passed over. The car temperature display is now showing 4 degrees!

Glorious again today, bit more of a breeze but the haze from yesterday is gone so still lovely.

Absolutely glorious here today - warm slightly hazy but unbroken sunshine and barely a breath of wind. Was expecting the warmth but the forecasts suggest it should be much windier.

As above, a few decent but windy days with plenty of sunshine and only a couple of fleeting showers - quite pleasant at times in the shelter of the woods! Tomorrow looks pretty grim though and will probably undo all the good work the wind and sun has been doing to the ground conditions!

I appreciate it's not always possible but it really amazes me that covered outdoor spaces or porches aren't more common in this country. Even here on a hillside in Aberdeenshire there are loads of days when it's lovely to sit outside with a bit of shelter from the rain, BBQs can continue even if the heavens open and, back on topic, it's great for drying washing outdoors without having to worry about the rain. Ours is in daily use.

A very pleasant few days with lots of sunshine, relatively light winds and mild enough to work outside without a jacket. Could do with a decent dump of snow on the hills though - the Lecht and Glenshee even seemed to miss out when much of Aberdeenshire was buried back in January. Not sure how the things have fared further west this year?

Yep, worst winter for rain I can remember here in Aberdeenshire. So much so, our neighbour has decided to pack in farming altogether. He's in his late 70s but planned on carrying on until he couldn't. He seemed relieved to be able to finally relax but not sure he'll know what to do with himself when the last float heads away down the farm road next week. Quite pleasant outside at the moment though, flat calm with the odd star visible. Had too much wine beside the fire pit already!

Interesting that they suggest sea ice might extend down to 50 degrees N. I suspect the reality won't be nearly as dramatic but polar bears would maybe give the seagulls at Aberdeen beach some healthy ice cream stealing competition!

A friend who stays at 400m in one of the glens off Strathdon just posted on Facebook to say that they've had a fun journey home in near white out conditions. In trying to get home they had to abandon their pickup in a drift and continue on by Tractor. Sounds promising for the Lecht and Glenshee at least!

Occasional short spells of snow blowing through but surprisingly dry so far - pretty miserable though with existing snow cover just about hanging on.

After a glorious start to the day with unbroken sunshine and a gentle warm breeze the wind got up quite a bit in the afternoon. It was still easily warm enough to be planting trees in short sleeves though and the pickup was still reading 14c when I nipped out at 1830 - quite impressive for the 2nd of Feb!

Oh well, that was a bit of an anticlimax, nothing more than a bit blowy on the more exposed bits of the bypass Must have timed it well and missed the worst.

Currently sitting in Dundee "enjoying" a McDonalds for lunch before continuing home towing a big box trailer. It's fully loaded to 3.5T so in no real danger of being blown over but it's still going to be a slow and steady trundle up the A90 and round the Aberdeen bypass. It's quite blustery with occasional spells of driving rain here but nothing massively out of the ordinary so far - sounds worse further north.

@Hairy Celt near Dunvegan so neither I suppose!

The mountainous track of the air to Kinlochewe must have something to do with it, whether a true Foehn or just mixing, because I messaged a friend on Skye to ask if he was sunbathing (maybe 30 or 40 miles away) and he replied saying that it was 8 degrees and blowing a gale!

Absolutely not a climate denier (as much as I dislike that term) but it is interesting just how localised the hot spot was today. When I saw the temperature online this afternoon I messaged a friend on Skye (just across the water, maybe 30 miles away) to ask if he was sunbathing. I got a slightly confused reply to say that it was 8 degrees and blowing a gale!

Beautiful bluebird day so decided to take a walk around the tops of Bennachie - turf and puddles frozen hard and a bitter wind but did manage to find a little sheltered spot in the sun to have my flask of tea and yum yum. VID_20240126_111327.mp4

No damage to report here but did see that someone had 2 touring caravans blow away overnight on the Suie Rd so it was as lively as it sounded at 3am. Still pretty blowy out there now but at least the sun's out.

Getting quite lively here now in Aberdeenshire, not outrageously so as yet but lights flickering and chimney whistling away merrily.

Quite pleasant out there, definitely thawing but quite slowly with only the odd drip from the roof noticeable. Dogs enjoying the snow while they can. They do like each other, honestly! HwVideoEditor_2024_01_19_143823802.mp4

Wind definitely getting up now - again, hard to tell if it's actually snowing or just blowing in. Was quite drifty in places earlier today even with only a moderate breeze so I agree, my trip to Buckie with the trailer first thing could be fun.

Lovely but cold day today after another 4 or 5 inches of powder overnight. The wind got up for a bit in the afternoon with snow blowing around in the usual places but decided to go for a XC ski to make the most of the sunshine. Conditions were great in the shelter of the woods but almost unskiable on the areas that had caught the full amount of unconsolidated powder. Need fatter skis - will definitely sleep tonight. The coming thaw should actually improve the skiing greatly, for a while at least! VID_20240118_133625.mp4

Big flash - thunder snow must be somewhere close. Hope you caught it MS? Great end to a very pleasant evening sitting in one of the demo hot tubs surrounded by snow. Seems to have been out over Rhynie - impressive the flash can travel so far. I guess it seems brighter with the snow reflecting.

Our friends in Dunvegan on the west coast of Skye have just sent this over. They're currently XC skiing down the main road through the village. Quite unusual for them to get proper snow right to sea level. They usually have to come over here to stay with us to use their skis. VID-20240117-WA0011.mp4

The real fun on that little road is when the wind gets up and it starts blowing in - had a very sketchy run over there one night last winter and only made it through the worst bit by taking repeated charges at the drifts in near zero visibility. Was thankful to be in the Hilux with all terrain tyres on it. Had visions of having to walk home! Snow coming down nicely now here too, unsurprisingly.