Scotland/Alba Weather Discussion 2019

[Hairy Celt]

Someone must have seen me swapping winter for summer tyres yesterday as next week's temps are set to plummet. Groovy.

We got a couple of hours of moderate rain yesterday evening, no more. Fair bit of garden watering going on locally now.

[edinburgh_1992]

The high pressure could give way around next Wednesday, bringing back unsettled weather conditions. Tomorrow is looking increasingly  Still a lot of uncertainty at the moment, even at +120h the difference between gfs06 and gfs12 is massive! 

News for Saturday, latest GFS outputs suggest we could have a very sunny day over the Lothians! Was looking like a day of torrential rain just yesterday! 

Here's a cloud cover map for tomorrow at 14:00, it stays pretty much the same for the whole day here. Should be feeling nice in the light winds

[Northernlights]

We got  few drops of rain last evening and that was it.  The wind has risen again this afternoon and the fire is going a bit again.They must be getting tired fighting this fire.  Currently overcast and 17c

Put some fertiliser on today onto barley and grass so need some rain.

 

Above is from last evening forgot to post it .Still dry this morning dull, and calm at 10c

[edinburgh_1992]

Indeed the sun is out, there's no wind either. For once a storm has actually missed us and hit England instead (they deserve it  ) 

So today should be a lovely day for those living in the lothians, bright sunshine is expected to continue and it should be feeling quite mild in sheltered areas.

Tomorrow also dry, although more cloud cover generally. There will also be sunny spells. Sunny spells Monday and Tuesday as temperatures go up too, Wednesday looking likely to be rather wet however as high pressure breaks and allows a front to move in from the west

Still a lot of uncertainty about what happens after.

[Ross B]

18 minutes ago, CatchMyDrift said:

Watch out for some sharp showers across some parts this afternoon:

 

Yes good shout, we've already had a torrential shower with hail this morning. (I got soaked! ) 

[edinburgh_1992]

May outlook from CFS. I know it's not the most reliable model out there, but 90% of the runs point towards this type of scenario. Over the month there is a clear sign of high pressure extending north over the UK

[mardatha]

Nice-ish day here but we had one sudden heavy shower just now. Nice to be rid of the wind.

[shuggee]

Well that was a lively hail shower. Quite pleasant in the sunshine otherwise.

[edinburgh_1992]

Vibrant blue skies here in Edinburgh and strong sunshine. But looking out north-west across the Forth, the sky is black. 

So far not even a single shower has reached us. 

EDIT: as the low moves away and winds veer to the north, some hefty showers are heading towards us as I speak

Edited April 27, 2019 by edinburgh_1992

[ciel]

 Looked for the triangle in Glen Ogle this morning @CatchMyDrift but the visibility was dire with mist and low cloud. I do find G.Ogle and G. Dochart usually to be quite dreich cold places. Actually, with a temp of 3-4C there was heavy rain in these parts with a splodge of sleet thrown in for good measure.

Towards Glen Coe the clouds broke, and travelling further west the temp rose to an amazing 13C, but with little wind it felt pleasant and spring-like. 

A snatch of sunshine on the hills.

 

[Northernlights]

Another dry day currently 12c. Looks as though we will have to wait till mid week for significant rain. Make a prediction that the rain risk will subside as Wednesday approaches.

On a different subject a pheasant was sitting on eggs on the farm road under some brambles and the eggs were all eaten yesterday.     90% sure its a badger as there is a badger highway just 20 metres away . There are really no wild pheasants,oyster catchers ,partridges, hedgehogs or hares left here.Even rabbits are non existant. Sure badgers are the main problem since they were protected in the sixties and their population exploded and wild pheasants started to disappear in the seventies.Most  shoots have to put down reared pheasants to have anything to shoot today  and these ground roosting, tame birds keep a larger population of predators alive in the winter than would otherwise die from starvation.Just my opinion of course

Edited April 27, 2019 by Northernlights

[Quinach]

After a wet night today was cold, murky and pretty miserable with drizzle off and on all day - bar a very brief appearance of the sun around midday.

Max temperature of 9.5c and light to occasionally moderate N/NE winds.

The rain the last few days has made a big difference in the garden and surrounding fields - things starting to look quite verdant.  Birds still hungry though, going through two feeders worth per day at the moment. 

[Norrance]

3 hours ago, CatchMyDrift said:

Nice pics!

I don't think you'll see the triangle from the road, only from the old railway line. If we're along that way when we're on holiday I'll get a pic.

That part of Scotland is very wet, although it is very spectacular too. I think the two things go hand in hand

 

That area is near the point where there are significant changes in rainfall over a short distance. When I was at school in the area Killin was said to have double the annual rainfall of Aberfeldy and Pitlochry. It also surprisingly had a third fewer snow lying days perhaps because of warmth from the water of Loch Tay. My ex colleague who lives in St Fillans says there is also a large  difference in rainfall between  Lochearnhead and St Fillans.

[ciel]

11 hours ago, CatchMyDrift said:

Nice pics!

I don't think you'll see the triangle from the road, only from the old railway line. If we're along that way when we're on holiday I'll get a pic.

That part of Scotland is very wet, although it is very spectacular too. I think the two things go hand in hand

 

Catch, if you are serious about an eventual move, imho, the Aberfoyle area might be good for both snow and scenery. The Brig o' Turk - Aberfoyle road, as far as I can recall, is often closed during the winter months. ( I don't keep stats regarding that statement tho' )

[edinburgh_1992]

Even more confirmation this morning of how short lived this spell of nice weather is going to be. Already on Tuesday night the high pressure breaks and rain moves in. Wednesday-Friday looking very grey and dull for most, before temperatures take a dip over the weekend. 

