Scotland Weather Discussion - 20th November 2015 and Onwards...

[Hairy Celt]

Cold in Caithness today (~3C max) and showers becoming more wintry as the day wore on.  Very little lying snow in the coastal part between Reay and Wick.  Back in NE Sutherland this evening and it's a similar story.  The air's cold enough (or at least is being shown so by GFS) but the showers have no balls so there's no accumulation. 

[Northern Strath]

Similar story here HC, the occasional showers through last night/today had a definite lack of cajones, they've picked up a wee bit this evening though with a couple of cms top up. -1.2C

[snowidea]

Beautiful if chilly day, sadly stuck in work.

Looking forward to spring now and getting out and about in the campervan. Hopefully weather will allow us to get more trips in this year than we did last year.

[damianslaw]

7 hours ago, edo said:

SW that is spot on..

Describes things perfectly for this area...it's the August that disgusts me....and as u say a cold December would be welcome.... 4c here but feeling chilly and a beautiful day...will the snow come during this spell...nae idea 

August is often a let down of a month, usually plagued by mild moist damp westerlies and southwesterlies and there associated low cloud and claggy misty murk. I don't like August much.

May has the potential to be the best month of the year in much of western Scotland at least provided there is a predominantly northeasterly or easterly airstream, then the west is sheltered and often very sunny and warm compared to the east coast. Does happen on many an occasion but not so in recent years, late May 2012 delivered such a spell, likewise early-mid May 2008 more notably so. Northerly and easterly airstreams are most likely to develop in May as well.. Northerlies usually produce heavy showers and cold winds though.

For Scotland we are entering the drier half of the year roughly late Feb to late August, same goes for the Lake District as we see the atlantic quieten down.

[Hawesy]

Evening all,

Damianslaw, I'll have nightmares if you keep talking about easterlies in May. 

Currently +0.6c in Crail. I wonder if I might crack -3c over the next couple of nights? Not managed that since 2013, I think.

As others have said a beautiful day. Despite the cold uppers the strengthening February sun raised the temp to 6.5c here this afternoon. One thing is for sure, with decent sunshine and relatively little rain February has been a pleasant antidote to a miserable December and January in NE Fife.

[GrangemouthBairn]

Currently -2.0C which is already below what was the forecast min for tonight. If it keeps going like this I could break my coldest recorders temperature of the winter which was -4.7C

[November13]

Interesting activity West of Glasgow no snow reports?

[Guest]

2 hours ago, November13 said:

Interesting activity West of Glasgow no snow reports?

Looks like a fairly reasonable wee shower. That's on the M77, which isn't clear from the pic. 

Edited February 24, 2016 by CatchMyDrift

[Sunshineandshowers84]

Very surprised to see it snow here. Was a completely dry and clear night with widespread frost no snow forecast yet going to bed looks like it's been snowing past half hour.

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Sunshineandshowers84 said:

Very surprised to see it snow here. Was a completely dry and clear night with widespread frost no snow forecast yet going to bed looks like it's been snowing past half hour.

The wee blob bringing your snow was forecast on some of the precip charts, actually very well picked out. Met-O charts show a trough too  

[Hairy Celt]

A thin covering of graupel at -1C this morning.  Cold one coming up today.

[CoastRainbow]

Woke up to a very cold morning and a wee snow flake or two  nice wee surprise  

[Hawesy]

Didn't quite manage -3c but the current reading of -2.4c is the coldest of the winter here in Crail.

Lovely blue skies again to start the day.

[grifter]

Very light flakes last night, woke up to a dusting so must have been on and off overnight. Then about half 7 this morning it started a wee bit heavier. Falling very slow but is now snowing in Paisley too. Judging by radar going to be short lived event.

Edited February 24, 2016 by grifter

[Northernlights]

Fine sunny start at -0.5c with a dusting of snow. Been more snow overnight to the north right to sea level with even the cliffs at Dunbeath showing up white in the early morning sunshine. A truly arctic landscape and sky.

[SW Saltire]

12 hours ago, damianslaw said:

August is often a let down of a month, usually plagued by mild moist damp westerlies and southwesterlies and there associated low cloud and claggy misty murk. I don't like August much.

May has the potential to be the best month of the year in much of western Scotland at least provided there is a predominantly northeasterly or easterly airstream, then the west is sheltered and often very sunny and warm compared to the east coast. Does happen on many an occasion but not so in recent years, late May 2012 delivered such a spell, likewise early-mid May 2008 more notably so. Northerly and easterly airstreams are most likely to develop in May as well.. Northerlies usually produce heavy showers and cold winds though.

For Scotland we are entering the drier half of the year roughly late Feb to late August, same goes for the Lake District as we see the atlantic quieten down.

Agreed. Although, i do like the warmth of August. Spring and early summer has the stronger sun but the residual warmth is enjoyable in August and into September. 

When i went to Italy is early September 2013 it was perfect weather. I can cope with it hotter but to me, 25-28c sunny is perfect with the sun not up until about 7 and it was down by 6pm. Strolling out to restaurants at 7pm or later when it's still >23c is one of the things i love about warm weather. Unfortunately rare in this country but we are very humid at times so tbh >20c is sufficient. 

