What Does This Mean?

[MP-R]

At the end of December 2005, I saved this radar picture - on Friday 30th. The day before that, it was very cold and turned increasingly cloudy with snow arriving later. The snow turned to rain at a gradual process overnight and the 30th was wet, windy and mild with rain lasting much of the day.

What I'm not sure is whether all of what the radar is showing is rain or whether the precipitation is as snow further east. If it is rain, the areas around London and Luton should have got some pretty hefty rainfall. Can someone from the eastern side of the UK say what the precipitation was on Friday 30th December 2005.

Thanks.

[Paranoid]

If i remember the forecast, i think it was snow in the east turing to sleet and rain further west. we drove up from London in it. The day before it didn't get above -1c.

Edited August 13, 2006 by Paranoid

[Snowly does it]

At the end of December 2005, I saved this radar picture - on Friday 30th. The day before that, it was very cold and turned increasingly cloudy with snow arriving later. The snow turned to rain at a gradual process overnight and the 30th was wet, windy and mild with rain lasting much of the day.

What I'm not sure is whether all of what the radar is showing is rain or whether the precipitation is as snow further east. If it is rain, the areas around London and Luton should have got some pretty hefty rainfall. Can someone from the eastern side of the UK say what the precipitation was on Friday 30th December 2005.

Thanks.

Yes, Friday 30th December saw heavy frontal snow which dumped a fair covering but turned more rainy later. However the rain arrived late in the day and overnight the lying snow kept ground temperatures below zero freezing the snow and slush which had developed and causing traffic chaos early on new years eve. Several cars found that grip is fairly vital and several pedestrians (myself included) found the same!

[Flat land Andy]

On the 30th my son and I was walking the Macmillan Way, I have copied this from the diary on the day

30th DECEMBER

RATLEY TO LONG COMPTON

The 29th was Adams 10th birthday and we had pizza and went to the cinema. This was the first quiet day this Christmas and it was a great relief. We started early on 30th, slightly apprehensive as yet again another severe weather warning had been issued. The morning was to see a warm front crossing from the west, bringing snow followed by strong winds and heavy rain. As we left home it started snowing but thankfully by the time we got to Oundle it had turned to rain. We arrived at Ratley at 9.15am, with the weather changing we played safe and decided to carry overnight bags.

We looked around the village, as it was the first time we had seen it in daylight, with the graveyard, houses around the pub on the small green, 2 nights before we did not know was there. We said our goodbyes and made our way up hill. In places the rain had frozen on the very cold ground leaving sheet ice!

It cleared in the afternoon and we was walking in light blustery showers

A photo from the morning!

Edited August 13, 2006 by Flat land Andy

[Soaring Hawk]

The notes from my diary for Friday 30th December 2005:

The cold from the previous days continues. It is bitter and the ground frozen solid. Mucking out the stables and turning the horse out this morning was difficult because of numb fingers and toes and the freezing air burnt my nose and chest as I slipped and slid around on the icy ground. It has snowed again all day today. Although beautiful to look at, H & W had to postpone driving to Southampton. This is the second day of cancelled plans this week due to snow. Went to the village shop in the afternoon and found the road very snowy and slippery. The very gentle slope of the road from the church and shop towards our end of the village was difficult to negotiate. Although the temperature has been noticeably colder this December than in the last 4 years, there is still less lying snow in this part of north Suffolk than in previous years - much less precipitation this winter thus far.

[JRMcLeod]

If i remember rightly we had snow up the Deeside Valley but as you lowered to Sea Level it turned rapidly to Wet Snow and consequently Rain...It pretty much lasted all day and Evening. There was however a lot of snow on the mountains but generally it was just miserably wet...This is what iremember anyways

[Thundery wintry showers]

It was a pretty marginal event as far as I recall. I had a 3cm cover of powdery snow on the 29th from the previous day's snow showers (the temperature only reached -1.2C during the 24 hours from 0000-0000). Sleet and wet snow fell early on the 30th, with a cover of much wetter snow, still around 3cm, at 0900. The snow did not start to melt significantly until after 5pm, and the last bits of cover did not disappear until late New Year's Day.

It was the first significant "easterly" snowfall in coastal parts of the area since March 2001, though inland parts of the NE had a good dumping from easterlies in February 2005.