East Anglia & South East Cold Spell Discussion XXXIII

[Mrsf16]

Yes it does seem very localised due to the size of the showers.

Still some better news for tomorrow as the BBC indicated the snow hitting Norfolk & Peterborough before reaching London.

As for the rest of the week I shall take notice of my own advice. You never know what will develop in the N Sea and the models will never accurately predict this. Normally Peterborough does very well from a NE,ly. I suspect the models may increase the precip nearer the time.

Will look forward to tomorrow then, perhaps my boys will get thier long awaited snow day (poor things had to school during snow of December even though all the other kids in the street didnt!)

Looking at met office rain fall radar for Peterborough it looks like the weekend could do well at the minute.... but not holding my breath!

Struggling to settle here, a lot of swirling wind blowing it around.

[Mark Burton]

It's quite incredible really. The synoptics are the best they have been for many years. Yet here we are again (IMBY & plenty of others in EA/SE), getting screwed over. Sometimes I really hate this country for weather. Take last night for instance. Here in Southend we had about 25 mins of snow giving 0.8cm of cover. At the same time 3 miles to my East in Shoeburyness they had Sleet. Again at the same time 5 miles to my west in Leigh, they also had sleet. I mean, that is a joke. Just goes to show how localised snow can be in this country and should be a warning and learning curve for us all.

I hope this "Big Freeze" picks up soon. As quite frankly it's been a slightly below average period so far, nothing more. Had a decent dump of snow before xmas though, so shouldn't moan really. I just cant for the life of me understand what we need in this country for non-marginal events.

Rant end.

A much bigger country with no sea around it! lol

[kold weather]

Yes it does seem very localised due to the size of the showers.

Still some better news for tomorrow as the BBC indicated the snow hitting Norfolk & Peterborough before reaching London.

As for the rest of the week I shall take notice of my own advice. You never know what will develop in the N Sea and the models will never accurately predict this. Normally Peterborough does very well from a NE,ly. I suspect the models may increase the precip nearer the time.

I think you should do ok, the flow looks decent for you and I wouldn't be all that surprised to see a streamer try and set-up from the Wash at some point, not to mention the front/trough feature coming in as well tomorrow will help to pep things up, that should also allow showers to reach inland towards London as you say, not going to really be much cop in SW Essex IMO though, NE usually have to be quite potent to give anything more then a dusting here.

I fully expect the snow to be nearly all gone by the time I get from Guildford on Sunday here in Sw Essex...unless we get a good top up over the Weekend.

[Discombobulation Man]

The best shot therefore for places tucked in from the NE airflow wil lbe the trough Thursday night-Friday morning, we should see something then but how much once again is uncertain, the GFS isn't at all keen but then agian the models are a joke when it comes to these features.

Also spare a thought for us sad sacks of crap in the city of London who are also stuck in this scew zone and worse than you; we have an f'ing blow torch about to fire up and make doubly sure that any snow that does come here will get scorched to oblivion.

Slush and snizzle, what a joke, as each of these snow chances passes us by with the echos of "snow just missed you again today but you will get yours tomorrow" . . how many days do we go on like this?

In the space of the last week I've had multiple snow chances from the North, the East, the South and the West and the best I have got out of it is 1cm of slush.

Still there's always tomorrow eh

Edited January 6, 2010 by Gulf Stream Hate Campaign Leader

[Wayneywoo]

Here you go, from Hemel..

[Bazz1053]

Hmm waiting for the heavy stuff here in SW London.. been snowing lightly for a while now.. only have a few cms so far yet 10 miles away people have 30cm

What time do you think the heavy stuff will reach SW London?

hi im in Twickinham just down the road from you, it dose not look like we will the heavy stuff. not good. but i know what you are saying just 10miles away 30cm

[Guest archiesmummy]

see the met office downgraded the red areas......

[Ocean Transit]

see the met office downgraded the red areas......

No, they expired!

[Thundery wintry showers]

Because its happening right NOW thats the problem, temps around the S.Essex are geting an onshore flow which means temps are a good 1C above freezing at the moment and its going to hurt the snow cover thats for sure, the cloud cover will help but I have a big feeling any more snow is just going to increase the melting rate now temps are what they are like...

FWIW there will still be some ground left but compare it to anywhere else and it'll probably one of the worst amount, sandwiched inbetween much higher totals, local screw spot as I said.

Ah I see what you mean- winds off the warm English Channel in the south of the region, plus the massive London urban heat island has been noted elsewhere.

Perhaps you need to rely upon topups over the next few days as the airmass will be colder than. Today is fairly marginal even in Norwich with temps just above freezing.

[Guest archiesmummy]

No, they expired!

fingers crossed they come back to life!!!

[echodelta21]

Well, not quite as bad as I thought it would be in Bromley, S London....looking forward to further evolution though. Seems to me that the current radar picture is a complete mess without much movement anywhere. Once it starts moving, maybe we'll see where the next threat comes from.

At any rate, i'm not too downbeat...going back home to parents in Biggin Hill this afternoon, and i'm pretty sure i'll see what should have been more widespread snow up there

[Downpour]

never. the urban heat island effect has kicked in big time in london and all the snow is melting now.

