South West England Cold Spell Discussion

[dogs32]

good report James,I had to get off the hill due to being soaked and freezing,

And yes since I have left its lovely and white up there..

It was to wet and cold to get my camera's out,If it was a complete white out I would of

[textmum]

Drove to Cirencester around 11 this morning, went through rain/ sleet, slight snow at the Air Balloon (gritting/snow plough lorry parked there at the ready! Return journey around 1 was mainly sleet (gritter/snow plough still parked by the air balloon. DUring the afternoon we have had some large snow flakes mixed in with the sleet, but its too wet to settle and I suspect too warm. Currently here from what I can see is rain is that all we can expect now.

I still have to catch up with previous posts, so havent checked out others situations.

[Dartmoor_Matt]

NW Forecast for Dartmoor going for 0C on Thursday with about 30mm+ of PPN, with a 30% chance of snow. At those temps I'd of thought it was all snow, and doesn't 1mm of rain equate to roughly 1cm of snow? In which case I don't fancy my chances of making ze party!

Of course it also says my current temp is 7c - nearer 2.5C.

[Cleeve Hill]

Heavy wet snow out in Overbury.

[SteveB]

Found this report in my local paper online

http://www.theweston...3A56%3A10%3A077

Heavy snow in Weston & Worle within the next few hours???.

Edited December 29, 2009 by SteveB

[twister2005]

well what a let down today has been, cold and wet, think we got wet snow now but not sure, still dont get why we have weather warning guess its just for the high ground, and its till 3am ?

[Dartmoor_Matt]

Infact, the 12z makes Thursday/Friday look pretty good for Devon/Cornwall.

We shall see.

[rbw]

Temp now rising again here in Churchdown and turning back to rain +1.9C . Looks as if the rain belt may be coming to an end as well

R

[Ian Fergusson]

I'm back from my expedition up Cleeve Hill! All went successfully.

I decided to go first via Aggs Hill, to the three masts on Cleeve Common. Cycling up that steep hill was hard work, because I was roasting in all my winter gear! The precipitation began to turn wintry at about 700ft, but it was more like icy rain. When I got up to the top of the hill, it was snowing with a bitter and fierce wind - the flakes were more like needles hitting the side of my face. It can't have been snowing long; either that or it had only just started to settle since there was only a slushy covering on the ground. A woman I said "You must be mad!" as I walked past, pushing my bike, in the snow, across to Cleeve Hill village. I agreed.

The snow soon began to close in and visibility greatly reduced to about 300m. It was pretty heavy and I think the conditions could be described as "blizzard-like". On the way back down, the snow line had evidently dropped quite considerably, since there was wet snow falling as low down as the De La Bere hotel. However it reduced to sleet by Prestbury and rain with a touch of wintriness when I reached town.

I will see if the video clips I took are worthy of uploading; if they are, I will post them on here.

Glad this one has evolved as forecast for upland Glos but obviously not glad for anyone badly affected in those districts. But our man in Exeter, Chief Forecaster Bob Wilderspin, sure knows how to model / advise on snowfall risk in these marginal situations....I've lost count of the excellent calls he has made in the past 2 years. I always retained faith in his assertion for our briefings today, irrespective the morning rain and other 'red herrings'. Looks like things are getting pretty bad in some parts of the areas subject to the earlier warning. Best, Ian

[twister2005]

is this area of rain/snow going to move north or turn back south/east?

Edit temp 2.1c and falling

Edited December 29, 2009 by twister2005

[Defector]

Hi Ian,

how do you see the front moving over the next few hours.

Thanks from a snowy Northleach!

Phil.

Edited December 29, 2009 by Defector

[Dartmoor_Matt]

Evening Ian,

How would you say things are shaping up for NYE at the current time?

Or is it all going the way of the South African display in the cricket?

[aspire27]

Found this report in my local paper online

http://www.theweston...3A56%3A10%3A077

Heavy snow in Weston & Worle within the next few hours???.

We found that hours ago, well this morning.

