Hailsowen

Oop, flashes south of London right now. Rumbles heard; it begins~

Yes, the number nine bus has successfully crashed at the foot of my road yet again, for the third consecutive winter.

It's suddenly got awesomely heavy now, just as the temperature hits dead 0C, and this heavier burst has now co-incided with the immediate settling of it all on roads. What makes it all the more spectacular looking though is the constant swirling of the flakes in the wind - I'd certainly not like to be out in this tonight.

What is this, I don't even ~ 13032206_2112.gif 13032212_2112.gif 13032306_2112.gif 13032312_2112.gif I wonder if the Metty will throw THIS one out. Oh, it's lovely to be near Birmingham sometimes.

Dropping towards freezing again now, and wet portions of the side road are coated slightly again. What has been interesting, certainly in this area, has been the persistence of snow over this spell. Although mostly smaller flakes, it's been going long enough to give a very decent total accumulation. 0.2oC.

It might slow down as it crosses the midlands, but it's likely to weaken and disperse as it reaches the east. Can't really tell what might become of it really, looks to be a right mess with some lucky areas being in the right areas where heavier patches will linger.

Time for the final NAE attempt before the front actually arrives ~ 13011812_1800.gif 13011818_1800.gif Either way, the front itself looks superbly defined at the moment as it approaches Hereford. Hopefully the increasingly cold air inland here will help keep heavier precipitation about before it eventually breaks apart much later in the day.

As the temperature finally dives below 0oC (to which it looks like it'll stay below the border for the next few days...!) the light snow keeps falling. I fear it might well keep going, albeit increasingly patchy until the main band arrives towards the West Midlands county... I can only imagine what might follow after that - so much seems possible! Nether(ton)-the-less, it certainly looks picturesque. Personally am feeling lucky to have this kind of potential this year, to be quite honest!

You can almost see the supposed warmer sector of air even on the radar! I fear it'll definitely strike all of the west midlands - It's already taken all of Wales. And.... we pass into positive degrees celcius. Just as it begins snowing again!

Yeah, it's still going as well. I expect the snow to last as long as Cheshire keeps churning it out. The rain (or further snow! /optimism) will arrive most probably when the second front passes us by over here. Rising towards 0C...

Sleep? Sleep is for weaklings. Or alternatively, the employed. On the damper side of things, the temperature has steadily hovered around -0.6 C for almost all of the night, but has now crept up to -0.3C... I'm not overly hopeful of our chances later today, at least anywhere around Birmingham. Still - always the slim chance...

The Cheshire Gap streamer really can be a thing of beauty when it wants to be.

It's been quite a while since the Cheshire streamer delivered around here, so this is a nice suprise it seems!

A streamer refers to a direct line of snowfall heading in a straight line, like what's coming off the Cheshire Gap and heading towards Birmingham at the moment. However, it shouldn't 'really' be used it this circumstance because it really is generally lake-effect snow, which is caused by very cold winds picking up moisture from warm beds of water. You'll often see it in easterly winds on the east coast, with many flurries heading in from the north sea. I'm not entirely sure whether the precipitation shown heading inland at the moment is related to any frontal system or not, so ~ These types of streamers can cause quite significant local snowfalls, as the same area will be experiencing snowfall for a lengthy amount of time, as long as the driving winds last long enough. Doubt it might be the case this time, however.

Looks like a mini-streamer trying to set up just off the Chesire Gap actually, should've considered the possibility really! It won't last long, so hopefully it can make it's way far enough inland...