Rainy

XC Weather offering us a snowy day next Sat (unless there's been a mind change in the last few mins). I wonder whether it's just up in the higher ground. And will the snow be there for all half term for the kids? I agree with Damianslaw. There's an awful lot of winter to come yet. We have two family members with birthdays mid March. We always refer to that period as their "Litlle Winter". Regularly snow falling then. Don't put your sledges away yet.

Mad gale here this morning. Huge gusts roaring up here all the way from W.Lancs. Had power cuts for the last 3 evenings, but remarkably keeping going at present. Dry so far today. But had 87.5mm over the last 4days.

Temp creeping up, now 1.9C. Thin snow patches, mostly in shade, still lingering from the snow which came overnight 27th / 28th.

Light covering of snow in Bowland came overnight. Not measurable and burning off in the sun already.

We've a lot of winter ahead yet. Up here in the NW hills, farming tradition is that Candlemas Day, Feb 2nd ,is the halfway point and you should have half the winter fodder left in store. That particular day now seems to have been taken over by the American tradition of Groundhog Day, whereby the groundhog peeps out of his burrow and goes back down to sleep if the weather is uninviting. Anyway back to the UK. We've always had good falls of snow in March. Reliably so. Often the more memorable falls. The harshest and snowiest March I can recall since living up here was March 1969. Very cold and with very strong east winds drifting the snow in the early part of the month before the 16th, when we had a baby born at home Couldn't tell whether it was snowing or drifting. White outs for some days and huge drifts filled the roads. Snow ploughs and snow blowers were out and kept a track open. Helicopter on stand by, but Doc and midwife got up here by car. The intermittent thaw brought a heavy load of ice to the overhead electric cables and made them sag. Tree branches broke. Snow patches lingered on the fells till the month end when there was a lovely sunny warmth by Easter.

Very wet in Bowland this morning after a dry night. Currently we are stuck under a lingering patch of heavy rain according to radar. Hope it shifts soon. So far this wet weekend has produced 31.2mm. Nothing unusual and certainly not as much as places in the Lune, Kent and Eden catchments. Relative living betewwen Windermere and Kendal has had 74.7mm in the same period. Family tradition here is that a big rain in winter is followed by cold.

Just stuck my head outside. It's not been raining here for the last hour and a half. But can hear the brooks roaring and the wind is whirling through the trees. Not finished with the wet though according to the Beeb forecast.

Get your wellies and mac on K and come up the road and venture uphill. Better bring a torch too as it's been dark since about 3.30pm. Still throwing it down. Brooks are roaring. Not a soul, nor any wildlife out. Unless those walkers I saw earlier are still out there. Surely they will have given up by now. Looks a lot worse north of here. Eden catchment will be manic.

And back yet again. Relative who lives between Windermere and Kendal, picked up 29.3mm from his gauge at 9am today.

SW Bowland. Back again. Just seen a party of walkers go past the farm on the footpath. Older folks mostly, though can't see too well as they are well wrapped with waterproofs. Looking a bit drenched, sluggish and miserable. Two holding up brollies against this wild wind, one already part broken. They must be a tough bunch. I'd think twice about going outside anywhere this weather, though daeresay it will be fun looking at rivers in spate.

Bucketing down here. Collected 13.4mm at 9am. Rain started 2.30am and non stop since then. Drains and ditches were full last week, so now there's floods about. Fells shrouded in low cloud. And strong SW to add to the misery.

Found a link about the ice nr Cleveland Ohio. http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/113926/frozen_lighthouse_the_coolest_thing

Interesting N American scenes on Channel 4 TV news this evening. Only short clip alas but showed incredible ice sheathed buildings in Cleveland Ohio. One a lighthouse I think, thickly shrouded in wave spray turned to ice.. Would be worth another look on Channel 4OD.

Just watching Channel 4 and Jon Snow's very troubling report from Haiti. Prospects are awful for those folks still living in rough camps.

Two NW threads in use?. Some reports of today's awful wet weather in N. England and Wales have been posted into General Weather Chat. Lots`of flood watches and warnings on rivers. See EA. Rain slackened here now, but a wild SW wind remains. Very mlld. Max today 14.0C. Current 13.8C.

Sept total 274.mm. Wettest Sept since we started daily readings here for MetO in 1968. Also 6th wettest month in that time. Jan 79.6 Feb 76.8 Mar 88.6 Apr 25.7 May 34.8 Jun 24.7 Jul 192.2 Aug 74.7 Sep 274.3 (average 131.0mm) So 2010 total so far 871.4mm. Grateful for those wonderful well below average first 6 months.

Yes, this record wet Sept here is an unusual phenomena I suppose. But it's the local talking point. Conveyor belt of 36hrs non stop rain from the SW last weekend, got no publicity and there were no weather warnings. The rivers were roaring. The countryside is trashed. Similar to the way Cumbria was hit last year. Relatives with gauges in Cumbria have had less rain than us so far this Sept, as also a friend with a gauge in Bolton. Readings taken here daily for Met Office on same site with same manual gauge since 1968, plus an autographic and an electronic gauge. The latter still has to be downloaded by the Environment Agency. As I mentioned earlier, the intriguing observation is the frequency of the record wet months in the last 10 years.

Beat the wettest Sept rain record here this morning . We started daily recording here in 1968 and Sept that year with 251.0mm has held the record till now. Total so far for this Sept is 256.0mm, but there'll be more to add after today's showers. Last weekend with 95mm did the damage. I wonder how anyone else is doing? What I find interesting is that 10 of the calendar months now have their highest totals in the last 10 years. I wonder if anyone else has noticed that? Perhaps it's just a northwest experience! Apologies if a Sept rain thread has already started. Can't see it, so mods please switch if necessary.

Collected 47.3mm from the gauge at 10BST for previous 24hrs. So that makes it 95.2mm since the rain set in about 4pm on Saturday. Total for Sept so far is 240.2mm. Not much more needed to break the Sept record . Daily rain recording for Met Office started here in 1968. That year holds the max record for Sept with 251.0mm. Currently drizzling / light rain.

Very heavy rain up here all this evening. whipped by strong blustery SW wind. There will be floods about by morning as we had 3 hours heavy rain in the early afternoon too. Strangely mild. Temp now 16.2C.

Wet up here. 24.6mm in the gauge at 10 BST for previous 24 hrs. Though a shaft of sunlight just now.

Meanwhile .... Enjoy this http://live.mila.is/lonid/

I posted this link to a lecture on another NW "Polar ice" thread. In my opinion it's worth watching. Apologies if's already been seen and discussed. The satellite images and photography are superb. And lots to think about.

Has anyone else seen this illustrated lecture? We do tend to take satellites for granted. Amazing what they have shown us. Apologies if this link has been given here before.

Well I never. Just had a few sunny spells which shot the temp up to 15.9C. Reminded me of summer briefly. Gone now and it's looking wet over Ireland. Daresay it's on the way here.