[SteveB]

Glad this one has evolved as forecast for upland Glos but obviously not glad for anyone badly affected in those districts. But our man in Exeter, Chief Forecaster Bob Wilderspin, sure knows how to model / advise on snowfall risk in these marginal situations....I've lost count of the excellent calls he has made in the past 2 years. I always retained faith in his assertion for our briefings today, irrespective the morning rain and other 'red herrings'. Looks like things are getting pretty bad in some parts of the areas subject to the earlier warning. Best, Ian

Hi Ian,

What do you make of the Weston Mercury saying heavy snow for this area in the next few hours?

[musician]

I'm back from my expedition up Cleeve Hill! All went successfully.

I decided to go first via Aggs Hill, to the three masts on Cleeve Common. Cycling up that steep hill was hard work, because I was roasting in all my winter gear! The precipitation began to turn wintry at about 700ft, but it was more like icy rain. When I got up to the top of the hill, it was snowing with a bitter and fierce wind - the flakes were more like needles hitting the side of my face. It can't have been snowing long; either that or it had only just started to settle since there was only a slushy covering on the ground. A woman I said "You must be mad!" as I walked past, pushing my bike, in the snow, across to Cleeve Hill village. I agreed.

The snow soon began to close in and visibility greatly reduced to about 300m. It was pretty heavy and I think the conditions could be described as "blizzard-like". On the way back down, the snow line had evidently dropped quite considerably, since there was wet snow falling as low down as the De La Bere hotel. However it reduced to sleet by Prestbury and rain with a touch of wintriness when I reached town.

I will see if the video clips I took are worthy of uploading; if they are, I will post them on here.

I'm glad I'm not the only crazy person out there. I used to live in Hewlett Road, Cheltenham, in the late 1970's and used to do exactly what you did today. Used to take my bike up Aggs Hill, past the Reservoir and up to he top and along the road to the Masts. Amazing how it would be raining in Cheltenham and a blizzard on the top with drifting.

Look forward to seeing any video clips.

[SteveB]

We found that hours ago, well this morning.

Did you, guess it's wrong then

[Ian Fergusson]

Hi Ian,

What do you make of the Weston Mercury saying heavy snow for this area in the next few hours?

Weird, frankly. Perhaps a gross misinterpretation of the advisories versus the core zone of severe weather warning.

[dogs32]

fairly heavy rain/sleet and snow at times here..

My temp is still falling

currently 2.2

Edited December 29, 2009 by dogs32

[❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️]

This cold rain event has been amazing :lol:

[twister2005]

Think i am going to look now towards the end of the week, will we see snow then? Off to cirencester tomorrow so might see some snow there will get pics if there is

[Nights King]

Temperature has fallen away last hour or so to 2.3c and it is dry but cloudy.

[Iceberg]

Good agreement from METO GM and GFS 12Z of a possible major snow event in the south west sun/mon/tue. GFS gives totals of 5cm to 20cm and it would hang around as well.

Also Friday/ possibly thursday needs to be watch due to a lot of precip just in the channel, if this can edge a bit further north then it could produce some nice snow for more southern areas (Dorset the most likely in the SW). And as Matt pointed out the front as it moves back on Thursday might give a bit of wintry precip. The 12Z NAM brings 1000-850 thicknesses down to the magic 130 level during thursday.

All in All alot to be thankful for.

[SteveB]

Weird, frankly. Perhaps a gross misinterpretation of the advisories versus the core zone of severe weather warning.

Thanks for replying Ian.

[rbw]

+1.8C now in Churchdown and slowly falling - at what temperature is this stuff supposed to turn to snow??

R

[Nights King]

Good agreement from METO GM and GFS 12Z of a possible major snow event in the south west sun/mon/tue. GFS gives totals of 5cm to 20cm and it would hang around as well.

Also Friday/ possibly thursday needs to be watch due to a lot of precip just in the channel, if this can edge a bit further north then it could produce some nice snow for more southern areas (Dorset the most likely in the SW). And as Matt pointed out the front as it moves back on Thursday might give a bit of wintry precip. The 12Z NAM brings 1000-850 thicknesses down to the magic 130 level during thursday.

All in All alot to be thankful for.

Haha that really would be sods law. I leave the country on saturday morning for 1 week so would miss the entire event. My ski forecast looks boring as well! Itwill be just dry and patcty cloud forecast. surely i cannot make it 5 years on the trot skiing without ever seeing a flake of snow...