Winter 2023/24 Chat and Discussion

[East Lancs Rain]

Another really cold and sunny day today, not a cloud all day and I think the temperature stayed below freezing all day, with not much snow melting. ️ Temp got down to -7° last night here! Now it’s currently a slightly less cold -0.7° outside. All change by the weekend with much milder but also much wetter, much duller and much windier weather, with Tuesday potentially reaching 13° but with strong gusty winds and heavy rain. ️ 

 

This winter has seen some very sharp contrasts in weather. We had that really cold snap in late November and early December, then it turned very mild, very wet, very windy and very dull. During January, it has turned increasingly colder, drier and sunnier, with some snow in places. Now it’s going back to being very mild, but also very wet, very windy and very dull again… It has either been bitterly cold and dry or very mild but also extremely wet, very windy and extremely dull.
 

Can’t we just have some nice quiet days where it’s around 7° and sunny by day and around 0° and clear sky at night?

 

The stats for December show it was a very mild month (7C CET) and also exceptionally wet. We have also just had a sudden stratospheric warming which could have an effect on the weather in a few weeks time…

 

Check out the height reanalysis charts below. They show how December, the first half of January as well as the winter overall has been.

 

GavsWeatherVids on YouTube has also done a mid winter review video.

 

 

[East Lancs Rain]

There is already yellow warnings for rain and wind for the NW of England. Looks like it’s back to business as usual…

 

The rest of the month is looking quite mild and zonal according to the CFS V2, very wet everywhere during the first week, then a more traditional zonal pattern in the second week, with the wettest conditions in the north, the driest conditions in the south, and all areas milder than average.
 

The rest of the month is also looking very zonal and westerly according to the model output, with some deep areas of low pressure barrelling the country at times, before possibly turning exceptionally mild on the 28th and maybe a taste of spring on the 1st February with a nice mild ridge of high pressure over the country.

 

The MOD thread might have been a better place to post this but as they’re only interested in cherry picking the cold charts rather than the actual weather…

[SussexSnowman]

Low as -4oc last night. Shall enjoy it today as it looks like after tomorrow, the temps pick up. It's a glorious sunny day today without a whiff of clouds. I know most coldies like cold and snow, but it's not a total bust if we just get cold and not the snow. 

I've enjoyed it. Dry days. Makes walking my dogs (both white!) easier and less of a chore having to clean them down when it pi$$es down all the time. 

Plus winter isn't over with yet. So no need to panic about the lack of snow. 

[Metwatch]

On 18/01/2024 at 09:00, The Enforcer said:

And yet all that good work will be undone by the time the weekend is done.

Slightly late reply but it's not looking overly wet next week. Majority of rain will be across mountainous areas with the leeward which is much of England a lot drier. Wind main issue coming days. UK high may also make a quick return next weekend.

[*Stormforce~beka*]

2 hours ago, SussexSnowman said:

Low as -4oc last night. Shall enjoy it today as it looks like after tomorrow, the temps pick up. It's a glorious sunny day today without a whiff of clouds. I know most coldies like cold and snow, but it's not a total bust if we just get cold and not the snow. 

I've enjoyed it. Dry days. Makes walking my dogs (both white!) easier and less of a chore having to clean them down when it pi$$es down all the time. 

Plus winter isn't over with yet. So no need to panic about the lack of snow. 

IT's been bloody gorgeous!!!!

[Snowyowl9]

A cold day today with a very cold feeling SWly wind quite breezy very little low cloud high cloud moved in sprinklings of snow still left 3.3c max now 1.6c..

Tomorrow certainly looks raw and windier still. 

[The Enforcer]

8 hours ago, Metwatch said:

Slightly late reply but it's not looking overly wet next week. Majority of rain will be across mountainous areas with the leeward which is much of England a lot drier. Wind main issue coming days. UK high may also make a quick return next weekend.

The main problem is that bands of rain get stuck and don't clear. I quite regularly see them clearing the East coast, but it will still be raining here. No wonder the Ock Valley floods so easily.

[East Lancs Rain]

For anyone who wants some severely cold and snowy winter weather, How about a trip to Yakutsk in Russia? Temps of -44°C at the moment, and can get as low as -70°C!

 

Also, looking at the forecast it is completely sunless. Don’t know how accurate the bbc forecast is and whether these conditions are normal or not but it looks like a nuclear winter with it either being thick cloud and dry or thick cloud and snowy with no sun whatsoever.

[Alderc 2.0]

7 hours ago, East Lancs Rain said:

For anyone who wants some severely cold and snowy winter weather, How about a trip to Yakutsk in Russia? Temps of -44°C at the moment, and can get as low as -70°C!

 

Also, looking at the forecast it is completely sunless. Don’t know how accurate the bbc forecast is and whether these conditions are normal or not but it looks like a nuclear winter with it either being thick cloud and dry or thick cloud and snowy with no sun whatsoever.

