Norrance

January 28

As reported by @AWinterstale in the adjacent thread a new provisional UK January record and Scottish winter record has been set at Kinlochewe. 19.2C.

January 28

@A Winter's Tale

yep. From an official site too. Provisional record for now but looks odds on to be correct

January 26

Reagan National airport by Washington hit 80f, the record January temperature and the earliest 80f by some weeks. I know that the temperatures in the East of the US can vary hugely in Winter but that is just silly!

I do think that the sometimes extreme weather in the areas from Washington to New York do give us here an impression that they are always freezing and snowy but in reality the average Jan max in Washington is nearly 7C, warmer than it is here and not much colder than London.

January 26

Would certainly prefer to have Easterly in the forecast rather than Northerly for most of us. The only upside is that later in Feb the sun has more power and can set off showers in cold uppers in a much greater area away from exposed coasts.

January 25

Sunny at 10.5C today in Chamonix. Was even warmer yesterday and all snow at town level has gone!

January 24

19 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

not sure when the last occasion all three winter months were cold was... 78/79?)

December 1978 was not that cold for the 1980's. CET was 3.7C (would be considered cold now) and included a mix of warm and cold spells. Christmas for example was very mild but New Year freezing.

January 23

Just to add to Jo's message. The current top 20 wind speeds etc are available in the free part of Net Weather charts and data.

Here the wind is just starting to rise now. Temp 9C but was briefly over 11C having risen rapidly since this morning.

January 23

@Blessed Weather

It can't be all that bad. She is in the pub with her pals right now albeit on crutches.

View to the glacier a little earlier.

edit. Hope she has good insurance. 590€ for ski mobile down the mountain, 50€ for the ambulance,200€ for crutches and knee splint plus whatever the hospital charged.

January 22

6 hours ago, Scottish-Irish Skier said:

Snaw back oan at the ski centres.

They didn't lose that much cover with the blowtorch.

General pattern is trending to caulder too.

The repeated freeze thaw this week will probably lead to a better and longer lasting base at least higher up.

January 22

Now just a very low chance of snow and ice in mid Feb. Sounds like a very boring mid lat high is favourite.

UK long range weather forecast

Saturday 27 Jan - Monday 5 Feb

A changeable theme with further spells of rain and showers at times, but also some drier and brighter interludes, is most likely to prevail through this forecast period. The heaviest and most frequent spells of rain will tend to be across western, especially northwestern areas where rain is likely to be heavy and persistent over hills. These are likely to be accompanied by periods of strong winds. Further south and east settled periods are likely to be more prevalent, with the best of any sunshine and drier weather here. Temperatures are expected to be widely milder than average overall, although this doesn't preclude shorter, colder spells at times, with a risk of overnight frost and fog accompanying more settled conditions, especially in the south.

Updated: 14:00 (UTC) on Mon 22 Jan 2024

Tuesday 6 Feb - Tuesday 20 Feb

Into early February there is a slightly increased likelihood of high pressure having greater influence on UK weather patterns. There is uncertainty in exactly where high pressure will become established but, regardless, this does increases the likelihood of drier conditions. There is also a greater than normal likelihood of winds from the north or east leading to an increased chance, compared to normal, of cold spells. Colder spells, with hazards such as snow and ice, are more likely towards mid-February, rather than earlier in the month, albeit still very low chance. Whilst a drier and colder scenario is most likely through this period, there remains a chance of milder interludes with spells of rain and strong winds, especially across the north.

Updated: 15:00 (UTC) on Mon 22 Jan 2024

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January 22

High winds in Chamonix too. Blew my daughter off the side of a run and she thinks she has torn her acl. In hospital now. At least she wont have to wait as long over there before being seen.

January 22

48 minutes ago, Nick123 said:

It's really not bad here in the north east do you think it's peaked for here?

Will get worse soon in Eastern areas on the leeward side of the hills as is often the case. Red warning now in NE Scotland for example.

48 minutes ago, Nick123 said:

It's really not bad here in the north east do you think it's peaked for here?