 

I was sitting my exams in May 2012. A head teacher from Kenya came over and mentioned how the weather 'felt like back home' as it was 25-28c for 7-10 days (i forget how long). A truly SHOCKING summer followed so i don't care if May is great tbh.

So i love easterly winds outside of winter (even then, they can bring snow. Certainly cold), they equalsunny, dry and moderately warm if they aren't strong. Best warmth i get is from a wind with a easterly component. Sly and SWly bring the chance of cloud from the sea to my south. 

However, excluding 2012, May has been a poor month.

Give me July 2013 or 2014 anyday of the week. Loved both. Average max was about 2c above average, sitting between 21c and 22c. Perfect! 

Yesterday was an early appetizer to summer for me. I climbed in the car and it was roasting having sat in a sun trap all day. You could actually feel the sun too. Nights are much longer, light until 6 now. 

I do love the eternal gloom of October... Loves sleeping well into the morning (afternoon) when it's permanently pitch black, certainly after summer. The sun wakes me up at 11am at my flat in Stirling which is annoying but overall, i'm really looking forward to summer again. Going to be a very busy one i think... 

 

More on topic:

Today has clouded over and is pretty chilly (i'm still in bed but i'm guessing no higher than 1c). 

Tomorrow looks glorious. If only it were April...

 

Edited February 24, 2016 by SW Saltire

[Ravelin]

-1.2C at around 8am this morning and -3.4C as an overnight low. More cloud around this morning than of late, around 50/50 cloud and blue sky at the moment, but nothing falling from the cloud. Bit of a breeze.

A quick scan of this mornings models and it looks to stay on the cool side but nothing showing that looks particularly exciting.

Edit: Just after I say there's nothing falling from the clouds it starts to snow in Dyce. Small dry flakes, moderately heavy. Doubt it'll lie, especially as the sun is still shining.

Edited February 24, 2016 by Ravelin

[SW Saltire]

Finally opened my curtains....

Very light snow is frozen to most surfaces haha. Tiny, tiny flakes. 

Going to be a raw day with the lack of sunshine...

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, SW Saltire said:

Finally opened my curtains....

Very light snow is frozen to most surfaces haha. Tiny, tiny flakes. 

Going to be a raw day with the lack of sunshine...

Oi! You weren't allowed any snow. Blue skies and blazing sunshine here yet again today, it feels like Feb 2006, 2010 and 2013 all rolled into one. 

[SW Saltire]

4 minutes ago, CatchMyDrift said:

Oi! You weren't allowed any snow. Blue skies and blazing sunshine here yet again today, it feels like Feb 2006, 2010 and 2013 all rolled into one. 

Haha, upon closer inspection i think it's hailstones. Lots of hailstones.

Sun trying to come through so not sure how this will pan out. Slow melt underway

[snowy owl]

Braw sunny day here.

[GrangemouthBairn]

Overnight min of -3.3C in Grangemouth. Been quite a lot.of.cloud this morning but dry and bright with some short sunny spells but it's turning increasingly sunny now as clearer skies move down from the north. Was 1.4C when I left the house at 10. Mostly sunny in Edinburgh now

Edited February 24, 2016 by GrangemouthBairn

[SW Saltire]

Upon a better inspection...

it was actually snow. Has been snowing lightly for the last 20 mins or so. 

Not lying and most of the previous snow has vanished. 

Currently 1.3c. Very chilly. Snowflakes are lovely to watch but they've stopped now and i'd rather have the sun back, it's trying to break through...

At least it's a bright day

[Ravelin]

Well we've had several snow showers today in Dyce, one just before 12 noon that was heavy enough to lay down a temporary covering before the sun came back out. All have been pretty short though and well spaced, which is a pity.

[GrangemouthBairn]

One thing I've noticed in the last 2 days is something which is a sign that spring is almost here and it's to do with the cloud. Obviously there was an occluded front which moved through late last night/early this morning which brought some cloud and some snow showers in the West but this cleared later in the morning and it became mostly clear and sunny for a while like yesterday morning was before a lot of fair weather cloud built up in the afternoon which then dissolved again on both evenings. That's a classic sign of spring where the heat from the sun is able to start generating convection as some areas become warmer than others which leads to rising air and clouds forming. In a month or twos time the air and ground would be warmer which would allow stronger convection to occur and therefore showers would become more widespread (as is normal in spring). On the other hand, a month ago, this set up would probably be producing clear skies all through the day.

Anyway, today's Max was 5.5C. Now it's down to 2.6C. With it expected to be completely clear all night tonight unlike last night when more cloud came down from the Northwest, I think it could be colder than the -3.3C I recorded last night.

One thing I have noticed is that here there has not been one night all winter where it has been completely clear and calm all night. The lowest I have recorded was in January on the Friday night before the Saturday when snow came in from the west. That night it was -4.7C but I remember even the evening before that the temperature kept going up and down until about 11pm as the breeze picked up and died down. And even last night which I think was the second coldest I've had this winter, had more cloud during the second half of the night. Therefore tonight could be the first completely clear and calm night of the whole winter so it could end up being the coldest.

Edit: wow that's the longest post I've written by some way

Edited February 24, 2016 by GrangemouthBairn