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A Winter's Tale

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Posts posted by A Winter's Tale

  1. I can't say I'm expecting a lot from this week. Tomorrow looks similar to last week which brought an inch of snow. Most of the snow showers will be tracking to the south of the central belt so anything more than an inch would be surprise. The frontal snowfall for later in the week has corrected south (as is often the case in south set-ups) though I suspect some south eastern parts of Scotland could see some snow. It seems some places south of the border could be in for an interesting week with at least two oppurtunities for snow. Up here it's a fairly normal cold snap but it's still nice to have some winter weather to talk about after an abysmal first half of the winter. The second half of the winter is already an improvement with a couple of snowfalls though we're yet to see anything spectacular (hopefully tomorrow will exceed expectations and deliver something more exciting). As has been the case since 2013 mid-January onwards tends to see a marked improvement in snow - in the past Christmas would see a change in favour of wintry weather - though paradoxically most of the notable events in the last 10 years have occurred in the first half of the winter. This winter has been the opposite of last year with a frustratingly stagnant set-up. It hasn't been particulary mild and we haven't seen much wind and rain but the first half of the winter only saw one snowfall - even a mild, zonal winter like 13/14 would have seen more wintry interludes - and it was pretty dull overall with little sunshine - a couple of cold days including an ice day on Christmas Eve enough were the only occasions with a seasonal look and feel.

    The SSW so far has been a disappointment and is a reminder of how we shouldn't put all our eggs in that basket. Last year's beast from the east was the most successful cold spell resulting from a SSW in my experience but we'd already enjoyed plenty of snow from a westerly source earlier in the winter. 2013 was the last time we had prolonged periods of cold weather but both spells in January and March were frustrating in terms of snow (in particular the former) with more snow falling in February. The year before that saw most of the cold in Europe with parts of England on the edge whilst Scotland missed out. The snow of the last week and hopefully this week is probably as a result of the SSW but we had plenty of these set-ups last year without a SSW. It doesn't appear any prolonged spell of cold or snow as a result of blocking is on the cards for the next few weeks - perhaps late February and March will be different. I was hoping for an equivalent of the notable prolonged cold spells and Greenland blocking of 2010 during the second half of winter with a January or February reminiscent of the 1980s or 1950s with a chance of the first sub 1C month, coldest second half of the winter and first -15C minimum in Scotland since 2010. Alas this year is a reminder of the pitfalls of getting blocking established and how special 2010 was for cold and snow in modern times. If we end up with 10cm or week of snow cover then I would take that over 2 weeks of wet snow or little snow.

     

     

    • Like 8
  2. Yesterday turned out as expected in my opinion. When The met office started to mention freezing rain then any accumulated snow would be a bonus. It snowed quite heavily early in the morning leaving a covering on most surfaces. I wasn't able to measure until late last night with up to a cm of frozen slush. Nothing spectacular but at least it's a start. With frontal snowfalls you can be sure of how much snow you'll get - if any at all as there've been a number of occasions when a promising forecast delivers nothing. When you end up on the right side in a marginal set-up then it can be snow galore though frustratingly often the snow disappears as wifely as it arrives - it'd be nice to have a few days of crisp winter sunshine following the snow instead of the mist and murk of the thaw. 

    I'm not sure how much freezing rain fell yesterday - all I can say is that the rain did sound a little like a hail at times. I can't think of too much freezing rain events - I remember some rain which later froze in late November 2012 and Christmas Day 2010 was the most notable example of rain falling with temperstures below freezing at the surface. Thankfully, yesterday appears to have turned out like a proper ice storm though still very treacherous nonetheless.

    • Like 4
  3. Tomorrow is shaping up to be interesting in terms of snow potential. Despite a rather quiet atlantic during the autumn - other than a couple of storms in September -  we haven't had many opportunities for snow so far this season. Other than a couple of attempts at an easterly we've struggled to find the breakthrough in the stalemate despite the potential for blocking. It's been fairly average temperature wise with some frosts - The lowest temperature this season so far came in late October with  -5C being the lowest temperature in October since 2002 a few weeks after the joint warmest high - almost matching the swift transition between winter and summer early this year. With cold air not too faraway it only takes a small tweak for a favourable outcome and it seems Saturday could be a prime example of this with the first widespread snow of the season. Last winter really didn't get going for snow until after Christmas with a frontal snow event at the end if the month, before that there had been some snow since late November - the models promised a lot for early December, in the end it was pretty cold for a few days with Parts if a England getting most of the snow. 

