Snow Watch: North West England

[NorthWest_Snow]

thought the south of the NW had a better chance of snow than the north of the region?

[Interitus]

Well the thing is, its pretty balmy here and last night in the wee hours the airport reported 1C and it felt much warmer than that.

Temp 4.3°C

Dewpoint: -2°C

Heat Index: 4°C

Wind Chill: -0°C

Visibility: 11 km

Humidity: 64%

Wind Speed: 19 KMH

Wind Direction: N (350°)

Barometer: 1000 mb

If we are to see any snow, it seriously needs to cool down tonight!

It will cool down - look at your dewpoint at the moment. For most parts there will be a sharp frost tonight and the wind from the Irish sea which has helped keep the temps up especially near the coast will be more southerly or south easterly when the front approaches.

[Snow free zone]

Think that this is our best chance in this part of the UK to get something decent out of this cold spell, the optimist in me says we will get a covering, but then looking at the met office forecast for sleet then snow - and the blue rain areas hovering around on the BBC forecast - the realist in me kicks in and says it will be another rain event for us here.

Re registered on here as its good to see others that are "suffering" in the snow desert of the NW and i am fed up of seeing photos of inches and inches of snow all over the UK.

[Interitus]

My word, now the 12h GFS has the mild air failing to pass over us next Friday and has a stalling front over us before slipping south. There's 1996 again haha!

[snowdrifter]

My word, now the 12h GFS has the mild air failing to pass over us next Friday and has a stalling front over us before slipping south. There's 1996 again haha!

Words to drool over. :huh:

[Thunder Snow]

Whats the forecast for my area tomorrow, not seen any forecasts. Im hoping for snow :huh:

[NorthWest_Snow]

Whats the forecast for my area tomorrow, not seen any forecasts. Im hoping for snow :o

current situation in my area

Temp : 3.9°C

Humidity: 64%

Wind Speed: 14 KMH

Wind Direction: NNW (340°)

Barometer: 1001 mb

Dewpoint: -2°C

Heat Index: 4°C

Wind Chill: 0°C

Visibility: 11 km

Just looking at the satellite image, and that bank of cloud in the atlantic seems to be moving in quicker than I though, some of it is in southwest ireland already. If it's moving this fast, is it possible for that front to hit us in the small hours tonight or first thing in the morning?

[Hot*Snow]

Is it the same band though or another one? Also is any ppn falling?

Seems far too early to me - if it was it would hit us overnight whilst temps are at their lowest.

Hot*Snow

[SP1986]

Sunday:

A dry start but some rain, sleet and will snow soon arrive from the west, most of the snow on the higher ground in the north with rain elsewhere.

Thats the BBC forecast for tomorrow... not a great confidence builder really if you're expecting snow. Correction: thats the N Wales forecast but it applies to us in the south of the region.

[Hot*Snow]

Stephen - your best watching the bbc news 24 forecast which seems much more accurate. Anyway, heres my take on things:

SUNDAY

During Sunday a band of rain and sleet will enter our region from the west and readily turn to snow as it meets a pool of cold air. This could lead to accumulations of a couple of cm's on lower ground at least, with significantly more over higher ground. The system will gradually move eastwards leaving another cold night with temperatures below freezing leading to another frost and icy patches - particuarly where there is lying snow.

Areas affected: Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside.

[SP1986]

Stephen - your best watching the bbc news 24 forecast which seems much more accurate. Anyway, heres my take on things:

SUNDAY

During Sunday a band of rain and sleet will enter our region from the west and readily turn to snow as it meets a pool of cold air. This could lead to accumulations of a couple of cm's on lower ground at least, with significantly more over higher ground. The system will gradually move eastwards leaving another cold night with temperatures below freezing leading to another frost and icy patches - particuarly where there is lying snow.

Areas affected: Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside.

Lets hope its correct but right now I dont buy it.