Long term still very confusing, as GFS and members show flat scenarios with frequent depressions moving over the UK, whilst ECMWF keeps high pressure over us. 

Edited April 28, 2019 by edinburgh_1992

[edinburgh_1992]

1 hour ago, CatchMyDrift said:

Aye, we've got a very rough area of anywhere 30 miles either side of a line between Oban and Pitlochry in mind including that area. The Trossachs may prove just a little too close to Glasgow though. Having said that it needs to be within a couple of hours of Kilmacolm as my Dad and my kids live there. We're on holiday at Inveruglas on Loch Lomond for a week in May so we'll put some thought into the whole thing. It's almost certain that we'll move but we need to work out the details and find somewhere very snowy

In Scotland, as long as you're at a decent altitude you should be able to get good snowfalls. I've been to Pitlochry a few times this winter when it's been raining in Edinburgh to find everything white and subzero temperatures, and it's only a couple of hundred metres higher up. 

Also being further west definitely helps too, as snow showers from the north-west rarely make their way over to the east (2018 was an exception). 

[edinburgh_1992]

Great day here in Edinburgh too. 

Worth keeping an eye on next weekend as snow could reach very interesting altitudes for some... maybe it's already time to open the "hunt for cold" thread  

Edited April 28, 2019 by edinburgh_1992

[Norrance]

8 hours ago, CatchMyDrift said:

Aye, we've got a very rough area of anywhere 30 miles either side of a line between Oban and Pitlochry in mind including that area. The Trossachs may prove just a little too close to Glasgow though. Having said that it needs to be within a couple of hours of Kilmacolm as my Dad and my kids live there. We're on holiday at Inveruglas on Loch Lomond for a week in May so we'll put some thought into the whole thing. It's almost certain that we'll move but we need to work out the details and find somewhere very snowy

You have to bear in mind that the valleys are deeper in the Southern Highlands so they don’t have the altitude of Speyside or Upper Deeside etc. For example the Tummel river at Pitlochry and the Tay at Aberfeldy are both under 100 mtrs asl. For the best snow lying areas you would have to be a bit more remote and have altitude (though Aberfeldy, Pitlochry and Dunkeld all  average around 30 snow lying days per year) which is not much different from Eskdalemuir in the Borders  despite the difference in altitude.  Somewhere higher like Amulree, Glenquaich gets lots of snow but don’t  have nearby facilities like schools etc these days. Glenlyon or Rannoch are probably also a bit far and remote from Kilmalcolm. The Crianlarich/Tyndrum or Lochearnhead areas might be more accessible but are busy with lots of visitors from the Glasgow area as a consequence. I also prefer places with good views of the higher hills to see the snow levels coming down. Kenmore for example. Maybe St Fillans to the Comrie area too.

Edited April 28, 2019 by Norrance

[ciel]

It was a quite nice day over in the west, a sunny, still, morning, although cool-ish with the temp not rising above 13C despite the sun. Low cloud eventually enclosed the sky during the afternoon providing some light on and off rain. 

The Small Isles ( Rhum,Eigg and Muck) as viewed from Ardnamurchan.

 

 

[Hairy Celt]

Today was a much better day than yesterday, ending up with full sun from late afternoon today.

There's a small but healthy - and probably rather precarious due to tourist trampling - colony of meadow saxifrages near here, flowering slightly earlier than usual this year. They really look quite smashing in the fading light.

                                                       

I would have been planting veg out this weekend but digging yesterday showed the soil like dust. So today I got the hose out in preparation for planting out tomorrow. Could do with a rainy spell soon.

[Quinach]

A superb Goldilocks day - not to hot, not to cold, just perfect.

Foggy to start with but that cleared by 10am leaving unbroken sunshine accompanied by a light to occasionally brisk SE wind - max temperature of 15.5c.

Time to enjoy a lovely evening of sunshine 

Edited April 29, 2019 by Quinach

[ciel]

It’s been a beautiful couple of days over in Ardnamurchan, not too hot or too cold, with the temp today hovering around 19C in the sun and a gentle breeze.

A Cuckoo was calling yesterday evening at Strontian and again this afternoon in the Ariundle nature reserve.

[shuggee]

Much the same here. True cracker.

My wee puppy is a!l jagged and ready to go so suddenly properly exploring the countryside where I live. 

 

[edinburgh_1992]

Lovely day in Edinburgh too, although not massively warm. Temperature sat around 11-12C for most of the day, only 8 this morning with low clouds.

Tomorrow mostly cloudy, best chances of sun in the late morning. Possible light rain in the afternoon and evening.

The arctic blast is looking very likely for Friday, although it's too early to say exactly where snow/rain will hit. The current temperature predictions would allow snow to fall down to 300m, possibly even lower

[Northernlights]

Fabulous  dry sunny warm day here too .After a morning at paperwork got mower outf or first cut of domestic grasses.The grass was like steel wool to cut even with newly sharpened blades so drought is not far away. but at least it was so dry there were no chokes. Finished the day off by sowing veg in garden in anticipation of rain /sleet/snow at the end of the week.Nice weed free seedbeds after dutch hoeing in such conditions.for the last two weeks.

Moor fire broke out again this afternoon so any precipitation  from the sky this week will be welcome. Heard today that some  ofthe farms nearest it have dug wide ditches and created vegetation free gaps to try and protect their fields if it threatens them again.