ScottSnow

Well the cold spell is going out with a bang here. Currently snowing heavily here and earlier in Newton Aycliffe the 1st band left around an inch of snow. The snow is blowing around making for some interesting driving conditions out there. Is anybody revising there cold spell rating after tonight/todays snow ? For me personally I don't usually enjoy snowfalls preceding milder conditions but it seems like that this cold spell is going out with a bang. I expected the Atlantic to steamroller through but it seems like the cold is putting up a fight. Since Jan 12th Days with falling snow - 13 Days with lying snow - 12 Deepest snow - 21cm ( Jan 21st ) I would still rate this cold spell at 7.5/10, would of been higher if we had have seen some colder temps especially overnight and the spells of rain/sleet with pretty constant cloudcover have been disappointing. This could have been a pretty epic spell for snow if the temps had been a little lower.

Snowing heavily on a southerly wind here in Gateshead. It was snowing heavily in Newton Aycliffe from about 10am till 1pm when I was there today with about an inch of accumalation however here in Gateshead it was snowing lightly with only a cm or two of accumalation. I don't normally enjoy snowfalls where I know it's going to melt the next day but it's nice to see this cold spell going out with a bang.

Snowing heavily in Woodham, Newton Aycliffe.

I suppose it's a case of 'what could have been' here. Higher area's of my region have been absoluely hammered but even here where there is around 20cm we have more snow than at anytime since Dec 2010 so I can't really moan.

With the end in sight of the current cold spell I was wondering how people have rated it. How was it for you in your location ? Did you see much snow ? I ask these questions as I have seen some people who seem to have been disappointed by this spell of weather. It certainly could have been better here. If the temperature had been slightly lower yesterday and today we could have seen some huge depths of snow however it has snowed consecutively here for ten days and I have a compacted snowcover of around 20cm. Again I have had ten days consecutively of lying snow which looks like it will continue until at least friday. Although the temperatures haven't been especially low it has certainly been a snowy spell of weather, I would enjoy one cold and clear day as the continual cloudcover has been a little depressing. Nationwide, I would say most areas have had some snow so it hasn't been restricted to certain area's which does happen in some cold spells. Wales has had a good dump, London has seen snow, the Pennines and Yorkshire have had there share and even Cumbria has seen some. I personally would rate this cold spell 7.5/10 as it has been particularly snowy here and it has lasted for nearly two weeks. When I joined this forum in 2003 I would have been over the moon with such a spell of weather.

Looking at the latest GFS outputs and the opinion of some in the Strat thread I have the feeling that the mountains of Scotland will see no real thaw. Low pressure systems look as though they will pass to the south of the UK keeping northern Scotland in cool or colder conditions with the chance of a northerly airflow occuring as we head into February. The ski resorts should see good conditions continuing for the forseeable future which I hope to sample

We would have had a lot more but the precipitation yesterday was a rain, sleet and snow mix. It has been a snowy spell of weather here but not a very cold one. If your in the right spot in marginal situations you can end up with some big accumalations as has been shown with the snow some parts of Scotland have received today. I was in Aviemore on the 26th Feb 2010 when a marginal situation dumped around 2ft of snow.

Similar story here in the north east. I have around 20cm of wet compacted snow (although it is starting to freeze) but places just to the west have a lot more and places just to the west have a lot less. This cold spell has been very marginal here and it seems like a similar story north of the border.

Chucking it down with proper flakes.

Becoming a bit more wet out there now.

Amazing how much more snow there is here in Low Fell compared to your location. Just shows what local variations in height and distance from the coast can do.

Yes really big flakes here in Gateshead which are accumulating quickly. Would really like a couple of cold clear days to enjoy the snow conditions. For me personally this has been a great cold spell, here in Gateshead we have been right on the treshold of the at times marginal conditions meaning that the cover has more or less stayed intact. By Friday we will have had nearly two weeks of snowcover. I would say this cold spell is approaching or maybe even on par with Jan 2010 certainly in relation to snow.

Snowing heavily here in Gateshead, temp has rose somewhat since this morning but it is a lot less marginal than yesterday. Snow depths are approaching those of Jan 2010 although not quite at the level of Dec 2010. This cold spell although not especially cold has been snowy.

Moderate snow here, lovely big flakes floating down, best snow all day and night.