Will get worse soon in Eastern areas on the leeward side of the hills as is often the case. Red warning now in NE Scotland for example.

48 minutes ago, Nick123 said:

It's really not bad here in the north east do you think it's peaked

January 22

The Tay bridge has been closed to all vehicles so must have recorded over 80 mph.

January 22

Taybridge closed completely. That means a gust over 80 mph.

January 21

The wind has only just started being noticeable here in the last 10 minutes or so as the rain has just about stopped. Still a while till it peaks here though. Incidentally the temp has just reached 10C for the first time this year.

January 21

Wind just getting up here now in the last few minutes. As an aside the temp has just reached 10C for the first time this year.

January 21

16 minutes ago, tiff said:

Just read the A90 is closed near Forfar, power lines down..

Yes completely closed.

January 21

Yes looking like a bad one. One difference from the recent bad wind storms is that is back to the usual direction. Since storm Arwen from the North the worst have come from East and South so this one from the West /SW is back to the usual direction ie West or South West.

January 20

4 hours ago, dryfie said:

Many thanks for those. As you say…..classic, with an additional boost from the anticyclonic curvature over the top of the ridge giving stronger winds than suggested?

Just a couple of days later there were severe blizzards in NE Scotland as an Arctic blast followed. Shows just how quickly things can change.

January 20

Well it looks like they have lovely conditions.

1. Watching the hang gliders

2. Her partner in the usual snowboarding position.

January 19

17 minutes ago, Northern Strath said:

Well. Apologies for this late spam post folks. I’m absolutely miles behind in the thread now as I became a Dad within the last 48hrs. So things have been eh hectic! A healthy wee girl arrived safe after a tricky birth. NHS highland have outstanding staff providing a brilliant service.

Hopefully another frozen spell will come soon enough and more kilties can get pasted with snow. Planning on raising another winter aficionado with stories of this particular blast for her catch you in a few months after I’ve caught up with what I’ve missed on here

Congratulations. You will certainly have memories of this cold spell.

I still remember the snowy morning the day my eldest was born though it wasn't my priority at the time!

January 19

Temps up to 4.4C here and our skiff has gone apart from in shaded areas. Of course now the showers are getting through from the West

January 19

My daughter is arriving shortly in Chamonix this morning for a weeks skiing. Conditions looking perfect tomorrow with fresh snow yesterday and blue skies with temps just under freezing at town level. Some rather varying conditions to come in the next week with varying temperatures and some new snow but also rain and a possible high of up to 14C by later in the week. Anyway she has promised to send some pics.

January 19

Fair here at 1.3C/0C up from a low of -4C/. Nothing thawing yet but just a matter of time. No showers made it across from the West having mostly died out over Highland Perthshire.

January 18

11 hours ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

That's interesting.

Do you think this is a result of hotter temps occurring between April and Sept, or fewer colder spells between Oct and March? Or bit of both? I was in the Cairngorms in July 2020 and the summit of Ben Macdui and surrounding peaks had no snow, however, that Spring 2020 was incredibly warm and sunny for a very prolonged period, so perhaps that was why...

Yes, the 1700-1800s were certainly colder as standard. It was known as a 'little ice age'. Not just colder than modern years, but colder than the decades / centuries preceding it, which including the Medieval Warm Period.

It's a bit of both. For snow to last through you need it to be cold enough to drift on westerly winds so that the snow builds up in the NE facing corries protected from the sun. This hasn't happened much recently and any decent snowfalls have come from the North or East so ending up on slopes exposed to the sun and the warm winds and rain. The warmer summers also haven't helped. The last good year for snow patches was 2015 when 73 patches survived to the next winter which was the most I think since 1994. There were frequent wet westerly winds that winter and Spring (cold Spring) and though the average temp over the winter was 1C above average that is cold enough for snow on the higher slopes.
Ironically the next winter the average temperature was the same but because of big swings any snow that built up quickly thawed and none survived.

edit. Ironically next week from Saturday looks like adding a lot of snow to the right places despite it being a lot milder than this week.

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Posts posted by Norrance