It’s 62° north, so the sun gets less than 10° above the horizon and that sort of cold is usually accompanied by a permanent freezing mist/fog.

[Alderc 2.0]

After this weekends storm for most away from the west conditions look decent for mid winter, mild, relatively bright and not particularly wet. 
 

It won’t be long until we are exiting January and for those of us who look forward to the warmer months and additional daylight spring will be within reaching distance before long however I’ve already got the gut feeling either March or April or even both are going to be very disappointing months. 

[I remember Atlantic 252]

4 minutes ago, Alderc 2.0 said:

After this weekends storm for most away from the west conditions look decent for mid winter, mild, relatively bright and not particularly wet. 
 

It won’t be long until we are exiting January and for those of us who look forward to the warmer months and additional daylight spring will be within reaching distance before long however I’ve already got the gut feeling either March or April or even both are going to be very disappointing months. 

late January is when it can become warm, unlike Nov and Dec/early Jan, still not improving on a morning though, pitch dark still at 7am

[Markus03]

Hm, some lightning for later today?

[East Lancs Rain]

23 hours ago, Metwatch said:

Slightly late reply but it's not looking overly wet next week. Majority of rain will be across mountainous areas with the leeward which is much of England a lot drier. Wind main issue coming days. UK high may also make a quick return next weekend.

It certainly looks wet for most of the country away from SE England! ️ Going for around 70 mm in my location and going for over 100 mm for south west Scotland and Cumbria. I suspect we’ll have flooding in some areas. Fine weather if you’re a duck.  

[Big Gally]

Exeter now mention snow and ice for mid February! Changed the wording back to winds coming from the north/ east. 

[E17boy]

17 minutes ago, Big Gally said:

Exeter now mention snow and ice for mid February! Changed the wording back to winds coming from the north/ east. 

That is really positive news. They are definitely seeing something that’s going to brew up come February after the output of the last few days I really was thinking that Exeter will downgrade their Feb outlook but we are still firmly holding on. We just need the output to come on board now. Fingers crossed .  

[Airedalejoe]

58 minutes ago, Bricriu said:

So have they dropped the idea of Easterly winds now? They had that as the direction of travel  for days. 

The Met long range forecast wording has improved today. Now mentions winds between north and east and mentions snow and ice mid Feb. Definite improvement on yesterdays wording.

[NEVES SCREAMER]

Vest From The West on the doorstep. The hideous cold being ushered away. Still a raw breeze out there. Looking forward to a balmy 12c tomorrow. A long time coming too.

[SunnyG]

42 minutes ago, NEVES SCREAMER said:

Vest From The West on the doorstep. The hideous cold being ushered away. Still a raw breeze out there. Looking forward to a balmy 12c tomorrow. A long time coming too.

I feel like a kid the night before Xmas lmao!

22 hours ago, East Lancs Rain said:

For anyone who wants some severely cold and snowy winter weather, How about a trip to Yakutsk in Russia? Temps of -44°C at the moment, and can get as low as -70°C!

 

Also, looking at the forecast it is completely sunless. Don’t know how accurate the bbc forecast is and whether these conditions are normal or not but it looks like a nuclear winter with it either being thick cloud and dry or thick cloud and snowy with no sun whatsoever.

Hades

[NEVES SCREAMER]

Hate the cold with a vengeance. The minus 8 Thursday morning was a real test. 

[raz.org.rain]

48 minutes ago, NEVES SCREAMER said:

Vest From The West on the doorstep. The hideous cold being ushered away. Still a raw breeze out there. Looking forward to a balmy 12c tomorrow. A long time coming too.

Even better, the incoming mild plume is expected to blast through Scandinavia, so we'll likely be losing that cold reserve.

[NEVES SCREAMER]

3 minutes ago, raz.org.rain said:

Even better, the incoming mild plume is expected to blast through Scandinavia, so we'll likely be losing that cold reserve.

Yeah. 5 and a half weeks until March. The longer the extreme cold stays away the better. Bloke who comes in our local pub jetting out to India for the test cricket India v England. He said 'enjoy the winter' as he left the pub.

[Frigid]

Goodbye Winter, Hello Autumn 

Hopefully we see at least one more blast of cold in Feb, the current forecast is reminiscent of the wretched December we had. 

Edited January 20 by Frigid

[NEVES SCREAMER]

1 minute ago, Frigid said:

Hello Autumn 

The 14c looks good

[Frigid]

Just now, NEVES SCREAMER said:

The 14c looks good

Thing is, I don't mind the mild weather.. It's the incessant rain and wind. If the upcoming spell was predominately sunny it'd be quite pleasant.

[NEVES SCREAMER]

3 minutes ago, Frigid said:

Thing is, I don't mind the mild weather.. It's the incessant rain and wind. If the upcoming spell was predominately sunny it'd be quite pleasant.

Oh ok. No worries.