MP-R

This upcoming spell looks potentially a lot more interesting than the last with much colder air around after brief mild interludes - should feel much more like a winter stormy interlude rather than mid autumn like the last one.

Beautiful day again. Frosting up again out there. I'd take this as a holding pattern over anything else!

Coldest night of the spell at -3.4C minimum, and joint coldest of the winter. Very foggy earlier but clearing now. Still subzero.

Just shows the regional variation. Much preferred 16/17 down here - less Atlantic wind and rain dross, and plenty of frosty sunny weather in early and late December, and a large part of January. Even received a light dusting from the northerly mid month. February was less interesting but at least attempted an easterly early on.

I’m sure you would lol, but as a season lover, cold and wet after mild and wet doesn’t arouse much interest... Give me that pattern in Jan and Feb any year.

Ugh. No thanks!

Another beautiful day. Even if this winter turns out a complete dud overall, I’ll be glad for this current spell. Just a need a dry weekend this weekend for outdoor plans.

That was indeed a worse winter but was also generally a sunny winter, much sunnier than January up to this point.

Blimey - an actual frost! Minimum of -1C and very icy out there. You'd be forgiven for thinking it’s January!

Got down to 1.7C then shot up suddenly as the only shower in the area crossed over. Dropping again. Methinks an icy start tomorrow.

Just think how much white stuff we’d get in a normal winter if we were at the altitude a lot of Spain is. We wouldn’t even need to be as high up...

That summer style low in between the two highs is just a pain!

Just driven through a very heavy hail/soft hail/sleet shower. Temp 3.8C. Lovely cloudscape before it too. This is what January weather off the Atlantic should be like!

5C with a heavy shower moving through after a sunny morning. Bit splodgy on the windows too.

It’s after all what more often than not brings us our first springlike spell, especially when the wind is southeasterly. Misty mornings and sunny afternoons with the suns strength starting to show. Sounds like bliss right now! Edit: just realised this isn’t the winter moans/ramps thread! Maybe this train of conversation could be moved there... whoops!

Other than 2013 and 2018, March really isn’t that great for snow. Unlike the winter months, it seems to be either all or nothing. All if we strike lucky and get unusual Synoptics and nothing if the month is anticyclonic or the standard Atlantic-dominated. Looking back through the 90s and 00s, most March snowfalls tended to be transient affairs within a more mobile pattern. The more high pressure dominated Marches then largely avoided snow altogether. I still think any snow this winter is going to come from northwesterlies or northerlies as high pressure slides west or southwest. Any favourable Synoptics will likely appear from April onwards which will either just deliver cold rain or even warm settled conditions.

If the month carried on in the same vain it has so far, I think it would be a possibility but I think the upcoming anticyclonic spell and notthwesterlies in the final week will peg the CET back to just ‘very mild’ rather than the current ‘ridiculously mild’.

This winter is a sad state of affairs, so this year, northwesterlies are exciting lol. Last year, northwesterlies were the taster before the slider snow event down here on 31st Jan / 01st Feb. GFS 12Z goes for two attempts at a northerly which is cut short to a northwesterly. First one on 26th/27th and another on the 30th. It's clear the problem being high pressure not being up to move northwards enough. Such a shame. Still time for change though.

It also doesn't help that broadly we've been in this disgusting pattern since the second half of September. October and November felt like wet winter months so by December, fatigue was already setting in. December and January thus far have then been even more like November so maximum boredom is well and truly established. Looking better beyond Friday though. Dry, bright and with some frost will be a very welcome change (bare minimum expectation of course) but miles better than what we've been stuck with over the last 4+ months.

12mm yesterday and some showers this morning. Windy yesterday but nothing too dramatic. I feel like I’ve been in a weather bubble compared to some. Yesterday was actually the third second January maximum I’ve ever recorded. January 24th 2016 hit 14.0C and my grandad recorded 14.2C on January 29th 2002. Both of those days were much calmer and intermittently bright though. Much fresher this morning at 6C.

Recent gust of 39mph, so on a par with yesterday, other than the few minutes the squall went through when I hit 48mph.

Yep it's 13.2C here now, which is the highest it's been since November 26th ( the same maximum), and before that, November 01st!

There was?

Just to highlight that in winter 15/16 we were about to enter the first cold spell. Looks like this winter is about to fall behind even that one!

The unnamed lows often tend to be more significant than the named ones it seems, especially down here. I still haven’t recorded a higher gust than early November here all winter.