Cold Spell Discussion

[Mondy]

Currently -9c @ Aviemore..

[West Sussex Kate]

A warm 3c here today and 6 ichs of snow on ground (day 5 here.....which is crazy for sussex)

[January Snowstorm]

Slightly off topic, forgive me this once but it is bucketing snow here in cork for the last 2 hours

Yes, cork gets snow from an easterly

[Snowyowl9]

It's thawing here now.

It`s freezing here.

The wind has still not moved to the east yet,NE or NNE but should move more E/NE later today.

GFS max temps tommorrow are freezing.

http://91.121.93.17/pics/Rtavn3617.png

Just been out and the snow is still drifting steadily higher up,even blowing off our roof when a small breeze comes we`re out of the wind here though.

[Nick L]

Heavy/moderate snow on and off for most of the day here, but NOTHING has settled. In fact, it is accelerating the thaw if anything.

[paul tall]

the thaw is coming because its here.

bristol drizzle cows drizzle.

looks like ne england and scotland getting battered tonight strong e ne winds and heavy snow coming out of the north sea.

You see that and I see sleet and drizzle. Where is this heavy precipitation coming from?

[Spurry]

I might be straw clutching here but i'm not convinced that this cold is going to be displaced quite so easily..there are still some very low minima throughout the week and not so high maxima forecast,and the models are hinting at the HP to the east staying in position , it only needs it to come a few hundred miles to the west and we could have another bitterley cold spell all over again

Edited January 10, 2010 by Spurry

[Northernlights]

No sign of a thaw yet as we are at -10c with starry skies and Kinloss on the coast almost as low when I last looked. The main talking point here is the number of farm steadings where the roofs have collapsed due to the weight of snow with resulting problems for rehousing animals. Seems to be 1980s onwards buildings mainly where they didn"t design in heavy snowfall capabilities perhaps. Tesco in Keith was closed for a while while the roof was checked as it had 4 feet of snow on it. 21 whisky bonded warehouses in Keith also fell in, what a potential waste and they have been there for more than 40 years. Presumebly they now have security watching or there is a potential "Whisky Galore" in the making!

[Mondy]

-18c @ 6pm at Altnaharra

-12c at Inverness.

This winter the record so far is -22.4, Altnaharra has a good chance of breaking it again!

[johncoolj]

anyone here think the cold spell could come back in the next few weeks it did in 1981 or do you thin by tis time next week the west winds will be too far in

[peterf]

there's some major data probs tonight.radar temp overlay shows newcastle at -8c and the local council weather station shows Sunderland at 4.9c.chtist as heard about the north south divide before,but that is extreme lol.major thaw up here first time in 3 weeks thank god.

[trisyork]

Raining here in York at moment and snow disappearing quickly, want more snowfall!

[peterf]

radar temp overlays -10c in the boro and plus 3c in leeming bar.well give over lol.

[Deep Snow please]

there's some major data probs tonight.radar temp overlay shows newcastle at -8c and the local council weather station shows Sunderland at 4.9c.chtist as heard about the north south divide before,but that is extreme lol.major thaw up here first time in 3 weeks thank god.

Thats some data problem, doubt Newcastle was that cold at 7pm and can tell you Washington(near enough to Sunderland) was probably not near 5C. If it was it would have felt a lot warmer. I reckon both are slightly offthe 4.9 might of been right at midday but the -8C will be point blanc wrong, used to live in Newcastle(well Gateshead but still) only a few days ago.

Edited January 10, 2010 by Deep Snow please

[West is Best]

Amazing down here in north Devon. Not only 10-15cms overnight and this morning, but it's snowing again now: beautiful sight.

North Devon: new snow capital of Britain!!!

[Mondy]

The "mild" air has unfortunately crept into Altnaharra. At now -19c the good folks up there will soon be wearing t-shirts and turing the heating down

Edited January 10, 2010 by Mondy

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Both of them?

[Mondy]

Plus the other 28.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8447945.stm

[snowbunting]

The "mild" air has unfortunately crept into Altnaharra. At now -19c the good folks up there will soon be wearing t-shirts and turing the heating down

and you think we are joking!!!

it has just gone to 0C here on the west coast on Skye and we are getting excited at the thought of a thaw, it has been bloew freezing for most of the day and night here now for four weeks, the south may have had alot of the snow, but the north has had all of the freezing bitterly cold conditions.

[nick sussex]

Sad to say but the UKMO today and yesterday have been a complete shambles! first warnings that imploded and not updated even when it was obvious that there was not going to be anything like the snow they forecasted and now they've sent out a message of a thaw which the media have been going on about all day and now much more snow than they suggested, talk of flurries has also imploded!

Heavy snow in the sw not forecast and not even highlighted even when it was actually happening, is there any communication between the ukmo and bbc presenters for nowcasting situations!

[Kentish Man]

Couldn't agree more Nick - it has been a very poor 48 hours for them. Here in Kent we had very significant snowfall yesterday when folks were led to believe by BBC/UKMO that it was today that was the danger day. Suffice to say all we had were a few flurries of snow in the heavier showers and drizzle at other times.

Perhaps some of the skills in cold weather forecasting have been lost in the mainly mild winters of the last 22 years.

Edited January 10, 2010 by Kentish Man

[andymusic]

Joe B from accuweather's take on the coming weeks

SUNDAY 6:00 PM LONDON TIME

WINTERS ICY GRIP TO RELEASE JAN 15-25, BUT BACK FOR FEB.

The physical drivers for the overall cold winter remains. The atlantic tripole, the warm, cold warm profile from the north atlantic to off the southeast US coast favors a negative nao. The central Pacific remains the focus of the nino. In addition the mei is similar to where it was it previous years when there was major cold over parts of Europe, but the problem is where.

I remain partial to 02-03 which had a nasty February, however as bad as the first half of Jan has been over the northwest part of Europe, I think February will have the worse part of winter relative to averages from Germany eastward into Russia. There is likely to be more cold further southeast than there has been. The message is that winter, which will retreat over the continent to some degree in its severity will return but the worst will be over in the northwest compared to the areas targeted. So the Battle of Britain and France this winter, while not over, will be more of a skirmish than what it has been.

Now let me clear. If it had not been so bad, lets say it had been as Hadley had said, I would be telling you that February would be a wintery month. But I dont think relative to the 30 days ending 15 Jan, it will be able to compete. So when reading this, I have to rely on you to understand.. there are two things that I am trying to draw attention too, what it should be in relation to normal and what it has been. And by the way I think Feb 15-Mar 14 is as cold as Jan 15-Feb 14... as the reload may mean some ugly weather deep into March.

So winter is not over..but the current siege will let up. I will be updating you as I can a firm handle, but if I am going to tell you when its going to get brutal before it does, I owe it to you to tell you when it will get warmer. I cant answer email on specific sites as this is a general column to show the generalities of the pattern and to make the major points.. like this winter was not going to be a walk in the park, at least not one without overcoats and snow boots

Edited January 11, 2010 by andymusic

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Is English even his second language?

Listening to Philip Eden on Today this morning, I wouldn't be expecting anything wintry in nature beyond Wednesday, as we head into next week.

[weather eater]

Lord help us if Joe Bs right, the kids are now into their 6th day off just because of some light sleet and despite a pretty rapid thaw. If they’re worried about a bit of snow on the ground, get them in and give them some shovels.

[Osbourne One-Nil]

When I got my kids to school on Friday it was -12C, but the head still had them out in the playground rather than cluttering up the inside. God for her!