Yes remember it well. Was just finishing my late shift at work and went outside for a smoke around 10.45pm to see a few flakes coming down. Clocked out 11.10pm and came outside to really heavy snow. All the roads were already covered and the drive back to Gateshead was 'interesting'. Numerous cars were pulled in at the side unable to go any further and I decided to go back via the Felling bypass instead of over Wrekenton. Even the low route was very dicey and I remember the intensity of the snow was incredible. When I got back I went for a walk, the roads were deserted and there were lots of people walking about as the buses had stopped running. A lot of the banks in Gateshead were impassable and I spoke to taxi drivers from Sunniside and Burnopfield who were 'stuck' at Team Valley as the road up there had been closed. Incredible night.

I live in Gateshead, Low Fell to be exact and today has been a very strange day in terms of snowfall. I woke at 6am to find wet snow falling with a temperature of 1C. There was small accumulation on top of the 15-20cm we already had but the snow was very heavy wet snow. I drove to Westerhope at about 7.30am and as soon as I left the A1 the temp dropped to 0C and the snow was sticking to everything and was more like proper snow and not the wet variety that was falling in Gateshead. I was suprised at how much different the conditions were at such a relatively small distance. I then spent the morning in Kingston Park where the snow alternated between blowing heavy snow and wet heavy snow with the temp seeming to fluctuate quite rapidly and quickly. Left Kingston Park at around 12.30pm and drove throught Newcastle and over the Tyne Bridge. There didn't look to be much accumulation in Newcastle city centre and everywhere was very wet. As soon as I drove over the Gateshead flyover it became drier proper snow again and the roads were covered. There had been some accumulation since I had left at 7.30am. In the afternoon I travelled a modest distance up the hill to the QE hospital and even this relatively small height change meant that there was a lot more snow and it was sticking everywhere. I expected the snow to become less marginal and it did start to accumulate better in the afternoon which it did for a time however at around 7pm it turned sleety again to my suprise. The temp has now dropped and the snow is sticking to everything the dripping is slowing down and the 'roof avalanches' have stopped. The snow is probably accumulating the best it has done all day, to the extent if it carries on as it is I would expect more snow accumaation tonight than all through the constant wet snow of last night and today. Today has really illustrated what a small difference in height can make. I think I was right on the boundary and would have thought that the higher areas of Gateshead such as Sunniside and Winlaton would of seen conditions a lot less marginal with more snow accumulation and some drifting as it was very windy. I suppose I am overall happy as there hasn't been any net snow loss which I think places a few miles nearer the coast or even slightly lower down would have seen. It will be interesting how much snow there is in the morning.

Snowing again here in Gateshead.

The snow is dry here, not quite powder but certainly not wet. The temp is below freezing now as well. Hoping for some more snow showers tonight to top up the existing 15-20cm.

If we see colder than average conditions last until Thursday which looking at the models is certainly possible then here in the north east we will have had nearly two weeks of cold weather and snowcover for about ten days. Certainly no Jan or Dec 2010 but certainly not our usual winter weather. I would class it as a good cold spell. I'm hoping we will be on the right side of marginal on Monday which will add to our existing snowcover of around 20cm.

Heavy snow in Gateshead. Temp has dropped so the snow is sticking to everything. No thaw here.

Yes Northumberland looks like ending up with a lot of snow from this cold spell especially slightly inland areas. I love how the news was all about the snow in the south when I have around 15cm outside and I'd expect parts of Northumberland to have much bigger totals. I'd expect some parts of the north east to end up with more snow than the so called 'red zones'. Its like it doesn't count if it snows up here.

Although its slightly above freezing here in Gateshead there isn't much of a thaw going on. I think we may get another few cm's but can't see us getting another 10cm. Hopefully we are on the right side of marginal for monday and tuesday but I thought we would see rain last monday and we had heavy snow. P.S Anybody watching BBC 2 about the winter of 1963. Good program for us snow junkies lol !

The forecasts for up here in the north east have been poor. Take today for example, the BBC said that it would be dry but we have had constant snow showers all day.

Also was walking up Roseberry Topping (North York Moors / Cleveland) and the snow was drifting up there in the wind. I would guess there will be some fair sized drifts on the moors today.

I stayed in Newton Aycliffe last night. Significantly more snow in here in Gateshead and although temps are above freezing there is no real thaw and the snow showers are adding to the snowcover. Probably around 15cm here. If we get to monday with snowcover that will be a week of lying snow. With October and Decembers snowfall this winter has been much better than last winter and its still only mid Jan.