Scotland/Alba Regional Weather Discussion

[Hawesy]

3 hours ago, johncam said:

this Dec could turn out milder than last year if this keeps on, well for us in Scotland!!!!!!

One to watch. Locally, Leuchars is currently +2.4c over the December mean so far this month. December 2015 ended up +2.8c. Long way to go though....

For reference Dec 2010 was -4.8c below the mean at Leuchars!

[Hairy Celt]

Got up to 8C in sheltered spots on the Black Isle today, with patchy cloud and not much more than a gentle breeze most of the time.  Could fit the 'nondescript sort of day' description easily....

@scottish skier and anyone else using Nokian Weatherproofs - how do you find them?  I put mine back on about a month ago, I was on Pirelli Pilot sports over the summer - almost wishing I han't changed as I find myself spinning out of bends and roundabouts.  Must learn to control my right foot better....!

Buzzing in here tonight!! 

 

Edited December 10, 2016 by Hairy Celt

[Northernlights]

Another story to add to the global warmimg debate after having Medditeranean Diamond Back Moths in the summer on the turnips which were able to overwinter in N Europe after the last two almost frostless winters.

Had   nasty scours in  a  couple of  calves just after birth in the last month and one was lost in spite of intensive rehydration.Samples off and turns out we have a nasty zoonosis disease. Its eggs or oocysts are resistant to most disenfectants, drying out and heat so even though we have always cleaned out pens it remains to reinfect   It can  however be killed by freezing so my theory is that the last two winters have allowed it  to get a better foothold. I have been told we are not alone. There is medicine that can be given  daily for the first week in life to suppress the bug until immunity is gained.This becomes life long from one month of age. Just another cost of global warming. Good news is the last months  bare hard frosts should have helped to suppress it outside.

Currently 7.9c bright and dry

[mardatha]

Catchmydrift I canny understand the charts or even see us on that map but I'm crossing fingers and studying the entrails as we speak.

Northernlights that's actually quite worrying - more bugs and more antibiotics then?

It's so boring that I'm doing bloody housework to stop meself going mad. Although it's so dark I need a damn head torch..

Edited December 11, 2016 by mardatha

[Scottish-Irish Skier]

18 hours ago, Hairy Celt said:

 

@scottish skier and anyone else using Nokian Weatherproofs - how do you find them?  I put mine back on about a month ago, I was on Pirelli Pilot sports over the summer - almost wishing I han't changed as I find myself spinning out of bends and roundabouts.  Must learn to control my right foot better....!

I'm very happy so far. Tried on icy / frosty, sheet ice, cold wet, soggy mud, heavy rain and mild dry. Speeds up to...erm, fast let's say.

Sure initially I could feel I've gone to a bit of a softer compound, so you can e.g. feel them roll a touch on very sharp cornering. Likewise at bat out of hell straight line you can feel they're not as rock solid. However, I've adjusted quickly and can corner as fast as usual; hold the road fine. Mind you that is with traction control, ESP and E-LSD to make me feel I'm a really good driver.

So I'm very happy so far. There's much less 'winter tyre' feel than my old full winters, which I suppose makes sense as the weatherproofs are hybrids, so not as soft. Also I suppose the alloys on my car now are 225/40/R18 so lower profile. With less side wall, they're likely stiffer laterally, so feel less winter soft and more like a summer tyre.

 

Edited December 11, 2016 by scottish skier

[johncam]

Charts are getting worse if thats possible! , Scottish ski resorts had aa better start last year!!!!!!

[Hairy Celt]

7 hours ago, scottish skier said:

I'm very happy so far. Tried on icy / frosty, sheet ice, cold wet, soggy mud, heavy rain and mild dry. Speeds up to...erm, fast let's say.

Sure initially I could feel I've gone to a bit of a softer compound, so you can e.g. feel them roll a touch on very sharp cornering. Likewise at bat out of hell straight line you can feel they're not as rock solid. However, I've adjusted quickly and can corner as fast as usual; hold the road fine. Mind you that is with traction control, ESP and E-LSD to make me feel I'm a really good driver.

