NorthantsSnow

Might see some activity here. Hard to tell.

Only 12.4mm, just 28% of the monthly mean. Surprised you had over triple that in Coventry.

It was the second driest April in Northamptonshire since 1984, beaten only by April 2007 which saw just 1.6mm precipitation.

Gardeners will be dismayed at the plan for next week. Widespread frosts back again you say? Oh lordy! Otherwise models seem fairly agreeable. Mostly settled with some sunshine around and decent maximum temps.

Rain. A lot of it.

What's to enjoy about today and tomorrow? Mild and mostly cloudy with a bit of hazy sunshine poking through occasionally? I'm looking forward to the cooldown suggested by the models and some more interesting weather for the UK. I can't remember the last time it lashed it down with rain, looks like Sunday may bring an end to the dry spell.

What effect could this have on climate?

Sorry, forgot to add earlier- thank you for those excellent pictures. Really stunning some of them!

Just had a heavy hail shower here, leaving a scattering of ice pellets on some surfaces.

Still can't rule out a white Easter in a few spots from this second LOW- considerable elevation will be needed though. http://charts.netweather.tv/gfsimages/gfs.20100330/18/78/h850t850eu.png

Getting really heavy now on CairnGorm: http://www.winterhighland.info/cams/cairngorm-mountain/morlichvideo.php Recent video footage above.

Not tonight I'm afraid - it's John Hammond on the evening shift.

That's no good! Us lot on here are counting on your updates. You better get the laptop on charge and pronto.

Absolutely chucking it down with rain here now. Thoroughly miserable weather but I smile wryly to myself knowing what this is falling as further north. :blink:

Oh, what I would give for a forecast like this... http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/st/douglas_forecast_weather.html Enjoy it up there. Looks like a very good event coming up, even for Scotland's standards!

I'm surprised you're not seeing snow since the BBC article specifically mentioned conditions being "particularly bad between Coleraine and Maghera."

I would be more than happy with 10-15cm! Agree re. the GFS, it actually got the pattern right, just struggled with the placement of the low. Obviously not good from my POV but it would be wrong to say the GFS got this one massively wrong as it hasn't.

Some crazy minimums projected for Saturday up north! http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=uk7dayx7;page=6;type=free;ct=8955~Douglas;sess=#forecast

12z data suggests non stop rain/sleet/snow for parts of Scotland from about 0700 tomorrow right through to 0400 Friday. Very very unsettled way to end March.

The 18z has watered down the uppers somewhat for Tuesday night. As a result I would suggest wrong side of marginal on this one for a lot of people at low level altitudes. 18z http://charts.netweather.tv/gfsimages/gfs.20100327/18/75/h850t850eu.png 12z http://charts.netweather.tv/gfsimages/gfs.20100327/12/81/h850t850eu.png It's a lot messier the flow. Hopefully not a trend.

Yes, I noticed this earlier John. But I suspect should the models continue with their output there will be some modifications made in the next couple of days in order to widen the coverage zone and also provide more detail on the expected weather types, precipitation amounts, etc.

The 18z is actually an 'upgrade' if you like on snow potential for many areas given the snow tends to get its act together in the evening rather than the daytime, so more chance of accumulations. Upper temps look cold enough for snow even at lower levels, with rain turning increasingly to snow as the low gradually pulls away and the colder air digs in behind. As far as the model inconsistencies go, the ECM has been changeable lately whereas the GFS has barely shifted at all in its output, so for that reason I am not too concerned about the ECM at the moment. The GFS also has support from the UKMO. More outputs needed, but at the moment I'm very optimistic for another bash at winter proper before I give in to the prospect of months of mundane weather with the odd storm thrown in if I'm incredibly lucky. I expect the Met Office are monitoring this closely and upgraded advisories will likely follow tomorrow / Sunday.

This is quite a chart for midday Tuesday! A touch more significant than just a few wintry showers: http://charts.netweather.tv/gfsimages/gfs.20100326/12/96/prectypeuktopo.png Winter doesn't want to let go - and nor should it. :lol:

Perhaps ever so slightly. The 00z certainly was, but then the 06z has produced something more akin to last night's outputs: http://charts.netweather.tv/gfsimages/gfs.20100325/06/141/h850t850eu.png Still looking good to me for a final flirt with winter. Those upper temps are crucial though, if they get watered down much more then forget it.

A stunning 18z output. Slower to evolve but crucially the colder air tucks in behind that LOW bringing a near nationwide snow event on Tuesday. Not in the bag yet by any means but one to watch. This is what we need to be looking for in future outputs! http://charts.netweather.tv/gfsimages/gfs.20100324/18/144/h850t850eu.png