Sunny Leith
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Posts posted by Sunny Leith
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Thanks for digging out those numbers LS, I go as far back as that 70s data as well :-)
I know we've all had deeper later snow than this, that's well documented. And I expect we'll possibly see some mair snaw of some kind or other in the coming weeeks. But today was a bloody cold January day transplanted into mid-March, not sure I can recall one like that...confirmed by looking out my window onto my ungritted street, which is a 100 metre long curling rink - solid sheet ice. Aye, in mid-March ! That's a new one... Normally the street lamp glare comes from shiny wet slush, not tonight though. It's solid.
To put today in context:
No. days with 1C or lower maximum at Edinburgh Airport by winter period:
2012/13: 3 to date (one ice day, in December)
2011/12: none
2010/11:16
2009/10: 14
2008/9: 2 (no ice days)
2007/8:5 (3 ice days)
2006/7: none (none below 3C either)
2005/6:4 (3 ice days)
going further back:
1978/79: 9 (none in the famous March blizzard either)
1981/82: 17
1983/84: 4 (no ice days)
1984/85:7
1995/96:10
While 1C or lower maxima are not exactly rare, very few winters have more than 10, even among some of the classics, and in that respect 2009/10 and 2010/11 really do stand out as being perhaps in the top three winters of the last 50 years. However, I also tried to find 1C or lower maxima in March and so far I've only come up with two, both maxing out at 1C - the 1st and 2nd of March 2001. That search includes all of the well below average Marches since 1973, and a few that were only moderately below average, and in fact it may be that, for Edinburgh Airport at least, this is the latest we've seen a sub 2C maximum since its records began. Today was one of the coldest March days of the last 40 years for lowland Scotland.
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That was bloody baltic walk home up over Calton Hill and then the final trudge along London Road... Now to get stuck into a big bowl of home-made soup !
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Brilliant Lorenzo !
Edit: just leaving work, still big piles of snow and graupel sitting on the window ledge and balcony at work. Thats not meant to happen in inner-city Embra in mid-March !
Thankfully quiet traffic on the way home from work, getting very cold , very quickly now.
Kids having an absolute rammy and won the snowball fight convincingly.
Grabbed this pic of the sun hiding out behind some very icy looking skies on the m-8.
Fantastic weather. Loving it !
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Shame an official ice day missed by a 1 degree blip at 3pm!
Think that might be it now for low lying Embra BT....marginal uppers going forward it looks like
Yeah I think thats probably the last winter-day of this type that we'll see this side of next winter. Could be a few surprises yet before spring is out but today was a high-quality snowfall day. Leaves me satisfied overall for the 2012/2013 autumn/winter/spring period, after a few months of thinking that easterlies were cursed again in these parts - but they weren't !
Looks like the convection is eventually dying away now on the radar (although I've seen sporadic very light snow every now and again over the last 2 hours). With clearing skies its going to be a potentially punishing frost.
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Well the day's not done here (and the temperarature could still go up) but looks like Edinburgh Airport has indeed just missed out on an ice day. But thats been one heck of a cold March 24 hours however you look at it... don't think we'll say stats like that again in the Embra area until we get into a decent cold spell sometime next winter.
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Realistically most of us know that March snow doesn't hang about too long on exposed surfaces. At this time of year I tend to focus more on the nature of any cold events rather than have any expectation of snow lying about for days on end. The last 24-36 hours have been such an event, and hopefully we can get a few more noteworthy days of cold or snow.
On the other hand I recall in the office I used to work in, watching another research group sitting about outside in last years 70F March warmth...and I'm just as happy if we get days like that. Doesn't seem like thats on the cards this year though...
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Aye, and on the other side of the coin, I can recall a few days in the December parts of 09/10 and 10/11 spells, where the sun came out after a cloudy-ish start and then the temperature went down straight away. Suggests that mid-winter sun in these parts - sometimes when we're in real deep cold - isn't always strong enough to overcome daytime situations when the sky opens up and allows further heat transfer from the surface.
Or something like that.
I'm bluffing now.
I only did physics to O level fer goodness sake !
