The cold spell

[Terminal Moraine]

Thats an absolute classic TM ! One of the best posts I've read on here in ages, by the way its snowing here again! just joking!

Cheers, Nick.

Today has been a great lesson ( if one were needed ) on the importance of low humidity/ wet bulb/ dew point for snow survival. As I mentioned earlier, on Wednesday morning we had 3.5cm of snow almost all of which thawed by early afternoon with a temp' around 1.5c to 2.0c and a humidtiy of 90-95%, the day was cloudy with snow and sleet showers.

Today we had a meagre 1.5cm of lying snow at 0900 and despite continuous sunshine all day there's still a 95% cover now. The max' temp' was 2.3c but the humidity was between 50 and 60%, the wet bulb temperature remained at or below 0c all day.

The anxiety and nervousness remains as there's a chance the milder air will move in overnight and thaw the lot before 0900 tomorrow, thereby robbing me of another morning with snow lying.

T.M

[snowray]

Yes well done to you for sticking your neck out and getting it right! Haha I was surprised myself at how little Kent had, considering 10cm was forecast for hilly areas.

Wrothem hill in Kent actually ended up with 8-10cm after todays hefty showers.

[Yeti]

Wrothem hill in Kent actually ended up with 8-10cm after todays hefty showers.

I meant overnight which was a damp squib:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6297439.stm

Agreed during the day more fell.

[Whether Idle]

Last few flakes of snow drifting in the breeze. 2cms adown here, 7 on the hills above, and plenty of snow left. Another decent cold snap for Kent; and I was pleased with my forecast last night, where I said 2-5 widely where it snowed and up to 10cms on hills. Bring on the next northeasterly

[Will storm]

Had snow cover twice and 4 snow showers.Had to play football in the heavy snow and later that night it was still snowing from showers.Sorry on the vid the simpsons are on in the background

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8wyXjtfALw

[Zerouali lives]

Well Monday night was good with some moderate snow showers depositing 1", most of which thawed through Tuesday. Just thin patches remain in favourable areas throughout the city. Not a great Northerly at all IMO.

Edited January 25, 2007 by Zerouali lives

[Snowyowl9]

I think those of us South of the M4 should be wary of ice tomorrow morning ; there's going to be a hard frost followed by the chance of freezing drizzle from the Warm Front that's edging down.

That`s one to watch it`s -0.3c here but it will probably rise, as further south looks colder.

http://85.214.49.20/wz/pics/Rtavn1817.png

http://85.214.49.20/wz/pics/Rtavn184.png

http://85.214.49.20/wz/pics/Rmgfs212.gif

[The PIT]

Snow wise where I live nothing of note bar the fact it did Snow for the first time this Winter. Temp wise it was quite good and a shock to the system. Overall Cold Spell marks 1.5/10 mainly for the temps.

[WBSH]

For me it was rubbiDoh a dumb swear filter got the better of me The last two mornings I have woken up to some really pathetic dustings of snow, actually they were barely dustings, more like chunks of frozen ice!

However, as soon as I left Maidstone the "snow force field" that usually hangs around me wore off. Today in the morning for instance I was at Bedgebury forest and a few centre metres of snow had fallen, which although wasn’t a great deal, it looked great amongs the scenery. I took some pics, i'm glad I went there at the right time!

[Thundery wintry showers]

From what I've seen, my assessment of the cold snap's scores probably ranged from about 8 in parts of the southeast and Central Southern England, to 1 in parts of south-east Scotland, north-east England, and south-western Britain. North-western Britain would probably score about 4 or 5 because of the marginal snow events on Sunday.

In Cleadon I'd give it a 3, but in some parts of County Durham it would be lucky to score even 1.

[snowingtequila]

Thought the spell had ended but just went outside and a good inch of snow has fallen when I turned my back!

[mrcrisp]

Not bad for my area (hove), which normally gets zilch. About an inch of snow settled on Wednesday during the early hours. Was gone by 11am though. Lowest temp was about 3C. But then I am practically on the coast.

[Polar Continental]

Well, I would love to have seen more snow, but to be quite honest I wasn’t expecting a great deal from this set-up.

Burton here in central England has seen a little snow, only 1cm at best, but I have enjoyed the much colder weather, sharp frosts over the last 3 to 4 nights, and today saw ice and thick frost persisting in the shadows all day, to me a very pleasant and cold winter day.

