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

[doctormog]

Happy New Year Aberdeen style...

 

[Richard Taylor]

Happy New Year to all! Looks like I'll need to invest in a canoe however given the forecast over this weekend. God knows what's to happen with the A93 other than as has been said, a realignment. Where's the money coming for that? And what timescale? It can't be left as it is.

Nice photo Doc!

 

[Hairy Celt]

2 hours ago, edo said:

36 minutes ago, Richard Taylor said:

Happy New Year to all! Looks like I'll need to invest in a canoe however given the forecast over this weekend. God knows what's to happen with the A93 other than as has been said, a realignment. Where's the money coming for that? And what timescale? It can't be left as it is.

Nice photo Doc!

 

One thing's for sure, it won't be paid for out of the Trident replacement budget, nor will having a Trident replacement be of any use to any of us in any other respect.

(Yes, my head is still bad)

 

Edited January 1, 2016 by Hairy Celt
you could squirt my brain out of my cous cous now... i can't even edit my edit??? it's a family forum this! why is my post a reply to edo? is this new forum software super duper or what?

[Norrance]

Happy New Year. Just a little bit hungover after a much later than planned night.

About 1 cm of snow here in Aberfeldy.

[Cheggers]

Happy new year to everyone, hope you all had a safe and fun evening. Had a nice dusting of snaw to welcome the bells, but made a chilly walk hame.

[Scottish-Irish Skier]

Happy new year all from me too.

Nae snaw here, but a decent frost that hung around in the gairden all day.

Currently T = 2.4°C / DP = 0.3 °C. Outside chance of some leading edge wintry stuff before that new band of lovely rain arrives. Seems like it hasn't rained in ages. Last rain must have been what, 2015?

Edited January 1, 2016 by scottish skier

[Scottish-Irish Skier]

3 hours ago, Richard Taylor said:

Happy New Year to all! Looks like I'll need to invest in a canoe however given the forecast over this weekend. God knows what's to happen with the A93 other than as has been said, a realignment. Where's the money coming for that? And what timescale? It can't be left as it is.

Nice photo Doc!

 

ScotGov can use some of the little reserve they keep each year for unforeseen emergencies such as this I imagine.*

The immediate problem is getting it re-routed further from the river, as once a river decides to chart a new meander path, you'll have a lot of trouble fighting that.

In the meantime, it looks like they've got room for a temporary bypass.

(*The bit of their fixed budget they get lambasted not for spending in such austere times, but would likewise get lambasted if they did spend it and had no money for emergencies).

Edited January 1, 2016 by scottish skier

[lorenzo]

Warnings updated and an extensive amber area for Tayside and Grampian. Not sure how relaxed the Dee has been since Frank, but another problematic top up inbound.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/warnings/#?tab=warnings&map=Warnings&zoom=5&lon=-3.50&lat=55.50&fcTime=1451692800&regionName=gr

[Northern Strath]

Happy New Year everyone, my Hogmanay exuberance certainly caught up with me yesterday, you know it's bad when you get motion sickness watching a TV weather forecast 

Yesterday we had temperatures struggling to go above zero all day and snow cover, today the garden is green and it's 6 degrees..(*yawn..) regardless, looking forward to what the rest of the winter has in store 

Edited January 2, 2016 by Northern Strath

[DG1]

At least there looks to be a reasonable diversion around the lost section of the A93.

A bigger problem at the moment is that the Invercauld Bridge is closed to traffic, so Braemar and the  Glenshee ski area cannot be accessed from Aberdeen.  An extract from an Aberdeenshire Council press release:

"

The issues caused by flooding restricting vehicle access to the Invercauld Bridge in Braemar means access is only available via Blairgowrie. Pedestrian access is available, but the restriction is in place for motorists’ safety and barriers should not be removed, or driven around.

Work is currently being carried out to look at solutions, however it is likely to remain closed to traffic for a number of weeks.

Engineers have been developing options to secure the remaining sections of the bridge end supports and deck so that traffic can be reintroduced safely but most likely with single lane working controlled by traffic lights.

Work to carry out emergency structural intervention will take place when there is no risk of further flooding of the River Dee. With heavy rain forecast for this Saturday through to Monday remedial works will not commence until Tuesday, January 5 with further progress made as weather and conditions permit.

Emergency services are aware of the restrictions and have contingency plans in place to manage ‘blue light’ emergencies."

[skifreak]

At least there looks to be a reasonable diversion around the lost section of the A93.

It's reasonable in terms of length, as it's just the other side of the river and around 3-4miles longer, but the B976 has sections further upstream towards Crathie that are  basically single track road minus the passing places, it can't accommodate significant traffic or large vehicles. The A939/B976 option is longer, but somewhat better able to take more traffic though still largely single track the B976 has many more passing places on this section - but it's fairly high, very exposed and notoriously difficult to keep open in drifting snow (such that it's abandoned for weeks at a time). Hopefully the priority of this route will be upped significantly for winter maintenance, though the actual A93 will still need to be dealt with as it will continue to be used for local access each side of the breaks. 

Is the old military bridge at Invercauld wide enough to take cars?

[lorenzo]

Welcome along to Netweather DG1 - thanks for the update

[Polar Maritime]

Talking of toffs shooting Pheasants on my drive the other day, I now have the local hunt and the lane blocked by actavists!

 

[Ravelin]

Going to be a real blow to Glenshee ski centre, especially having invested in a new chairlift this year, if the road bringing traffic from Aberdeen direction is closed for most of the winter. The general economy of Braemar will also suffer badly. The town could easily find itself cut off on numerous occasions as the road to Blairgowrie is difficult to keep open in snow. 

