South West and Central Southern England Regional Weather Discussion 01/12/2018 Onwards

[Blizzardof82]

11 minutes ago, Don said:

Snow well on the way out now and the latest model runs, plus the metoffice further outlooks have done little to raise my spirits this morning!

 

Met office further outlook and EC46 been banging the drum of northern blocking since end of December in their extended, so whatever its showing now I will take with a pinch of salt. I said Saturday cold back around the 11th and I am sticking with that, not what the models are showing but something I see(although TBF I am clueless). 

[Don]

Just now, Blizzardof82 said:

Met office further outlook and EC46 been banging the drum of northern blocking since end of December in their extended, so whatever its showing now I will take with a pinch of salt. I said Saturday cold back around the 11th and I am sticking with that, not what the models are showing but something I see(although TBF I am clueless). 

Well, I hope you're correct!

[matt111]

Wet earlier this morning before a drier spell but now it’s raining again, although mostly drizzle now. 7.6mm so far. 8.6°C

Edited February 4, 2019 by matt111

[Blizzardof82]

Just now, Don said:

Well, I hope you're correct!

Me too 

[CheesepuffScott]

Drizzly, dull, dank, and mild. 10.1°C

[jethro]

4 hours ago, Reefseeker said:

Good morning from the south east:) Following our quick exchange in the SE thread a few days ago, my mother confirmed that Westfield indeed got a pretty good fall of snow sufficient to prevent her going into the back garden but a neighbour cleared her front garden path although she was afraid to go out for fear of slipping. As she lives in a cul-de-sac there was no gritting so many had been out clearing pavements leaving large piles of snow up to the height of the low garden walls. I reassured her she had no more than 48 hours of laying snow to worry about and by the sounds of it in here, most of the snow is gone this morning. But well done all in the SW who had a really good snow event, I hope you all had the chance to make the most of it, and I'm not jealous at all....;)

Glad her neighbours were looking out for her, folk round here are mostly a good lot. Gritting in a cul de sac.....they don't grit anything other than main roads round here, literally nothing. Main traffic routes and A roads only, none of the villages ever see a gritting lorry. I'm of the opinion that it isn't so much about budget, more that it's a large area with many main routes prone to drifting and lots of big hills, that they struggle to keep on top of when it snows. It's better to trap as many people in the villages as possible to stop them littering the main roads whilst they clear them. Sometimes, if you're lucky, a local farmer will clear a route out of the village but only once it's stopped snowing.

[Reefseeker]

16 minutes ago, jethro said:

Glad her neighbours were looking out for her, folk round here are mostly a good lot. Gritting in a cul de sac.....they don't grit anything other than main roads round here, literally nothing. Main traffic routes and A roads only, none of the villages ever see a gritting lorry. I'm of the opinion that it isn't so much about budget, more that it's a large area with many main routes prone to drifting and lots of big hills, that they struggle to keep on top of when it snows. It's better to trap as many people in the villages as possible to stop them littering the main roads whilst they clear them. Sometimes, if you're lucky, a local farmer will clear a route out of the village but only once it's stopped snowing.

I remember the late 70s/early 80s heavy snows so well not just for the enormous snow drifts along the hedgerows but also for the sound of frozen solid snow that had melted then iced over and compacted in our road - people would try to walk or drive on it and it would make a crackling sound. My father all the way back then was saying what a disgrace it was leaving us all in those conditions. My aunt and uncle in Holcombe are regularly cut off during heavy snowfall and seem to accept is as a fact of life, but as you say, it's how to manage a remote rural area that has quite high population in places, hills and lanes with drifting.

[Andy Bown]

We made an extra little snowman on a grassy area on the way into town this morning. After 5 hours of melting he now looks very surreal and alien like!

[CheesepuffScott]

The last of my snow is now gone and there’s the depressing sight of soggy carrots and twigs up and down the road... reached a balmy 10.8°C 

[fromey]

3 minutes ago, CheesepuffScott said:

The last of my snow is now gone and there’s the depressing sight of soggy carrots and twigs up and down the road... reached a balmy 10.8°C 

I’ve got some dirty snow left if you want it!!lol

[warmintim]

As ever its very subjective, but for me one great snowfall makes a winter special, and so this event has made winter 18-19 a good one, irrespective of anything else that happens. I know the background signals have all looked good, and the long range forecasts have not really reached t=0, but its wise to remember that they are probabilistic - and just our luck that  the more likely options haven't worked out for us.