Yes, direct sunlight tends to do the trick after about mid-February even, ironically we spend all winter looking for clear spells and now we get it the sun's too strong!
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Heehee...I'll leave the physics to LS but with the increasing angle of incidence of the sun in mid-March I guess no surprise. But even in Edinburgh I've seen snow remnants lying about for 2-3 days in the early days of April in the shaded/wooded areas of parks. If air and ground temps are cold enough, it isn't too windy and theres nae rain, then it can hang about under shelter. Think there'll be plenty of visible evidence of todays snow in the next day or two here...
Anyway, snowing again !
Oddly it's back down to -1C at the airport so we're seeing some snow melt with sub zero air temperatures. Isn't too bad here and I think the higher bits of town should hold onto the vast majority of their cover in the next hour or two where melting is likely to occur.
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Similtaneous sunshine and blowing snow here just now. BALTIC. Heres Embra University quad about 10 minutes ago...
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Reminds me of one of the easterly days in Dec 2010 when forecast had said we'd get little or nothing... there are times when it *seems* like the estuary acts quite locally to bottle things up like this and keeps it coming.
Although I could just be talking sh*te obviously !
Looks like i've just got home in time as cloud is really blowing in from the east again
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I'm sure you're right, we'll probably hit 2 or 3C if the sun comes out. In saying that I see that Edinburgh Airport has just posted -1C at noon, so not too shabby. There'll be evidence of this snow lying about here for a few days. Princess St gardens are basically north facing and the West gardens in particular (parts shaded by the castle rock) will keep some of this snow over the next few days for sure.
Going to be a bloody cold night. If skys clear and wind drops... could be a very decent minimum.
Being greedy now but what are the chances of squeezing an ice day out of this too? Temp been 0c or below for close to 20hours now. Sun might have other ideas this afternoon.
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Aye, it may not be the last snow we see this spring, but I'd wager we won't get another high quality day like this until next winter (if we're lucky).
Just perfect in every way really. And in mid-March !
Still going here so far. My favourite 10 minutes of weather this winter/spring! Unreal.
EDIT: Judging by the radar it's pretty much saved it's best for last! Few more flurries maybe.
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That blizzard was a thing of beauty, its just tailing off here now. This day could have been lifted straight out of the 2010 Nov/Dec spell, its as good as that.
Amazing shower! Best of this spell!
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Could be right there ... but this current shower is a real beauty. Blizzard going on outside and spindrift being blown off some of the roofs on the street opposite me on South Bridge. Not bad going for a mid-March day !
Another heavy shower but signs on the radar that the North Sea snow factory might just be starting to run down for here today.
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Window now being battered by a mega polystyrene-bead type grauple shower. Quite a day !
I'll try to upload one of the Pentlands from my room in Pollock when I'm back from the lecture, southern Edinburgh looks like an Alpine town. With temperatures of -1C and DP at -5C it feels like it too.
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can't start the week unless I have a couple of double-voddys down my neck by Monday 10AM Catch !
You sleeping on the job by-tor? :lol:
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view from my Office window in South Bridge...
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Temporarily blizzard of grauple on again.
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Its a beautiful morning here.
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Snowshine on Leith this morning...
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Aye ! Was tracking that one on the radar for the last 30 minutes and more ... Glad to see it made it !
Blizzard in Leith :0
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We don't even have 1 cm here yet, but the cover is like talcum powder and easily blown about. Truly very pure very non-marginal stuff.
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Makes no sense Hawsey does it, ye're on the sticky-oot bit o' Fife fer goodness sake !
Good news!....here in Crail snowshield is holding up well so far. It's cold, it's windy....but the showers continue to pass me by.
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Aye PS, snowshield was well and truly busted !
Yeah snow shower looks like hitting Edinburgh in the next 10 mins. Might even get through by-tor's snow shield in Leith !
Scotland Regional Discussion 10/03/13 09z ------>
in Regional
Posted
They weren't clear were they... The front seemed to grind to a halt over Scotland...but its 3 days out from here so I suspect they're hedging their bets. As usual ;-)