Snow free zone

Have to say i'm pretty impressed with the GFS precipitation charts. Since Monday it has constantly shown snow over the area this afternoon and it was spot on. Both the Meto and BBC went for a dry day today with the "odd" wintry shower. Well we now have a covering on roads, grass and pavements here. I was certainly sceptical about getting anything at all out of the Easterly element of this cold spell, perhaps because its been more NE this has helped us ? i don't know. Diane Oxbury (SP) said on tonight's radio Lancs forecast "we are expecting Sunday to be a difficult day" watch this space

Has snowed in Preston this afternoon missed it as am still at work Still looks good for the weekend, and it has got a heck of a lot colder since this morning !

Not even a frost in Preston this morning, so much for the -1c that was forecast, its actually raining on my way up to work. Still looking good for the weekend though

Slightly confused here. Heard the local forecast tonight on the way home. Mentioned a cold dry and beautifully sunny day tomorrow. Max temps 3-4c and 20mph NE winds. Does not at all fit in with what GFS is saying, but more confusing was the outlook for the weekend "dry cold and sunny" with the odd wintry shower Could have been an old forecast, but it was on BBC local radio.

SWW issued by the met office for the NW for Sunday for heavy snow

Agree about getting overlooked, but you'd expect a SE bias I suppose due to the population density Having said that, the media don't help, and if it does snow in the SE you can safely assume that they will report the whole country will be in the grip of the worst cold spell since ____ insert year here. Our time will come, i just hope Santa will be able to battle his way through the 10ft drifts

I agree. There has now been a fair amount of consistency over the change to NW winds, and the showers forecast in off the Irish Sea from Sat night onwards. I'd imagine there's even a possibility coastal areas will get a covering if this remains to be the case. Does have the look of Christmas 2004 about it after Saturday, and we ended up with around 1.5/2 inches that day, so all to play for still IMO.

Still looks ok for us this morning. Some slightly warmer air now being added to the mix on Saturday so for us in the West it may not all be cut & dried. After Sat though the NW winds really kick in and it seems as though we will all get a good shot at some hefty snow showers, right through till Tuesday. Trend for colder air to hang around till after Christmas still there too.

Good old GFS we even get a white Christmas one of the best runs for snow i have ever seen for the NW. If the winds turn more W then its game on for us i reckon.

TWS is quite right, and if you look at the latest predicted chart for Sunday it shows the wind has more of a Westerly element and we get some good snow showers in the NW. Add: If this run comes off we will be digging ourselves out on Tuesday !! LP moving down over Ireland and giving us plenty of the white stuff. Nice charts to look at, but in reality I fear it will be well wide of the mark.

Well it was the same here. I am almost on the M6 not far from the football ground. The M6 is quite often the line where the sleet stops and the snow begins, as someone has said Longridge often gets snow when we don't and its only 5 miles away.

Where about's are you ? i live in Preston and we are 15 miles inland ? so certainly would not class myself as on the coast. I also would not pay much attention to the BBC 5 day forecasts they can and will change

Well in terms of potential for us here in the NW the 12z GFS run is certainly an upgrade. How it pans out remains to be seen, but after what i said this morning i have probably just scuppered all our chances in telling the kids there's a possibility we'll get a bit of snow over the weekend - apologies in advance :lol:

Saturday looks like it could deliver the goods on this run ! for all of us now where have i heard that before

Its the same here, and i'd wager for most of us who live West of the M6. GFS 6z seems to have thrown a bit of a spanner in the weekends snow, but if it stays cold enough and if the winds turn more NW we should still have a chance ........

You're right. They have not forgotten last year when i told them it would snow, everywhere round about was white except us maybe best to keep my mouth shut I think. Anyway, potential still there for the weekend, and as has been said maybe some bonus snow Thursday into Friday. Living here I have learned to expect very little in the way of snowfall and when it happens it is a nice surprise. Fingers crossed.

Snow for the weekend still there on the 18z GFS, with a better chance for snow East of the M6 from Wed night onwards. Detail will keep changing, but there must be a good chance for snow somewhere in the NW this week. By Sunday the wind is also swinging round to more of a NW like Christmas day a few years ago

There will no doubt be a change before the weekend, but there has been some kind of snowfall for sat/sun showing in the model output for at least the last 4 runs now - so there has to be a chance they are on to something,if its still there on Wednesday night then i might even tell the kids

Moderate snow here near Lancaster at the moment. Not sticking.

Just had a bit of very light snow here. I think i counted at least a dozen flakes.

Rain and hail in Preston this morning.

Nothing of any note here overnight. A little frosty this morning that's all. Looks as if we are in for a nice day here, one or two clouds building up over the hills in the lakes, but otherwise its a lovely day - if we can't have snow this is the kind of winter day i enjoy best clear and cold.

Good post Stephen. The most notable recent snow events i can remember were the cold NW'erly on Christmas day in 2004 (?), and the frontal snow in 1996 that came up against cold air. This winter there have been too many snow to rain fronts from the West, meaning that most areas East of the M6 and with a bit of altitude do ok, whilst the lower ground to the West and nearer the warming influence of the sea miss out. Having said that there has been more snow where i work near Lancaster this year than there has in Preston and this area is closer to the sea than i am at home. There is snow on the ground here at the moment (just)

Thanks for that explanation, i had often wondered why we do seem to miss out more often then not. The best bet for me here anyway seems to be a polar NW'erly with plenty of associated showers and very cold air, this can provide us with a really good dumping. Yesterdays snow has almost gone, still a bit on the grass but it will go when the sun hits soon. At least we had a bit.

Well you'd better believe it :lol: there was a dusting here nothing more and it was gone by lunchtime, the snow was much drier than this lot though. I have lost count of the amount of times areas to the N/S and E of here have had snow and we have nothing. West of the M6 and you "usually" miss out.