I've chosen the following picture as my new desktop, to remind me off three classic winter days of snow, long wintry walks and drifts (Temp -10.5 deg C, about 8.00 am on sunday 3rd)

Edited February 4, 2019 by warmintim

[MP-R]

Quite springlike out there this afternoon at just shy of 10C.

[Leon1]

Feeling sad today . Probably one of the best winter weekends I've had in years. I'm hoping for another snow before the end of March but nothing will beat this weekend, not for the rest of this winter, surely?

[CheesepuffScott]

Oh wow, the sun is making an appearance just now..

[Don]

36 minutes ago, Leon1 said:

Feeling sad today . Probably one of the best winter weekends I've had in years. I'm hoping for another snow before the end of March but nothing will beat this weekend, not for the rest of this winter, surely?

Most probably not, but you never know!  Best winter weekend for me in many years and like I said yesterday, recorded the greatest snow depth since 2010.

[Leon1]

2 minutes ago, Don said:

Most probably not, but you never know!  Best winter weekend for me in many years and like I said yesterday, recorded the greatest snow depth since 2010.

I couldn't remember how much we got in 2010, doesn't look like much compared to this weekend by looking at the pictures but I can't remember a time before that with as much snow living here.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Leon1

[matt111]

Dull and drizzly all afternoon here with fog coming in off the channel later on this afternoon. Reached 8.6°C

[CheesepuffScott]

It reached 10.8°C here, now down to 8.7°C with clearer skies to the west.

[MP-R]

The snowfall just gone was a notable amount, but it really lacked the staying power, mainly because we didn't have any deep cold in place - so in that regard, last year's snowfall, as well as Jan 2013, 2010 and Dec 2010 I still hold higher.

Feb 2009, probably would've left a similar mark as this event but because there were a number of different snowfalls, the lying snow lasted a lot longer.

[Mike Poole]

8 hours ago, jtay said:

All gone this morning. The Low giveth and the Low taketh away.

Back to last week... Here's a write up from Richard Martin-Barton (https://twitter.com/RMBwx) on 'Conditional Symmetric Instability' and why the models were struggling so much re: snow depths.

https://t.co/GNtS3uCitq 

I've read it twice and fully intend to read it half a dozen more times, before the day is out. Or at the very least, look at the pictures.

That is fascinating. I think we were all scratching our heads on Friday!

[Don]

55 minutes ago, MP-R said:

The snowfall just gone was a notable amount, but it really lacked the staying power, mainly because we didn't have any deep cold in place - so in that regard, last year's snowfall, as well as Jan 2013, 2010 and Dec 2010 I still hold higher.

Feb 2009, probably would've left a similar mark as this event but because there were a number of different snowfalls, the lying snow lasted a lot longer.

Given that there was no deep cold in place, I think 3 days was not bad going and better than the likes of February 2007, when the snow vanished pretty much within 24 hours.

[Wilxy]

All the snow has gone now after torrential rain this morning and a very mild day after a 11.3°c max, was almost spring like in the sun this afternoon, quite the contrast to the weekend!

Cooling down quite a bit now this evening with clear skies and currently 4.4°c. 

[Leon1]

7 minutes ago, Mike Poole said:

That is fascinating. I think we were all scratching our heads on Friday!

It was a very interesting read.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Leon1

[stratty]

Not sure if this belongs here, but on the way home I saw the most amazing bright light zoom across the sky from south to north at 5.35pm, quite close to the ground heading towards the Witney area from Standlake and can only put it down to a meteor the speed it was travelling, before it burnt up? Just wondering if anyone else spotted this, as it certainly made your stomach flutter as to what on earth it was! 

 

[Blizzardof82]

59 minutes ago, stratty said:

Not sure if this belongs here, but on the way home I saw the most amazing bright light zoom across the sky from south to north at 5.35pm, quite close to the ground heading towards the Witney area from Standlake and can only put it down to a meteor the speed it was travelling, before it burnt up? Just wondering if anyone else spotted this, as it certainly made your stomach flutter as to what on earth it was! 

 

Lots of reports of this on Twitter