So I'm very happy so far. There's much less 'winter tyre' feel than my old full winters, which I suppose makes sense as the weatherproofs are hybrids, so not as soft. Also I suppose the alloys on my car now are 225/40/R18 so lower profile. With less side wall, they're likely stiffer laterally, so feel less winter soft and more like a summer tyre.

 

Different experience to me then, but to be expected.  Last car I had winter tyres on was 4WD and was almost as grippy on them as it was on ordinary tyres in summer.  This time it's a 2WD car which had performance tyres on in summer and now has 'all seasons' - also I've got higher profile tyres - 225/55/16 - because they were in a deal with some good 16" wheels...  

[ciel]

 Mildish early this morning, 7C, then a nasty chilly wnw breeze blew in during the morning. Calmer and more pleasant during the afternoon,  Now around 5C. 

Terrific sunrise

,

 

 Kumho summer/winter tyres are on my Mitsu now. They have been driven over sheet ice and soggy mud, and seem fine, but I could not comment on the niceties.

 

[Hairy Celt]

@cielthat is some sunrise and some photo!

I was out today but was completely uninspired photographically.

We have a new addition to the family - rescued from a niece, so a Sassenach puss...

Yep, the weather is not really very interesting!

[Sunny Leith]

4 hours ago, CatchMyDrift said:

I'm sure the charts could keep getting worse, although for how much longer they could keep it up I don't know. We're certainly scraping the barrel with the main topic being motoring this evening  

Just for the heck of it for next years 2017/18 winter forecast Catch, I'd like to see hee-haw early Eurasian/Siberian snow cover, sod all wacky jet stream/polar vortex, bugger all stratospheric warmings, an explosion of sun-spots, useless NAO/AO/PDO and the rest, sweet fanny adams mountain torque or Indian Ocean this that and the other. Given what favourable cold pre-cursors they've variously been cited as in so many winter forecasts I'll go the full contrarian for next year !

[West Highland Storm]

On 10/12/2016 at 18:24, Hairy Celt said:

Got up to 8C in sheltered spots on the Black Isle today, with patchy cloud and not much more than a gentle breeze most of the time.  Could fit the 'nondescript sort of day' description easily....

@scottish skier and anyone else using Nokian Weatherproofs - how do you find them?  I put mine back on about a month ago, I was on Pirelli Pilot sports over the summer - almost wishing I han't changed as I find myself spinning out of bends and roundabouts.  Must learn to control my right foot better....!

Buzzing in here tonight!! 

 

I've got a full set of Nokian Weatherproofs 215/55/ 16s love them very precise and grippy couldn't fault them.

Car came brand new with Michelin Primacy 3s hated them car was twitchy as hell. Replaced them with a set of Dunlop Wintersport D4s which suited the car fine, Nokians are every bit as good possibly even better.

I would happily buy the Nokians again.

 

[Ravelin]

12 hours ago, CatchMyDrift said:

I'm sure the charts could keep getting worse, although for how much longer they could keep it up I don't know. We're certainly scraping the barrel with the main topic being motoring this evening  

If the charts get any worse the major topic of discussion could be whether to take the winter tyres back off and revert to summers.

Had to scrape the car here this morning, it was down to 0.1C at 8am, but little evidence of frost away from the cars.

[Hairy Celt]

Heard D Bett (I think it was him) utter those awful words 'at least it'll be mild' last night.  Should be a sacking offence for a tv weather presenter.

Nice bright morning here, wee bit nippy. (Oi, sez her. Who me? sez I)

A bit later... never write off the weather! Saw this not quite jaw-droppingly wonderful but still pretty good mammatus this morning, not far from home.  It was quite short-lived, which is maybe why it wasn't so spectacular. Funny thing though, this is the third time in about 10 years I've seen it in nearly exactly the same place.  Mus be something to do with topography?

