Stormy Weather II

[Old Grumpy]

No Currant Bun here, just wet, grey, chilly. There was some snow overnight but the rain arriving after eight(but without chocs) soon washed it away. I see the temperatures are going to be upside down again, getting into double digits tonight and then dropping quickly once sunrise (without sun) happens tomorrow.

Double digits!!!

1 to 2° C here, rising to a balmy 3° at 1200h on Monday here

[Old Grumpy]

I have no idea what you are referring to there I'm afraid, OG - and I've checked Page 3.

Full frontal - page 3 - oh never mind

[vinteuil]

Full frontal - page 3 - oh never mind

.... " playing out over the country's midriff" no less

[smittims]

We get very little snow in South Cheshire; it tends to go round us. So I was surprised to find a considerable fall this morning, 3 inches perhaps, enough to keep Billy in the house and having to use his litter tray which has been 'emergencies only' for months now. I'm just going out now for a walk in Winter Wonderland before it all thaws away.

[gurnemanz]

Strong fluctuation overnight here in N Wilts. We had 10C yesterday evening and 0C when I woke up this morning. As there was the night before. We had driven to London for a hilarious matinee show of The Importance of being Earnest at the National Theatre. Coming back over the higher bit of M4 around Newbury at about 8pm there was driving sleeety snow making the road conditions quite hairy with most drivers going no fast than 50. We arrived home to find snow on the ground. If continued to settle for several hours but in the morning with temp of 6C the snow had more or less vanished.

[smittims]

Our snow has gone now with a NW thawing breeze and Billy is outside in the sunshine awaiting his dinner .

[Serial_Apologist]

.... " playing out over the country's midriff" no less

What was one of the most extraordinary things about Saturday evening's weather was that with the northward passage of the warm front temperatures around midnight rose by up to 10 degs C in a matter of five minutes in a number of places across the south - something I've never witnessed in over 60 years of amateur weather observings. Normally such a passage is immediately accompanied by considerable advection fog as any lying snow begins to "steam" as it thaws under rising surface temperatures, but any temperature rises are still gradual, on the principle that it takes a good deal of stirring to mix warm water into a bath of cold water. My only explanation is that winds in this particular instance remained relatively buoyant after the frontal passage.

This morning 10C was registering on my outdoor max-min thermometer at 7 am; by 9 am it had dropped back to 4C, indicating that the return cold front had passed through in the interim. Some quite vigorous cumulus growth is now observable in the maritime arctic west-northwesterlies but with ground temperatures now below the 8C without additional forcing (secondary cold front/convergence line) needed for surface convection strong enough to produce showers. Our wee hills down here don't provide sufficient barriers for the upward thrust one gets further oop north.

Not a word from DracoM - hope he's not become Snow Dunder!

[oddoneout]

We get very little snow in South Cheshire; it tends to go round us. So I was surprised to find a considerable fall this morning, 3 inches perhaps, enough to keep Billy in the house and having to use his litter tray which has been 'emergencies only' for months now. I'm just going out now for a walk in Winter Wonderland before it all thaws away.

Unfortunately not all cats are averse to snow for toilet purposes. In my two previous homes the neighbours' cats used to find my snow covered lawns very much to their liking; bad enough when I could see where they had been busy and could put a flowerpot over to mark the spot for later attention, even worse when a subsequent fall covered up the evidence...

[Serial_Apologist]

Unfortunately not all cats are averse to snow for toilet purposes. In my two previous homes the neighbours' cats used to find my snow covered lawns very much to their liking; bad enough when I could see where they had been busy and could put a flowerpot over to mark the spot for later attention, even worse when a subsequent fall covered up the evidence...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IobtCDkJKDc

[oddoneout]

What was one of the most extraordinary things about Saturday evening's weather was that with the northward passage of the warm front temperatures around midnight rose by up to 10 degs C in a matter of five minutes in a number of places across the south - something I've never witnessed in over 60 years of amateur weather observings. Normally such a passage is immediately accompanied by considerable advection fog as any lying snow begins to "steam" as it thaws under rising surface temperatures, but any temperature rises are still gradual, on the principle that it takes a good deal of stirring to mix warm water into a bath of cold water. My only explanation is that winds in this particular instance remained relatively buoyant after the frontal passage.

This morning 10C was registering on my outdoor max-min thermometer at 7 am; by 9 am it had dropped back to 4C, indicating that the return cold front had passed through in the interim. Some quite vigorous cumulus growth is now observable in the maritime arctic west-northwesterlies but with ground temperatures now below the 8C without additional forcing (secondary cold front/convergence line) needed for surface convection strong enough to produce showers. Our wee hills down here don't provide sufficient barriers for the upward thrust one gets further oop north.

Not a word from DracoM - hope he's not become Snow Dunder!

Significant and sudden fluctuations here as well, 5 or 6 degrees, in the space of an hour or so. Sunday afternoon saw a sudden rise and the night was mild(close to 12 degrees) thanks to the southerly airstream, and then dropped 5 degrees between 7 and 8am this morning as the wind swung round NW, and by 10 am was just above 1 degree. A stiff breeze and intermittent drizzle made it unpleasant to be outside so the errands list was edited and done at speed - tomorrow is another day, and when it's raw cold like that I prefer the fresh air in small doses!

[oddoneout]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IobtCDkJKDc

Well that's why we get all those yellow snow warnings...
Actually yellow snow gets dealt with by a thaw, it was the other that had me cursing both neighbours and felines.

[Serial_Apologist]

Well that's why we get all those yellow snow warnings...
Actually yellow snow gets dealt with by a thaw, it was the other that had me cursing both neighbours and felines.

[Serial_Apologist]

We haven't been hearing from DracoM for some time, which is unusual. I know there was a lot of snow up his way a week or so ago. I hope he's all right.

[Serial_Apologist]

We haven't been hearing from DracoM for some time, which is unusual. I know there was a lot of snow up his way a week or so ago. I hope he's all right.

Well we have now!

Should 939 mb turn out to be the central pressure of the deep low that's anticipated to reach Scotland by way of N Ireland this coming Friday, I may be right in thinking this would turn out to be the deepest depression to hit any part of the British Isles in recorded history.

[oddoneout]

The last few days have been really dispiriting - grey skies and very cold. The constant murk disguises the increase in daylight hours and the cold is raw so feels worse than when we had very low temperatures - and it seems odd when the airflow is from S or SW. I gather there is something nasty due to happen later this week - I hope there is at least some indication before then that the sun is still up there somewhere...