    Hopefully tomorrow will at least produce the first snow of the season though there is the potential for more. It's one of those marginal set-ups which will either bring a brief  period of mostly wet snow before turning back to rain, or a more prolonged and significant event with decent accumulations. I'm hoping for the latter but expecting the former - a little bit of height can make all the difference. Last year had the first measurable December snow event since 2012 - the last time snow lay on the ground in the first half of December. It would be a great start to winter if tomorrow delivers though if it doesn't we've got plenty of time ahead for further opportunities - significant snowfalls are more likely in spring than before Christmas. The models have some interest going forward with tentative signs of something seasonal around Christmas and the background signals look pretty promising into the new year. 2018 will be difficult to top after an almost perfect and eventful flow of the weather during the first 7 months progressing dramatically from a seasonal, long, snowy winter to a long warm, dry summer. The transition was almost continental like with only four months between the epic beast from the east in late February to record heat in late June with only a few weeks of normal Spring weather inbetween. Last winter was brilliant in terms of the number and frequency of decent snow events climaxing in late Feb/early Mar - easily the best winter since the 2010. The one thing last year didn't have and 09/10 and 10/11 did have was a prolonged period of notable winter weather - the last notable cold spell of length was March 2013 - it would be great if we could have a 2010' like spell in January - besides 2010 we're overdue a notable January (and February) for cold and snow.

    • Like 7
  4. The weather during the last week has been quite varied for the time of year. Saturday was a nice sunny but chilly autumn day, followed by a miserable few days of rain and flooding. Yesterday was a fantastic summery day at 21C was the joint warmest October day in the last 45 years at Glasgow airport with the latest 20C since 2005 and the joint warmest day since 27th July. Quite remarkable and likely the last we'll see of the warm weather until Spring. Still mild but but very dull and wet earlier which cleared later this evening - more rain to the way in the next few days.

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  5. A nice sunny afternoon after the wind and rain of recent days. Over the last couple of months we've steadily transitioned from the warm summer into autumn and now it feels like we are about to start autumn proper with shorter days, falling leaves and cooler, wetter and windier conditions. I'm not expecting anything to match the captivating first 7 months with the momentum - which saw various interesting and notable events in a remarkable smooth and swift transition from snowy winter to warm summer - slowing down. The transition from summer to winter isn't renowned for being sharp and dramatic and autumn doesn't tend to have the same variations in temperature during the spring. Autumn is often unsettled with plenty of rain and occasional storms and fairly mild, with some frosty nights and warm days. Hopefully there'll be more of today's sunshine in the coming weeks aswell as traditional autumnal weather and some final warmth as we look forward to the first signs of winter with snow already falling on the tops of the mountains.

    • Like 6
  6. A very nice afternoon with sunshine and mostly clear  blue skies after a heavy shower. A run of nearly 50 days with highs of 18C+ came to an end this week and last few weeks have seen more normal summer weather with less heat and more clouds and periods of rain though like today there have been plenty of decent spells of sunshine though not as spectacular as the run of days with unbroken sunshine earlier in the summer. We've had a couple of days with autumnal wet windy and chilly conditions which we are used to experiencing throughout the year except this year has been the other way round with a few blips inbetween periods of sunny and quite fine and dry weather. I'm not expecting too much in the way of heat during the final weeks of summer. Temperatures in the mid-high 20s are more likely in May than late August/September. We're overdue a memorable August with a spell of proper summer weather instead of generally humid and overcast/damp conditions. At times August is more like early autumn than late summer while September can be more summery with quiet periods of fine weather. The days getting shorter and the nights darker are the first signs that autumn is just around the corner. The chances of seeing noctilucent clouds fades though we can hopefully look forward to displays of the northern lights and this weekend's meteors if skies remain clear. 

