dryjoy

Wow, big flakes and lots of ‘em all of a sudden here in Winterborne Kingston.

Thanks. I’m very much hoping it’ll be as you say, it’d be great if we can enjoy the snow together tomorrow and then get away without too many problems on Monday.

I’d usually be dead excited about this, and to some extent I still am, but we’re supposed to be travelling off on holiday to Minehead from our village near blandford on Monday. Our daughter is going to have a very difficult time if we have to delay our trip. She is on the autism spectrum, and would find any delay very difficult to cope with.

OK, I take it back. The snow is covered in a layer of ice which is very hard to walk on (this is reported by my wife and daughter). I assumed we had not had the freezing rain, as our windows are ice free unlike may of the pictures I have seen in here.

Wow, take care all you folk who have had the freezing rain. I haven't been outside to investigate yet, but thankfully we appear to have missed the freezing rain here in Winterborne Kingston, but it seems this must only just be the case as I know that people not too far away (e.g. Wareham) have had it. Would it have been mainly a coastal phenomenon? It looks to me as though we may have had a bit more snow overnight as I can't see out footprints this morning, and all the snow is still there. It was a sort of sleet/ice pellets when I went to bed. I haven't seen any mention of it, but I think we did have freezing rain when I lived in Bournemouth, I think this would have been winter 2009/10. I don't recall seeing any news reports at the time (but probably wasn't looking for it), however one morning everything was coated in a thick, glass like ice. Our flat had outside steps, and the steps and rails were absolutely treacherous. Pavements and roads as well.

Ha ha. Too many meetings

@divadee - yes, thanks! Just got in. Though I will be working at home. At least I can follow the thread here alongside my work.

Neither am I. Oh well.

Hmmm... I work at the University too. They may not have made up their minds yet, often they don't decide whether to open until about 7:30 or so in this situation. I think we will be open though. Its a bit of a pain as I live between Blandford and Beer Regis, and the weather forecast has a lot more snow for us than B'mth so I am likely at some point to have to make a call on whether to head back home, based on my wife's advice. There is some snow here now but not enough to prevent travel last time I looked.

A little bit of light snow here in Winterborne Kingston, much to my daughters excitement.

Hmmm... updated Meto forecast for my location now has heavy snow for tomorrow lunchtime. That's a big change from earlier. Could easily change back to nothing again.

Well, what a fantastic day here in East Dorset. And I have to say, hats off to the Met Office, I think they've done a superb job over the last few days, considering the difficulty of forecasting this type of weather.

OK, thanks. Reckon I'll probably be braving the roads then. I'll be driving very very slowly, however, and let work know not to expect me to be on time.

I'm in Greenhill (near Colehill cricket pitch, so not too far from you). I hope there is enough snow in Poole/Bournemouth that work shuts, then any decisions are taken out of my hands, otherwise I'll be agonising over safety vs duty to work.

Yes, it's pretty decent snow. Wondered when it had started when I got up to have a peek about 5:30. Glad someone else was up to see it! Now I need to know what the situation is in & around Bournemouth/Poole, and specifically near the University campus. Am I going to be expected to try and get in to work today?

Yes, I know. I live in Wimborne, work in Bournemouth. In Wimborne, being 10 miles inland can make a difference, however Wimborne is more often than not JUST on the wrong side of that coastal line. Another 5 miles north is often better. It can be very frustrating, although it was awesome when we were RIGHT under a MO red warning in December '10. We did great then. Just hoping for tomorrow but living where we do, you just cannot get your hopes up to much.

Hear, hear. I only read this thread, do not normally post as I do not have enough knowledge to make a constructive contribution. But as somebody that very much values the high quality analysis and discussion that takes place here, reading this is a very frustrating experience this morning, as a layperson it is very difficult to pick out the meaningful posts. The impression I have is that a lot of people that don't know what they're talking about are making inappropriate sweeping statements.

The thing is, we all know that it is not possible to predict the weather accurately every time. Every time the Met Office stick their necks out, there is the chance they could get it wrong. But if they don't stick their necks out, then they might as well not bother. They have to take a risk. I was gutted about that 'barbecue summer' incident a few years ago. Not because they got it wrong, but because of the ridiculous press reaction and the Met Office's subsequent withdrawal of their seasonal forecast. I wish they had been a bit more bold and continued with those, and I wish the press hadn't been so stupid. They do seem to have an impressive track record with their 30 day outlook lately. I hope this might lead them to consider bringing back the seasonal forecasts.

Ha ha! Probably true. While on one hand I do understand the need for mods to keep a thread broadly on topic, people do seem a bit uptight on this forum at times. Enforcing the thread topic too rigidly can stifle the natural flow of ideas and debate a little. I suppose we are all different in terms of the range of digression we can tolerate. Perhaps those who can tolerate or even value some digression need to be tolerant of those who can't!

I think I disagree with that, I think Physics can tell us an awful lot about the weather. Pretty much all the processes that make up the weather can be understood in terms of Physics and maybe some Chemistry as well. I must admit we didn't cover any Meteorology in my A-Level Physics, but I would say that Physics is the fundamental science underpinning Meteorology.

Thanks for the replies! Makes sense.

I was just wondering, I live on a small hill. We're at 67m above sea level. Down in the town (about a mile away), they're about 20m ASL. Would the small difference in altitude make any noticeable difference to our weather?

Actually, it can't have been 18th December, that was a Saturday. I remember that Saturday... we missed out, as usual. A few flakes but nothing substantial. It was a few days after that, maybe the Monday or Tuesday. I remember because we had a snow day from work, I don't work weekends, and I also remember that it made up for disappointment of seeing other places that had just had decent snow on the 18th.

I'm in Wimborne, Dorset, and quite frankly, December 2010 can't be beat for us. We often miss out on significant snow, even when areas not far to the North and West of us are getting it, but in December 2010 (I can't remember the exact date, but probably not much more than a week or so before Xmas day) heavy snow descended on us. We were smack under a red Met Office warning. That's never happened to us before, that I remember. Amazing by the standards of these parts. I doubt we'll see the like of it again for a long, long time, but you never know. Here's hoping.

There's nothing wrong with getting excited about the upcoming winter! Just ignore the comments you find overly ramp-y. Where's Ian Brown?