Sunny Leith

Aye, just looked out the windae and Leith has gone a wee bit white this last 10-15 minutes or so and still snawin. Took the words right out my mouth there LS, "heavy light snaw" characterises it perfectly.

Same here, currently have the heaviest light snaw we've had for days here. I can see Fife from the window though so its not going to accumulate to any worthwhile degree. Anyway, on and on and on the cold doth drag...

Good shout HC...I'll go for irrational optimism and say somewhere in 10 days times on Thurs April 4th, maybe some deeply sheltered sunny spot in the west. Nothing to support that ... other than this can't go on forever and the sun has power (given a chance) ... and by then I'll be desperate for this to end !

Tiny snow grains blowing about as I got into work, enough to roll about about then dampen the pavement. Nothing to write home about and may not get much better than that over the next few days. At least a tiny bit of snaw in the air justifies the cold.

It's no consolation to you NL but thanks for all the info on the science and practice of farming, for townies like me it really helps me understand how the weather can have so many varied and widespread negative impacts. I really hope this cold spring gives way soon, but these bloody charts are persistent...

Will mean some serious depths in the gulleys though, will keep the hills snow-streaked for weeks to come.

Different type of cloud today, bit more cumulusy and the sun makes a fleeting appearance now and again.... Also seeing tiny snow blowing about in the wind again, so just possibly the start of a long-haul over the hours and days to something a bit more snow-showery.. Maybe!

This is just wacky stuff. And its likely the next 24 hours will hardly continue to budge a degree either way. Amazing in its own way, just amazing... Some shelter in the far west could take the edge off the cold as the week goes on by a degree or so, but it seems quite possible that many central and eastern areas could *fail* to get above 40F by this same time next Saturday. And beyond that...jeez, who knows when it'll subside...

I don't know if we'll have the detailed historical data for comparison, but even if this March comes in at the 2nd or 3rd coldest relative to 1947, it would be fascinating to know the shape and distribution of it. By which I mean, I'm assuming that 1947 was mostly early to mid-month following on from a very cold February. And that the 1947 average was dragged down by some very cold overnight lows. This cold is (relatively) mid to late March and hasn't (as yet) produced many notable lows (a few but not many). Average temperatures tell us one part of the story, but would be great to line-graph 1947 against 2013 and see "the shape of the month" for a few selected sites. Even if it doesn't beat 1947 overall, it could still maybe come in at the coldest 2nd half of March on record. Anyway, fun to speculate...

Looks like there's a slow and gradual backing of the flow to due east, plus or minus a few compass points. So going the right way at least... When does it get to ENE ? I dunno, but obviously we also want other signs that there's going to be some level of convective activity. As things stand though its like a snowless cousin of Dec 2010! Note: personally I find it inconceivable that east-coast snow showers won't materialise over the coming days.

Aye good news & bad news if this kind of blocking persisted into summer. Would be a decent summer for many, central/west in particular but with my east coast hat on though I wouldn't appreciate June days of 9C, with the haar flooding down the Forth Estuary from a spring super-chilled North Sea. Think I might throw in the towel on independence and move to Portugal !

I'm not a skew-t heid either. But still mystified why we don't have a more general lake-effect up and down the coast in these situations. Can't be disimilar to what happens in The Great Lakes if and until they freeze over. Is the gradient between these Scandi uppers and North Sea sea-temperatures still insufficiently wide to create a similar lake effect ? What kind of gradient is required ? Just wondering !

Seems endless this cold. Today is identical to any number of recent days. Grey, baltic, tiny face-stinging snow flakes in the wind. Not that I take GFS as the gospel model but this easterly component is there through its entire next 2 weeks. If that holds true I will be screaming for April warmth!

TOORP from Leith

I haven't given up on snow locally in the next 48-72 hours or more. These cold uppers looks like they'll be hanging about and if the flow was to back sufficiently eastwards and northwards then could stil see something happening here. or Not !

Classic ice-road truckers there Catch...

Still is, the radar often lies !

Hee-haw here after some stuff blowing in the wind earlier. Mini-TOORP from me, as despite being in the east - and the source of the cold coming from the east - we've contrived to avoid decent snow that has happened to the north, west and south of us during the week. I give up !

It almost defies belief that we're looking at another 5, 6 days of this cold at this same type of level. But that's the way its looking isn't it... Like I say, happy to give March its shot at the record-books but after that I want this cold GONE !

Just hasn't got the rustic charm of an LS map has it ...

Think whats been slightly unusual about this kind of cold - and we've had a few spells like it this winter, has been how often we've had several days in a row with little or no frost , but with the temperature almost static in the low-middish 30's range. Could be bracing if accompanied by some blue skies, but a bit bloody grim under steely-grey skies.

Lets not forget, METO are crap at precipitation forecasts for Scottish east-coast in easterlies. I'd basically ignore anything they say in that context !

Looks like over the next day or two the flow will back more east, hopefully a shade north of that. Frustrating though, the cold is very much in place ... need other factors to play out though as usual for snaw. Happy to go with the cold until midnight end of March 31st, after that I want to be done with it. Long daylight hours but with January-type cold really messes with the heid...

Frontal alignment ... honestly who knows, it could be 100 miles and more out on the day relative to current speculation. Fun as always though to wonder about the ifs, buts and maybes !

Can vary I guess. Seen snow lying about in the shade for a few days even in April in urban Leith near me (in tree-shaded north facing side of London Road/Royal Terrace Gardens). As long as the sun doesn't get to it, and all other temperature, wind factors are in favour, then it can sit there for days.