NorthernRab

Uigeadail?

The Slochd and Dromochter have more or less disappeared!

Drifting heavy snow <_<

I can confirm the thunder hail / snow, saw a small flashing of lightning!

Very true there, bands of snow moving very slowly through the slack flow cannot be ruled out, that coupled with very low temperatures is going to make this the winter of 2009/10 without a doubt

Cheers These showers coming down the Firth are quite the heavyweights!

It's now only heavy snow That was an insane shower!

Very, very, very, very heavy snow in Inverness now! Dear God!!

Just like Hogmanay

Oh God, the rain during those thunderstorms was insane!

Certainly looking like a snowy day Pete, those showers are intensifying as they come down the Firth!

I think Invernessians complain far too much that the weather isn't to their liking, it's either too cold and rainy or not enough snow. In reality, rain is very light in Inverness, summer can be beautiful (especially late spring, May time can be stunning) and you're far more likely to see snow in Inverness than any other city with the exception of Aberdeen. Also, the fog basin effect Inverness can be freezing with the freezing fog and hoar frost days which are brilliant

The Benbecula reading is complete error! The Thames will freeze over in July before Benbecula records the lowest Scottish temperature on record. Altnaharra, Braemar, Aviemore, Tulloch Bridge etc, yes perhaps later this week but Benbecula? Nope.

What's all this ABD, EDN, GLA, INV, DUN, STL, PTH banter about these days? By the way, I'm very much enjoying having a place to discuss with all the other Scottish members - too often we get lost in a Sea of Sassenach! Perhaps we can look to getting our own permanent thread somewhere? Would be nice!

Chin up Invernessians: MET OFFICE: "Some sunshine and further snow showers, heavy and prolonged for a time across the North Highlands and around Inverness."

Greenland High = Lovely Scottish skiing so I am very happy! Seems this possible set up would benefit everyone as the block moves from Iceland (good for the south) back towards Greenland (return of Northerlies and North Easterlies!)

You've had a thaw Pete? By the way, NE wind later on, cold temperatures around, Moray Firth SIGNIFICANTLY colder - in for a chance of heavy snow today?

Coler air now digging in from the north, temperature is now -1'C and even Eilean Siar is down to 1'C and only going to get colder I think. Ice, snow and windchill to come!

Very true, but you have to remember what makes Loch Ness' volume so impressive is that we are on an island - Scotland is geographically foreign to Europe in that the majority of the country originates from the North American continent and at one point hosted mountains taller than the Alps and perhaps towards the height of the Himalayas. This along with the glaciation which also created Norway's Fjords is what makes Scotland look so oddly beautiful in that the Torridon range hosts some of the oldest rock on this planet This is like a wee geography lesson :o Trivia: Inverness' Kessock Bridge is the only earthquake proof bridge in the UK due to the seismically active ridge which runs from Fort William to Inverness (hence the Great Glen being there). We haven't had one since 1901 but I'm sure it's only a matter of time

But the busiest of those are surely Slochd and Drumochter, hence them being more well known? Otherwise, Bealach na ba would probably win out in a NWly snow event

0'C, -1'C dewpoint.

Pete, calm down mate, you make me panic sometimes! The colder upper air temperatures are only just coming in and there will be some heavy showers tonight which will allow the temperature to drop in time for that perfect strong NE wind coming down the firth!

Surely not more famous than the Slochd and Dromochter?

Not certain, but there were a few winters in Inverness where the canal and the river, both of which flow directly from Loch Ness, froze over (the latter only partly), so this suggests some freeze on the loch. However, Loch Ness alone has more fresh water than England and Wales combined, so it gives you an idea of just how cold it would need to be for it to completely, let alone partly, freeze over. Lomond, Morar, Linnhe, Nevis etc are also very big, so I doubt they would freeze over. Small lochan freeze over all the time, especially in the mountains, but it's rare for them to be as frozen solid as they are now with such deep coverings of snow

Loch Morlich has frozen over however and has a deep covering. Nagar, Loch Na Eilean etc must have frozen over too?