    • Like 2
  7. An absolutely fabulous day of summer weather. Not quite the high 20s/low 30s and cloudless skies of late June, but an improvement of recent days and weeks , which despite the prolonged warm/dry spell early in the month, we've had more cloud cover with some much needed rain and lower temperatures though still no lower than the high teens. The temperature is around 22C with and slight breeze and bright sunshine and largely clear blue skies with some slight cirrus and a scattering of cumulus clouds - ideal summer conditions though it's beginning to feel normal after the persistent warm and dry conditions since May and the record heat of last month. The lack of humidity accompanying the warmth has been noticeable and makes for a pleasant change. After a dry spell/drought up to 20 days, the rainfall we've had has made a difference to the grass. As much as this year has been a revelation without the Atlantic influence and intermittent spells of dry and fine weather, the impacts on wildlife, reservoirs and agriculture are a reminder of the merits of our temperate/oceanic climate and how deviations from climatology can have significant consequences. The outlook is generally warm in the foreseeable - with a more unsettled and cooler interlude at the end of the month - and possibly some hot weather in early August as the exceptional year of weather and summer of 2018 continues.

    • Like 4
  8. 15 minutes ago, Ross B said:

    Glasgow Airport is already at 27c  I'm heading to London today and will need to brave the tube unfortunately! 

     

    Hopefully still hot in Glasgow tomorrow when I'm back, although unlikely to be as hot as today!

    Usually 27C would be the warmest high of a normal year in Glasgow. 27C being recorded before noon with at least another 3-6 hours before the warmest part of the day suggests we're in for something special. Now 28C and still 6C higher than this time yesterday.

    • Like 2
  9. A clearer end to the day after high cloud restricted the sunlight earlier. A few degrees warmer than forecast with a high of 26C at Glasgow airport. In my lifetime there hasn't been a temperature higher than 28C at Glasgow airport -  stations on the Coast such as Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Prestwick have all recorded higher maxima. It looks like the next two days could be the warmest since 1995, possibly record breaking. The Scottish record probably won't be beaten, but you never know certainly Glasgow's record of 31C in August 1975 could potentially be equalled or even beaten. The last 30C was in July 1983, 29.9C was recorded in 1995 and 29.6C has been recorded twice in June - these figures would be recorded as 30C nowadays with whole numbers used since 2000.

    This year Glasgow airport recorded the lowest temperature since 2010 in January, the coldest February and March maximum on record, the coldest April maximum since the 1980s, the most 20C days in May since 1992 and June should have most days with 20C before the month is out. 

    It's hard to think of a more fulfilling first half of the year for weather than this. 2013, 2010 were fairly interesting and 1995 was remarkable for extremes but this year has progressed very well with consistently interesting weather throughout with a few lulls. We're very used to our weather being generally quite mundane and forgettable with intermittent spells of decent, seasonal and interesting weather and summer and winter tend to be disappointing, anything noteworthy being a flash in the pan event. This year we've luckily had a seasonal winter and summer with an interesting Spring in between. We've had more than our fair share of notable events with significant snow in January, the Beast from the east in February/March, a very prolonged spell of settled, dry, warm weather in May/June - consequently Model watching has been much more captivating than usual. It's all been remarkably dry without the relentless Influence of the Atlantic. This month alone has had noctilucent cloud displays, a notable summer wind event, a few thunderstorms including a hailstorm near Dunblane, and one of the more interesting thunder events I've experienced in recent years with frequent thunder, heavy rain, a little hail and my first sighting of a lightning bolt in a number of years. It's fair to say we've been spoiled this year with 2018 already going down as a year to remember. 

    The next couple of days are going to be very interesting to experience and to see potentially historic and perhaps record breaking weather. Hopefully Glasgow will reach 30C for the first time in decades - possibly two days in a row - and maybe 33C could be recorded somewhere in Scotland. Tomorrow should see the 30C in the highlands with models showing the highest temperatures around Inverness - perhaps our best bet for a record. The Glasgow area should see the highest temperatures on Thursday, the BBC showing 29C, while accuweather has 30C, STV 31C and incredibly 32C on the weather channel.

    • Like 5
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