 

Edited December 12, 2016 by Hairy Celt

[asjmcguire]

Being the Scottish Thread - seems like this is the place to say RIP Ian McCaskill (who apparently shares my Birthday, which is something I was previously unaware of). Here is hoping that the BBC run some sort of tribute programme for him over the next 7 days.

[Hawesy]

23 minutes ago, asjmcguire said:

Being the Scottish Thread - seems like this is the place to say RIP Ian McCaskill (who apparently shares my Birthday, which is something I was previously unaware of). Here is hoping that the BBC run some sort of tribute programme for him over the next 7 days.

Indeed. I remember watching him many times in the 80s. His quirky style was a welcome change from the more staid presenters back then. BBC forecasts were 'more important' back then because we didn't have the wealth of data and info we have to hand now.

[Polar Gael]

29 minutes ago, asjmcguire said:

Being the Scottish Thread - seems like this is the place to say RIP Ian McCaskill (who apparently shares my Birthday, which is something I was previously unaware of). Here is hoping that the BBC run some sort of tribute programme for him over the next 7 days.

Very sad news. A favourite forecaster when I was wee. I'll always remember one forecast he presented which showed an incoming arctic blast: "Good news for small people with sledges; bad news for the rest of us." A true cauldie. 

RIP

[blitzen]

Aw...one of my favourites in those days.   Great personality and he always used to make me laugh when he forecasted ice as he hoped it was thick enough to form  ' nice little drink sized cubes! '

Edited December 12, 2016 by Blitzen

[Hairy Celt]

4 hours ago, CatchMyDrift said:

We had some decent mammatus and even some mammatus undulatas this afternoon but I never had my camera on me and my phone camera wasn't for picking up any detail. We seem to get a lot of mammatus in the eastern Borders, can't remember seeing so much when I lived back out west but maybe I just didn't notice it? 

My 'Cloud Collector's Handbook' states 'an extensive 2006 review of all the studies to date concluded that no-one's really sure' [why mammatus forms]...  The only other place I've seen good mammatus is from the M6 by Shap so not a very big sample.  Interesting that you see lots, I'm jealous.

[edo]

the tumble weed may get blown all the way out the thread if this ever verified.....

in other charts still plenty signs we could get some cracking frosty weather again so yes please to that 

[Hairy Celt]

1 minute ago, edo said:

the tumble weed may get blown all the way out the thread if this ever verified.....

in other charts still plenty signs we could get some cracking frosty weather again so yes please to that 

WTF?? N Ireland gets swallowed by a  black hole!! Can we blame this on the bloody tories?

[Ravelin]

12 hours ago, Hairy Celt said:

WTF?? N Ireland gets swallowed by a  black hole!! Can we blame this on the bloody tories?

It's not been swallowed, it's been blown East and re-united with Mainland UK. So of course you can blame the Tories for that.

Grey, chilly (1-2C at 9am), calm, and drizzly here this morning.

If I could find anything interesting on this morning's charts I'd post it, but I can't. It's not awful, just unexciting.

[Hairy Celt]

Snapped this chappy in a tree on the way back from the shops - by the time I'd got the camera out, all his mates had been chased off by crows.

[ciel]

12 minutes ago, Hairy Celt said:

Snapped this chappy in a tree on the way back from the shops - by the time I'd got the camera out, all his mates had been chased off by crows.

Nice spot, HC.

[biggreyface]

Good evening  it now looks like Christmas is going to be mild in the west of Scotland  I think there's 2 options 1st  one is mild and drizzly  air off the Atlantic or slightly cooler drizzly air off the stagnant polluted continent . For once the mild Atlantic dross sounds the better option 

[Hairy Celt]

This run of benign weather just keeps going -  I was out on the bike for the 6th day on the trot with no rain or wind. But always just a little too much cloud on the western horizon to allow a really colourful sunset.  Maybe if I got up earlier I'd catch the sunsrises. This was up near the middle of the Black Isle this afternoon, more to do with the contrast between the jagged treeline profile and the smooth clouds, rather than wonderful colours...

Edited December 13, 2016 by Hairy Celt