Scottish weather discussion - Spring 2023/24

[Scottish-Irish Skier]

12 hours ago, skifreak said:

Here's a couple of A82 photos I've dug up from various places on Facebook. A major trunk road closed for 2 1/2 days, and left looking like this, is a Yellow Warning? The Met Office excuse is that there was no point updating warnings after the weather impacts had begun to occur, yet the rest of the time they are telling people to keep checking warnings after they are issued because they maybe updated at short notice. The Met Office needs a serious shake because frankly the warning system is not credible. 

I'm up and down the A82 and A9 quite a lot and the matrix signs have perpetual Yellow Warning _______ [something] notices posted.  These persistent what appear to be backside covering Yellow Warnings for routine seasonal weather need to stop because the effect isthat  nobody really takes any much notice of yellow warnings because the MO throw them around like confetti. 

I drove back home from Carrbridge that day because it was just a yellow. Bit of rain and maybe some snow on a shortish higher section so nae bother.

What I got was the worst driving conditions I've ever personally experienced. Trees down on roads that were completely flooded. Blawin a hoolie with torrential horizontal rain / sleet / snow making for very poor visibility. Higher sections impassable if you didn't have a 4 x 4 and/or winter tyres. Some lower roads impassable for any regular car due to the depth of water.

Lucky I was in an SUV 4 x 4 as I think my regular car would have been too low to risk some of the lochs I drove through even though it has winters on. 

And the lorries I saw getting stuck might not have been so ready to take the high routes. 

Totally useless Meto. We need one HQ'd in the central highlands rather than Devon. Then we'd be sure to get accurate warnings as they'd be able take stick their heids oot the windae! 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by Scottish-Irish Skier

[Aphelion]

Even had a wee dusting, down by the Forth.

[Snowlover2]

Obviously we escaped the weather warning so it is laying thick and fast. 

[Klippie]

Its quite heavy now...the grass is filling up nicely.

 

[Snowlover2]

Street suddenly became busy once the snow started

[Polar Gael]

Big snaw began around an hour ago and we already have an inch. Falling on well frozen ground so it has stuck readily. Currently -0.3°C/-3°C so this could get tasty!

 

[snowidea]

It's still snowing here, though it might have some rain mixed in with it now. 

[Hawesy]

30 minutes ago, Snowlover2 said:

Street suddenly became busy once the snow started

Nice to see some snow in Fife! Just sleet and rain here on the coast. The SEly wind kicked in and nudged the temperature up to 4.5c quickly.

[aggy]

Good dump here so far I’d say 2 inches so far 

[jellybaby1969]

53 minutes ago, DR(S)NO said:

Been chucking it down since 10:30. Good few inches at sea level… top of town absolutely thick with snow!!

Best snow here is from Easterlies.

Shame it won’t last though

Quite incredible that Helensburgh and Gourock have a great snow event whilst Irvine bee pretty dry

[edo]

chucking it down here but the bah humbug in me can't get excited knowing it's not sticking around and will soon be kids all excited and I'm like calm down it's gonna be a mess

[Norrance]

Funny one here as temps rose from -2C early doors to +3.3C as the breeze picked up from the SE and the cloud thickened. Rain started but as it got heavier a bit of evaporative cooling set in and in heavier bursts has turned to wet snow. Now +0.3C but changing both ways rapidly depending on heaviness of the rain/snow.

[Glaswegianblizzard]

Quite thick snow here.

[Dundeeguy]

14 minutes ago, Norrance said:

Funny one here as temps rose from -2C early doors to +3.3C as the breeze picked up from the SE and the cloud thickened. Rain started but as it got heavier a bit of evaporative cooling set in and in heavier bursts has turned to wet snow. Now +0.3C but changing both ways rapidly depending on heaviness of the rain/snow.

Sleet/ wet snow here also . Very marginal 

[Hawesy]

42 minutes ago, edo said:

chucking it down here but the bah humbug in me can't get excited knowing it's not sticking around and will soon be kids all excited and I'm like calm down it's gonna be a mess

Agreed, I’ve never had much time for snow>rain events. I suppose if the snow is long-lasting enough to get out and enjoy it then fair enough. But I’d rather take plain rain over a layer of slush! 

Edited December 30, 2023 by Hawesy

[Ross B]

Back to rain here and the thaw is well underway. Nice little surprise though, hopefully more to come! 

[Ravelin]

Not started to snow/rain here so far today,but got out with the dog in advance just in case. Don't mind walking in snow, but rain or sleet, no thanks.

Picture is from the 'middle' route of my normal dog walks up the hill from the house, 350m asl or thereabouts. Still plenty of crunchy, refrozen snow along the track, icy in places. It was quite dull and misty.

[thebigyin]

Over in Kenmore this week and getting a bit snowy here too will enjoy before sleety rainy mess descends. Been a fair bit more since photo 

 

[SW Saltire]

Got up some hills north of Langholm on the D&G/Borders border this morning.
 

Was lovely and snowy. My gf’s miniature Dachshund gave up near the top and had to be carried, I knew we should have brought the collies instead.

Back at sea level, horribly wet.

[Polar Gael]

Update: 5cm on the level and has now turned to freezing rain. Wind picking up a touch as well. Currently 0.2°C/0°C. 

[Huntforsnow]

Decent 2nd snowfall of December that  

didn’t come to anything here in Kilwinning but I headed through to Johnstone/Houston to the stables my horse is at and wow it was snowy! Even the main roads were bad! Beautiful

 

[Scottish-Irish Skier]

Front hasn't got here yet.

Went for a dug walk here:

Wardhouse 2 | Castles of Clan Gordon Wiki | Fandom

GORDONCASTLES.FANDOM.COM

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Home | Castles Index | Gordons of Interest | Lands, Estates, Battlefields Wardhouse may have received it’s name from an older Castle (literally down the road from it’s location)...

Must have been quite the mansion in its heyday, and whit a view!

You can see the snaw line in the distance clearly. Above around 300 m it's hung aroond.

  

[Cheggers]

Wee wander with the dugs as rain now setting in

Still Baltic oot side

[A Winter's Tale]

Well the 2nd day of December produced a surprise snowfall and the 2nd last day of December delivered one of the most surprising snow events I can recall. In recent years frontal snow-rain events have struggled to result in anything more than a brief covering. The lack of a warning by the Met office suggested more of the same but ultimately up to 7cm of snow fell which is the most for a frontal event here since 2013.  The downside of most frontal snowfalls is how rare it is for snow cover to last and today is no different. However the excitement of seeing the snow pelting it down and readily accumulating makes it worth it - even more so when it’s unexpected - and a proper frontal snowfall was well overdue. 
 

Despite how mild December 2023 has been it’s remarkable I’ve seen more 2 inch + snowfalls than in December 2010 - in fact I can’t recall this happening before in December. The winter of 2021/22 was similar in terms of over delivering decent falls of snow in an otherwise poor winter. 

Hopefully 2024 can offer more sustained periods of winter weather. The models so far today appear to be more optimistic about the prospects of cold and possibly snowy weather commencing the second week of January. I’m expecting January to be much colder than December though it wouldn’t surprise if it doesn’t surpass this month’s snowfalls. Having already experienced a couple of decent falls I’m looking forward to more sustained snow cover or at least some fine, crisp winter conditions instead of the Atlantic driven weather of late. At the moment it looks like we could have a lot to look forward to as we enter the new year.

[Halfamilefromnowhere]

Hideous  foul day here, minus 1 and light rain this morning making everywhere even more icy, afternoon brought fog and v cold drizzle before howling Gale accompanied by driving sleet towards dusk.