Paul

[snowingtequila]

Not sure what is meant to be happening tonight in my area but it keeps starting to snow, is this an odd rogue shower or something more organised. Perhaps this cold spell has a sting in its tail!

[BARRY]

on a scale of 1 to 10 of snow fall we got a minus bloody zilch

[Snowyowl9]

Temp wise it was quite good and a shock to the system. Overall Cold Spell marks 1.5/10 mainly for the temps.

Overall I`ll give the cold 3.5/10 but 8/10 for the daytime temp 2 days ago which was just 1.0c and snow just 1/10 as it was a similar amount to April`s last year but it was patchy and wet, with just a slight covering which was the most april snow since April 2000 and I`d rate that an 11/10 for cold and snow. 8P

Edited January 25, 2007 by Snowyowl9

[ukmoose]

I feel my prediction for the upcoming 'cold spell' was fairly accurate but I admit to being taken by surprise by one thing - the snow that was deposited in my region in the early hours of Wednesday morning which provided a covering of an inch or so (2.5cm in new money), perhaps even a little more than that. This is an unusual feature these days - any snow that is - so it's even more surprising given the warm winter we've had. I didn't expect it here. Even saw a few snow men - the kids must have wondered what it all was.

The last couple of days have been cold with sunny spells - nice. Sadly, but as expected, the daytime temperatures were just too high and the snow melted. That is a common feature of 'cold spells' now - an inch or so if we're lucky, gone by the end of the day.

Still, it was nice to see and the last few days have been good. Frosty this morning and again tonight. That could just be winter 06/07...

Moose

[Guest Viking141]

A couple of days of real winter cold, hefty wintry showers and about 1" of lying snow in the end. Ok its a start but whens the next lot due??!!

[Stratos Ferric]

...sometimes people can over estimate the snow cover.

Oh come on! On here - never!

...

And finally about not seeing much snow in England - this is not strictly true, though it is of the past 5 years - in January 2001 we recorded the scenes below! Quite impressive as you can see (30cm at our house, up to 40 on surrounding hills, of which these photos were taken).

...

30cm? 2001? Are you sure? When and where? Looks like the Alps to me!

[geri2k]

Is it over now then? No more cold or snow??

[Yeti]

30cm? 2001? Are you sure? When and where? Looks like the Alps to me!

No those were taken on the Hills west of us in Jan 2001. I certainly remember a HUGE amount and it was one of the best snow events for many years, but those pics and their dates were given to me by my mother who is NOT the most reliable source of information!

[James M]

Is there something developing south of Cumbria?

Oh and we have the lightest of light snow here atm.

[Yeti]

Warmer air arriving here now to end a poor cold spell (though one that lived up to its equally poor expectations)

[snowingtequila]

Is it over now then? No more cold or snow??

well it is snowing lightly here with me right now and pretty cold, if this warmer air and drizzle is on its way then it is taking its time!

[The Enforcer]

Mixed emotions about this one. Personally, 11-year proper lying snow drought ended: full covering, no slush/ice layer, snow fell continually for best part of four hours. However, only about 2cm accumulated and it barely lasted the morning. Considering the nature of this cold spell, not a bad return for a notoriously poor area for snow. Proves my longstanding point that only fronts will produce meaningful snow here.

Nationwide, I'd say this cold spell has been sub-standard and on a par in terms of snowfall and temperatures with the 'efforts' of recent winters. For the time of year, I'd say it was most comparable with the Thundersnow event, which was characterised by a spell that at medium-range threatened to continue for longer, but toppled. This one has seen a block collapse, albeit less dramatically. The other biggest comparison is the temperatures being higher than what would be expected - only massive downdrafts in Jan 2004 lowered the temperature for snow and this time extreme forcing re-energised a front that was weakening in cold air. In short, it has taken something pretty remarkable to create even a regionalised snowfall. It cannot surprise anyone how this spell has padded out in the light of the high SSTs.

I would say the only hope for this winter is that this spell has heralded the onset of a more blocked period at an earlier stage than in previous winters. Blocking in the wrong place in the ensuing weeks may at least enable northern lattitudes (both land and sea) to cool to typical values. This would at least mean that if subsequently blocking appears in the right place, the cold sources have the tools to deliver what they promise.