We'll see, I'll let you know tomorrow

[Hot*Snow]

No worries Stephen,

I totally understand your caution - an approach I adopt myself with regards the weather, especially snow. I have read alot of your posts with interest and realise that your location is almost a 'microclimate' in itself. Hopefully things will work out.

Hot*Snow

[Snow free zone]

I too have seen the N24 forecast.

It does look good, but having seen almost no snow all winter its one i find hard to believe. Until it is actually snowing and settling then i am not going to believe it is going to happen. Living in Preston for over 35 years has taught me to be very cautious when snow is forecast as 9 times out of 10 it never happens.

[Spurry]

I too have seen the N24 forecast.

It does look good, but having seen almost no snow all winter its one i find hard to believe. Until it is actually snowing and settling then i am not going to believe it is going to happen. Living in Preston for over 35 years has taught me to be very cautious when snow is forecast as 9 times out of 10 it never happens.

Ditto for the last 20yrs in Wigan

[cheshire snow]

Hi

If you Want a Laugh go on Met Check and up how much Snow you are going to get

This Week Just done mine And from Sun-Fri I am due 48mm LoL

Iknow what has gone on with that site in the past with a certain unamed person

But there forecasts still give me a giggle.Where do they get there info.

Go on give it a go well worth a laugh LoL

[Bartlett Low]

Hi

If you Want a Laugh go on Met Check and up how much Snow you are going to get

This Week Just done mine And from Sun-Fri I am due 48mm LoL

Iknow what has gone on with that site in the past with a certain unamed person

But there forecasts still give me a giggle.Where do they get there info.

Go on give it a go well worth a laugh LoL

They get their information from the GFS, it's totally automated like Net-Weathers forecast by postcode/area.

Although there always seems to be differences between the two sites forecasts...

[snowdrifter]

Lets hope its correct but right now I dont buy it.

We'll see, I'll let you know tomorrow

Just checked on the latest charts etc and as much as I hate to admit it, I think I'm with Stephen on this one. The temps look far too marginal for most of the area and I'm not going to expect settling snow. Dew points would have to be about -2 at least and I can't see happening. If it doesn't you're all welcome to build a sandman or sand igloo on St Anne's beach. We'll paint it white and put it in the photos section.

Edit - The net-weather free GFS charts show snow but temps hover over 0c. Anticipated DPs aren't there so if anyone can inject some confidence that temps/DPs will be low enough please go for it!

Edited February 7, 2009 by snowdrifter

[davehsug]

There is certainly a lot of cloud around & that seems to be keeping temperatures up. Still above freezing here (so much for the Beebs -7). We have to see a clearance soon, or else tomorrow is a definite no go. Temps will just be too high.

[Hot*Snow]

Yeah spot on there dave - if you are under a blanket of cloud you need it to shift tonight otherwise temps will not be cold enough for any ppn to fall as snow. In my location it has been clear all night here and temps roughly -3 deg C with frost/ice patches forming so the tonic is pretty good. We need it to stay cold until this system moves in.

Current confidence level (for my location): 73%

Must admit it has been very quiet here tonight considering the potential we have for our region. One page of posts from 17:30 proves this. Anyway the proof will be in the pudding tomorrow.

Hot*Snow

Edited February 8, 2009 by Hot*Snow

[kaja]

Yes lot of cloud cover ahead of the front

Temps at the moment at my local

2m temp ......-1.5

Ground temp .....-3.9

Dew point ........-3

5 inch below ground temp 0.6

Edited February 8, 2009 by kaja

[Hot*Snow]

hmmm still clear here so this cloud must be quite patchy in nature?

Is the cloud mostly to the south of the region?

[James M]

Still clear here -4.9°C

[kaja]

Sat shows high level cloud the front is still in the far west of ireland

At the moment

[Snowmad79]

hope those shwers on radar arnt the ones meant to come our way, theyll be dead by the time they get here or way too south.

[James M]

Which showers do you mean?