I probably got about 2cm here in Ealing, but we are always a little bit cooler due to the large amounts of green space in the borough. The heat island is amazing. Twice this winter I have travelled four miles from my office in Hammersmith back to W5 and there has been no lying snow in Hammersmith yet around an inch in Ealing and everything white. As for today, light snow all morning, still falling, very little melt. Yet somehow it's disappointing. London has not had a proper dump yet, and until it does, I maintain that this cannot go down as an epic cold spell. We need a proper big easterly and a Thames Streamer. Nothing else will ever match up to Feb 2 unless we get that, in my view.

[Stu_London]

Heavy Snow in Rickmansworth - a further 5 cms easy in the last hour. Perhaps another half hour to come if the radar is correct.

[BarnetBlizzard]

Also spare a thought for us sad sacks of crap in the city of London who are also stuck in this scew zone and worse than you; we have an f'ing blow torch about to fire up and make doubly sure that any snow that does come here will get scorched to oblivion.

Slush and snizzle, what a joke, as each of these snow chances passes us by with the echos of "snow just missed you again today but you will get yours tomorrow" . . how many days do we go on like this?

In the space of the last week I've had multiple snow chances from the North, the East, the South and the West and the best I have got out of it is 1cm of slush.

Still there's always tomorrow eh

really? here we have 4-5 inches and still coming down although dewpoints are now above freezing.

[pureasthedriven]

Hmm waiting for the heavy stuff here in SW London.. been snowing lightly for a while now.. only have a few cms so far yet 10 miles away people have 30cm

What time do you think the heavy stuff will reach SW London?

Just pepped up a tad here in kingston. It's trying (you know the kind of snow I mean!)

[Steve C]

Dreadfully boring picture from an hour ago.

Snow has slowed lots. Probably 7cms / 3" here.

[snow raven]

Moderate snow here in B'heath. However, they are pretty small flakes, even if there are quite a few of them!

[Downpour]

hi im in Twickinham just down the road from you, it dose not look like we will the heavy stuff. not good. but i know what you are saying just 10miles away 30cm

It's quite frustrating. Caught between two bands again. Same thing happened in December. Need cold easterly and a Thames Streamer.

2cm here, light snow falling. But I said yesterday that the media were ramping London snow too much. The buzz in the office was ridiculous and I kept thinking "these numbers are being over-egged". Still two months of winter left, let's see if we can bag a streamer.

[kold weather]

As for Sat/Sunday set-up, looks to me like a classic light snizzle type set-up to me looking at what the models prog, light snowfall which will look pretty but on a practical level will not amount to much at all...

TWS, its even more local then that because the ESE is taking in air from the Thames Mouth, which obviously has its own little region of modified air.

As soon as the wind swings ENE/NE melting will stop pretty quickly here I think as the winds will be back offshore again, so we should keep some of the snow, probably about 1cm.

Still can't see where this pepping up is going to come from for today, the band of snow will slip south but it doesn't look great to be honest.

Can't wait to get out of this rubbish and get to some real snow!

[Ocean Transit]

This BBC programme (which is broadcast everytime a little bit of snow falls) always forget something...

...a weather forecaster / met office person in the studio to explain whats happend and whats going to happen.

[pureasthedriven]

see the met office downgraded the red areas......

A decent text upgrade that, between 10.30-11 today for much of the region.

[john w]

Well about 20cm has fallen here now (Bracknell).

It is still snowing and has done for most the moning, but very small grains. So top up is less likely.

Unsure as to what models now show for the next few days. will the Easterly blow inland enough...never do that well off them here due to modification effects of London. N'e'rly less likely to have any real effect.

It is very dangerous on the roads around here though and so people take care if you do go out!

[Upgrade]

I probably got about 2cm here in Ealing, but we are always a little bit cooler due to the large amounts of green space in the borough. The heat island is amazing. Twice this winter I have travelled four miles from my office in Hammersmith back to W5 and there has been no lying snow in Hammersmith yet around an inch in Ealing and everything white. As for today, light snow all morning, still falling, very little melt. Yet somehow it's disappointing. London has not had a proper dump yet, and until it does, I maintain that this cannot go down as an epic cold spell. We need a proper big easterly and a Thames Streamer. Nothing else will ever match up to Feb 2 unless we get that, in my view.

my thoughts exactly . we should bear in mind that Feb 2 was a 1 in 20 yr event though.

the UHI effect during this cold spelkl has been pronounced we need to see stronger wind to mix it out.

[PureOcean]

& Brighton & Hove

I never know which forum to look in!

Its still snowing very heavily here. All schools are closed. When I can get myself out of bed, I will give you measurements

Lucky you... I was going to send you an SMS but I knew you would be happy!

[Downpour]

A decent text upgrade that, between 10.30-11 today for much of the region.

Upgrade it's true but...

Where are the UKMO finding 2-5cm in Gtr London? Any experts on here want to comment?

ondon & South East England: Bracknell Forest Buckinghamshire Gtr London Milton Keynes Oxfordshire W Berkshire Windsor + Maidenhead WokinghamHeavy Snow1100 Wed 61600 Wed 6Further outbreaks of snow will turn heavy through today giving fresh accumulations of 2 to 5 cm in places and perhaps locally 10 cm. This will continue to cause widespread disruption to transport.

The public are advised to take extra care and refer to the Highways Agency for further advise on traffic disruption on motorways and trunk roads.

Issued at: 1049 Wed 6 Jan