Stormy Weather II

[Serial_Apologist]

Pleasantly still and sunny here as well. Was expecting a drenching but only 4mm rain overnight

There would certainly have been more rain than that here in London, but the wind was not as bad as I'd been fearing - none of that high-pitched whistle and feeling of the building slighly moving denoting a severe gale. What was extraordinary was the drop in pressure, from 1020 millibars first thing yesterday to 976 mb when I got up, and still now falling as the primary low approaches from the NW, following its cold front. I thought my barometer must have been knocked or something until I checked an official website. A surprisingly sunny day considering. Now we have a week of cold, locked-in air across all parts as that selfsame low ginds to a halt to stagnate over the N Sea. Anywhere could be seeing snow in the next 3 days - falling, but only settling for short periods, except for on high ground.

[DracoM]

Don't know how you guys got away with it!
Absolute tonking up here! You wake up next day amazed that most stuff is where you left it including the south-facing windows!

[oddoneout]

It was very noisy last night, not just from the wind but because heavy rain was being hurled at windows and doors by said wind. Things mostly seemed to be in place in the morning thankfully - but to some extent that's the result of successive previous weather 'events' highlighting what needs to be moved/put away/tied down. Bungee strap went on the recycling bin as the opor lid design coupled with virtually nithing in it means it doesn't take much to tip it over. The general bin was, for me, fairly well loaded but still went over sometime during the night, but I don't bother about that as the contents don't scatter like the recycling. What was strange was how quickly it all stopped this morning; the rain had given up sometime round 6am but then at about 9 it suddenly seemed rather quiet and I realised that the wind had dropped significantly, almost as if it had been turned off. We then had a lovely sunny day, if rather chilly. I went out for a brief walk and was shocked at the amount of surface water. Some gardens had an inch or so sitting on lawns and beds and parts of the footpath were also underwater. And we get called nimby when expressing concern at what will happen when the plans go ahead for hundreds of houses to be built on the adjacent fields...

[BBMmk2]

It was very noisy last night, not just from the wind but because heavy rain was being hurled at windows and doors by said wind. Things mostly seemed to be in place in the morning thankfully - but to some extent that's the result of successive previous weather 'events' highlighting what needs to be moved/put away/tied down. Bungee strap went on the recycling bin as the opor lid design coupled with virtually nithing in it means it doesn't take much to tip it over. The general bin was, for me, fairly well loaded but still went over sometime during the night, but I don't bother about that as the contents don't scatter like the recycling. What was strange was how quickly it all stopped this morning; the rain had given up sometime round 6am but then at about 9 it suddenly seemed rather quiet and I realised that the wind had dropped significantly, almost as if it had been turned off. We then had a lovely sunny day, if rather chilly. I went out for a brief walk and was shocked at the amount of surface water. Some gardens had an inch or so sitting on lawns and beds and parts of the footpath were also underwater. And we get called nimby when expressing concern at what will happen when the plans go ahead for hundreds of houses to be built on the adjacent fields...

We heard a loud bang, near us. Everything seemed ok in the morning, though. Today, we’re supposed to get snow!

[Joseph K]

There was some snow on the ground when I woke up (an hour an a half ago) but not long after it started snowing again, and it's still snowing.

[oddoneout]

It was very cold overnight, with freezing fog in places. It's melting now and the cloud is breaking a little to give glimpses of blue sky; although the sun isn't actually getting through yet it's making things pretty bright. Amused to see reference in the forecast to " hill snow likely" - I think the mention of risk of ice or snow later in the day at lower levels is rather more accurate for this part of the world!

[Pulcinella]

Ice on car windscreens and some roofs, frost on the meadow, lake covered in thin layer of ice, but garden pond and puddles on road not frozen. Very pale sun behind cloud but lots of blue sky too. A nice day, so far.

[DracoM]

Dusting of snow on the very tops but otherwise marrow-freezing cold [mid-afternoon -5], bright sun - and dogs / dogwalkers everywhere!

[greenilex]

Seems unfair - we have had darkness and downpours all day today. Typical Monday weather. Mud everywhere.

[Joseph K]

About to head off for a walk in the sleet...

[Joseph K]

About to head off for a walk in the sleet...

Once I'd got outside the sleet had fortunately turned into snow. On my way back from the supermarket it was snowing heavily for the first 15 minutes, then lightened up a bit.

[oddoneout]

Dull but dry here, although very cold - that nasty raw cold that feels worse than the thermometer says. The forecast seems to think wintery showers rather than actual snow for now, and freezing fog/frost overnight and through into morning for the next couple of days. None of which is going to help dry the ground after the excess rain that started a few days ago, and the rivers are slow to drop their levels.

[DracoM]

Overnight startlingly deep frost, then....this a.m. no frozen pavements..

............... but as I post, clouds from daarn sarff gathering, so...maybe snow etc on t'way?

[Serial_Apologist]

Being as we all are in a stagnant weather situation at present makes it very difficult to predict accurately who will get what and when over the next few days. The fact that overhead pressure is pretty low makes it possible for discrete developments to take place practically anywhere, with cold air drawn in from across relatively warm waters interacting with topography creating conditions in which air flows can converge, leading to line convection apparently precipitating out of "thin air" which would be less likely in more straightforward stagnating high pressure systems, though in winter, in either instance the superficial impression of claggy uniformity will certainly seem similar. This won't change until the low gets shunted away to the east or south-east by the Atlantic jet waking up once more. What seems to be the general expectation is that that jet stream will split, with the stronger flow heading down over the Mediterranean, and high pressure out to the west creating a block, maintaining the present cold sub-arctic northerly flow into early January. At least that should mean the cloud base lifting and breaking up, particularly for the further west one is, while the resulting increased surface momentum could bring showers off the west and (particularly) east coasts inland which could turn "wintry" according to elevation and noctural cooling. How much colder things get will depend of the precise location of the blocking, which will determine how far north air crossing the UK will be originating from.

[DracoM]

Here, skies are clearing after sunset signalling that we could be in a really tough freeze / frost.
BUT if clouds come in overnight, if any precipitation is triggered, it must be snow and freezing streets / roads.