Benvironment

Never ceases to amaze me how quickly conditions change over such short distances. It's the same here. Bucketing down for days and snow piling up here on the hill, but down in Leslie there wasn't anything. That's what lures folk up here with their summer tyres

Down to 0.7C now....and the snow has gone all dry and sparkly Very different to yesterday or even this morning.

Our road just 90 minutes ago. Three cars stuck already.....unsurprisingly PS - maybe a Twitter link will work better.... 1914456432_LomondsblizzardJan21-HD1080p.mov

Holding at 1.1C so far today, rather than the 1.6C of yesterday and it does seem to have made a subtle difference. Still on the wet side out there but not as wet as it was, and so cover is starting to thicken up now and there's some drifting starting. Couldn't tell you the depth as it's so varied.

Well....it's been snowing all night but you wouldn't know it. I was a bit surprised to begin with but, having now been outside (BRIEFLY!) it's pretty obvious why cover hasn't changed much. It's very wet, so anything that's falling is merely replacing what's melting. Having said that, we're now down to 1C from a high 1.6C early this morning....

Just caught one of the more intense blobs and the difference was stark. More snow settled in 10 mins than in 2hrs. Currently really do need that intensity in order to gain.....but proper blizzard up here when it does. Seriously unpleasant out there but the road is still clear as the snow's not dry enough to drift.

Meanwhile, just up the road, we've gone from a low of 1C to a high of 1.8C in the last hour or so. Like you say, it's all over the place.

Oh, and just posted this on my Facebook page ======= Sooo I've number crunched the stats from my weather station for January 21 and the headline is what you probably already knew. It's been a cold one. The overall monthly mean temperature of of 1.4C makes it the coldest January I've recorded since moving here in 2010. It also makes it the coldest calendar month since March 2013, and the third coldest month overall behind The December to Remember (in 2010) and March 2013. The highest temp I recorded was a cool 8.6C, and the coldest was -3.9C. These days in a winter month it's unusual to stay below 10C for the whole month! It was a snowy one too. Snow fell on 18 days, and was lying at least 1cm deep at 9am on 25 days! But some smaller patches of snow never completely melted, which means there was something icy/snowy in the garden for every day of the month In terms of days with snow falling/lying, January 2021's total of 18/25 compares very favourably with previous Januarys as follows: 2020: 3/1 2019: 4/3 2018: 9/6 2017: 5/4 2016: 10/10 2015: 11/5 2014: 3/0 2013: 13/18 2012: 6/2 2011: 10/13 It was middlingly frosty, with a respectable 11 air frosts (days when temp dips below zero). That compares with previous Januarys as follows: 2020: 1 2019: 15 2018: 9 2017: 10 2016: 8 2015: 17 2014: 4 2013: 16 2012: 11 2011: 18 And that concludes your Lomond Hills weather report for January 2021

It's been snowing non-stop pretty much all day, but at 1.3C it's not amounting to as much as it would have done if it was colder. Ain't complaining though cos I realise it's been a marginal mess for many. No idea what the depth out there is cos there appears to be more on vertical surfaces than horizontal ones

5cm top-up today so far

1.8C and it's been very lightly snowing on and off all night. Maybe a fresh 1cm from all that. Unsurprisingly, yet again the BBC forecast has 'sleet' here uninterrupted for the next 60 hours or so. That's pretty much all it is said since Christmas. Almost like it's the default 'oh we've no idea, just put sleet and that should cover all eventualities' Quite odd to see the snow falling horizontally this time. Haven't seen that for a while!

My local patch this evening. I don't want it to end. Ever!

No subzero for us last night. A low of 0.1C but only at 0.5C just now, with a light dusting of snow overnight and I've now lost count of how many consecutive days we've had snow on the ground. There aren't many winters these days when you can say that!

Looks like we've had a 2cm top up

The persistence of the cold is remarkable, given what we've had to endure in recent years. January currently has a mean of 1.4C up here, which easily makes it the coldest January I've recorded since moving here in 2010. The next coldest was Jan 2011 with 1.9C. But also the coldest month since March 2013 and its 0.7C. A few days left to go, which means it could still edge up a tad and possibly match Feb 18 with its 1.6C.

2.2C and snowing here....which I wasn't expecting tbh. As everyone else has said, decidedly manky for the last couple of days but still holding on to about 5cm of snow cover up here.

It's a bit of a novelty having a slow thaw instead of the usual 'wash and go'....although looks like that might make a quick return tomorrow. Still have 11cm up here, which despite the drizzle 'n' snizzle 'n' sleet (try saying that ten times) is relatively unchanged from a few days ago. 2.5C today and very calm.

Weird. It was raining here when I peered out the window at 5am and it certainly doesn't look any different out there now. Well...other than a lot wetter than it was last night. 1.7C.

it's weird isn't it. For a few years after we moved here (in 2010) there was an endless procession of storms. We lost power at least every other week, and it got so bad that Scottish Power upgraded the line to make it more resilient. It worked a treat, power cuts rare now but then the storms stopped. The rendering on the house was blown off in Jan 2012, and our highest mean speed was recorded in May 2011!

Oh my life, this weather is utterly utterly sublime. So nice to see all these pics from around the country, with a significant chunk of the population being able to 'partake' in some way or another Crazy busy at work today. Lots of sledging.... Crazy beautiful too. Lots of hoar frost... And crazy clear. Lots of panoramas: All in all, West Lothian looking great but not as much snow as at home, and definitely not as much as there was in the colder parts of Kinross-shire yesterday! I was supposed to be working tomorrow but my boss kindly obliged my last minute holiday request.....cos she knows me so well

Close but no cigar. Takes something quite extraordinary to get an ice day here

Just in from an hour's jaunt around the fields actually. I'd recommend them, if you're out and about at lot. There are some winters when they don't get used at all, but this winter they've been out most weeks. They're not a silver bullet for deep snow by any means and will never match skis for flotation. Sometimes you sink as much as anyone else, but even on those days it's never as bad as the 'post holers' are having to deal with However, the snow that most of us have got at the moment is perfect for them. A bit of consolidation from being blown about, with some sun on it and then a freeze, and inches of hoar frost crystals sitting on top Yesterday the comparison between having them, and not having them, was stark:

I'm in my fifth decade. I'll leave it at that

Same here. A high of 0.4C! I really hoped we'd scrape an ice day but nope. Nudged above freezing between 13:30 and 15:30. Not had an ice day here since BFTE in 2018. The wait continues....

Cheers HC Although....do folk still buy postcards? I feel old