March Blizzard

Don't get how anyone can like the current weather. Honestly, I don't. I'd prefer cold, but mild and dry/sunny would still get my vote over this tripe.

Scott, it's impossible to ruin the current weather - it's at Rock Bottom. Any changes down the line, whether they be mild or cold, would be an improvement.

I actually like the fog...

Yeah, I've got Kiruna on my Iphone weather app thing, and I've noticed how mild it's been for at least the last month; in November it should be around -7C by day and -13C at night, it's currently still above freezing by day and only getting to -3C or so overnight - considerably warmer than even the October averages.

Wow, that's some anomoly on the 6th/7th, a value more typical of June or September. Rolling averages above 12C this time of year just looks wrong.

I'll go 7.7C please

I honestly don't have a favourite or least favourite, each season has it's pros and cons. If I had to pick one season to last perpetually it would probably be Spring - it has far more pros than cons, in my opinion, with it's variability and potential other-season characteristics it's biggest redeeming feature; you can have winter in March and summer in May.

Nope. I love the seasons, each has it's unique charm and each has it's pros and cons. The only problem, for me, is that in our country they aren't as pronounced/defined as I'd like. I'd love a truly four-seasons climate - somewhere like Maine.

For another 5 months, most probably... ...but hopefully not.

Would that be today, then? Or are we going back to the future?

Yep, and to think, some on here actually prefer that to the cool but mostly sunny and dry conditions we had for weeks preceding it. Each to their own and-all, but I for one can't get my head 'round it!

Yeah, the lack of rain at this time of year seems very strange. More akin in feel to the dryness more typical of Feb/March.

We are now entering what I think of as the leading "Winter periphery" - the mid to late October period in which frosts become more likely, frequent and widespread and daytime maxima can be really suppressed in the right setup. Also, we can start to see the first bit of wintry precipitation in rare circumstances. Not winter, but not a million miles away. After that you've got the "extended winter season", the five months Nov thru March, in which wintry conditions can feature and persist. Narrowing further, the "winter season" of mid Nov to mid March. This is the time of year in which properly severe winter weather can occur, with ice days, blizzards and sub -20C minima possible. The winter itself, Dec-Feb, is self-explanatory, with any kind of winter weather possible at any time during this period. Finally, the winter "core" of Jan to mid-Feb. The time of year when the most severe conditions are possible/likely. To finish, the trailing "winter periphery" of early-mid April. Frosts can still be widespread and potent, and the threat of wintry precipitation hasn't yet passed, but winter fast begins to lose it's influence. Well...that's how I see it, anyway!

Last winter I had a few good falls of snow from NW'lys, so with a larger/more anomalous cold pool this time round it could be a very decent winter for me if that's how it transpires. Anyway, with a cold Northern/Eastern Europe that graphic hints at a lot of northern blocking to my untrained eye. Lots of encouraging signs for not just my location, but the whole of the UK in my opinion.

I can imagine!

I'd take that. I presume the "cold spells" for Ireland/Scotland are due in-part to the Atlantic cold pool, and "abnormal cold" in Scandi is never a bad thing for cold/snow potential for us in the UK. "Seasonal" is better than "mild", and with a lot of cold surrounding us it wouldn't take much to throw us in the freezer.

Aye. Being a postman walking such distances (and further) in horrendous conditions is par-for-the-course. I waded through the deep snow and ear-stinging temperatures of Jan 2010 and slipped about on the ice of Dec 2010 (even with boot chains) day-in, day-out. I have little sympathy for those able but not willing to walk to work and back. However, I can assure you a 2 and 1/2 mile walk on/in ice/snow takes more than half an hour. Us rugged outdoorsmen are a breed apart.

Today was the first day in which the sun starts to have the same intensity as the winter months. http://windowseat.ca/sun/

I'm running the risk of being a killjoy, but won't most of that snow west of the Urals and south of say, 60N, be transient/short lived?

Sod's law?!

Agreed. It's most frustrating in winter when a beautiful clear, cold spell/snap breaks down to mild, wet and cloudy muck. "At least it will be mild!" is gleefully stated by weather reporters, as if the bit of extra warmth (which I don't want anyway - it's winter) makes up for the dismal conditions.

Maybe due to colder nights than expected? We're at/getting to that time of year in which maxima reach a certain limit, but minima hinge on cloud cover/wind overnight. An unexpected break in the cloud and the temperatures can fall way beyond the expected low.

It would just be our luck for the cold pool to moderate or die completely, only to rise like a Phoenix again next April.

The disparity between the projected figure and the actual for the 3rd...

That isn't my recollection, at least IMBY, so I checked the Met Office maps: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2015/winter Turns out my impressions of a generally dull, wet winter are founded in fact - I'm in that blue blob on the rainfall anomoly map and the grey blob on the sunshine anomoly map! It wasn't all bad, though, considering I saw quite a few wintry showers throughout the winter, with incredible falls on Boxing Day and in late Jan, with snow lying for at least a week into February, which was the sunniest and frostiest segment of the winter.