[lorenzo]

Getting busy with preparations, also a met office blog here http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2016/heavy-rain-for-Scotland

Standing water already in the back garden at my family home in Aberdeenshire, some hefty totals again below.

 

[Northernlights]

And on the other side of the mountains we have the same strong SE wind   and an RH of 60% rapidly drying things up, dust on the farm road and managing to take home straw bales from the field with  very little mud. Quite a windchill however at 6.5c.

[skifreak]

34 minutes ago, Ravelin said:

Going to be a real blow to Glenshee ski centre, especially having invested in a new chairlift this year, if the road bringing traffic from Aberdeen direction is closed for most of the winter. The general economy of Braemar will also suffer badly. The town could easily find itself cut off on numerous occasions as the road to Blairgowrie is difficult to keep open in snow. 

Glenshee gets a bit over 2/3rds of it trade from the South side, so for the Ski Area the North access being cut is not as disastrous as a long closure to the South would be. There is a need to keep the Cairnwell Pass open to provide a lifeline link to Braemar so we will hopefully see a huge effort put into keeping this open - there's been a feeling for a while that P&K simply don't put enough resources into the A93 because they don't see it as going anywhere in terms of their patch. The need to see a through pass like this as a whole is another reason for retrunking the A93 (It lost it's primary status and was de-trunked to make the private trunk road contracts more profitable when they were first franchised in the mid 90s - keeping the Cairnwell Pass open costs ££££).

[Hairy Celt]

Bit of a long shot, but does anyone know anything about snowshoeing (however it's spelt)?  Looking around on the internet and it doesn't seem to be too common in Scotland at least...

 

In other news, er no news.  Quite a non-event today, looking out the window.

[skifreak]

1 hour ago, Hairy Celt said:

Bit of a long shot, but does anyone know anything about snowshoeing (however it's spelt)?  Looking around on the internet and it doesn't seem to be too common in Scotland at least...

Not to any significant extent, other than walking on the things is pretty darn awkward - i suppose once you get used to them you'd make better progress. I know a few boarders who've made quite a bit of use of snowshoes for uphill, but they've gradually migrated to splitboards as skinning will always make quicker progress than walking except on icy stuff (and skiers on skins will make better progress than those on split boards). A few of the shops that more specialise in backcountry snowsports will have snow shoes, and the Glenmore Shop & Cafe used to sell them - not sure if it still does as much of the shop is now a bar. 

[biggreyface]

1 hour ago, Hairy Celt said:

Bit of a long shot, but does anyone know anything about snowshoeing (however it's spelt)?  Looking around on the internet and it doesn't seem to be too common in Scotland at least...

 

In other news, er no news.  Quite a non-event today, looking out the window.

The only experience's I've had with snowshoeing is when i was in maine in January 2009 myself and my partner had to purchase them(about £100 a pair) just to go for a walk the first  couple of days getting used to them certainly tested the bladder control watching each other fall and roll about the snow like an upturned turtle trying to get back upright  once you did get the hang of them they certainly were essential and easy to use .we never purchased the walking   poles to go with them which most of the locals had no point as i did not think i would get the chance to use them in Scotland  i was wrong they've been used once dec 2010 would recommend giving it a go if you get the chance 

[Scottish-Irish Skier]

Well, just back from a meal over the other side of the hills. Afternoon of moderate rain on and off and the back roads are already flooded with big puddles. Shows how saturated the ground is, and the eastern borders hasn't been hit too bad.

[skifreak]

A degree or two milder than it looked like being a couple of days ago, currently around +2ºc at the summit of the Cairnwell, which isn't good news for the Dee catchment as it is raining at all but the very highest levels of the Cairngorm Plateau. Also not good news for Glenshee and Lecht Ski Areas, looks like it will be marginal at best for snow down to road level tomorrow, which means more rain into saturated catchments and a lot less snow accumulated. Better from Monday onwards so unless things change for the worse again we will hopefully see the season get up and running for next weekend at several areas after the false dawn at Nevis Range last week.

[Benvironment]

6 hours ago, Hairy Celt said:

Bit of a long shot, but does anyone know anything about snowshoeing (however it's spelt)?  Looking around on the internet and it doesn't seem to be too common in Scotland at least...

 

More common than you might think - I know quite a few folk who use them, and indeed see others out on the hill when conditions are good.  But you're right, there's not much online about it as a pursuit in Scotland. The focus is on the Alps, or North America.

I wrote a piece for OE Mag just last month that gives a bit of an introductory overview to snowshoeing in Scotland....or at least my experience of it:

http://www.oe-mag.co.uk/imag/oenovemberdecember2015/ - Page 40 - it's free to read online.

Personally I love it.  And there's nothing better than being able to head out straight from the front door in Fife in my snowshoes  Although, that's not happened since March 2013

 

Also filmed this video blog in Jan last year - again, gives a bit of an intro to snowshoes etc - from a stunning day up in Glen Lochay:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooRsl1SL2cU&list=PLvydz3vW9N6GX1q69Aaz7xxLlBwwAFstr&index=11

Edited January 2, 2016 by Benvironment

[Benvironment]

And in other news.....gawd what a shocker of a day. Hasn't stopped since this afternoon, with just a Tayside-shaped blob of precipitation over East Scotland.

[Scottish-Irish Skier]

Nuts. 

Video of folk driving past that collapsed section of the A93. One lane in the river to the median line, with the river busily cutting away at the remainder, and people are still driving along it. Other lane fell into the river not that long after*.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeenshire/793043/video-driver-crosses-washed-aberdeenshire-road-washed-away-floods/

Folk can be real idiots sometimes. It's like people who drive into flood waters then are surprised when the car engine cuts. Well, duh!

----

*like so:

Edited January 2, 2016 by scottish skier