We have a Polar Low!!

Su Campu

Today's 00Z Satrep analysis shows a Polar Low off the coast of Norway. OK, not anywhere near us, but at least we've seen one this winter! And as I said earlier this week, there is the possibility of one forming further south, in the North Sea as the vast pool of sub -40°C 500hPa temperatures, coupled with the steep low level lapse rates moves southwards over the area.









It's analysed as a sub 976hPa low on the NAE surface chart





It's unlikely that we'd be affected by one if it did manage to form there, but we should keep an eye out on today's visible Sat images.

Su Campu

Ship reports in the area are showing winspeeds above the 27knot minimum threshold for classification as a Polar Low

nacho libre

Damn. I was getting my hopes up that there might be a polar low on its way here later tonight or into tomorrow morning:(

It would be great to see one here before the winter is over.

Scubadevils

Feck... saw the thread title and assumed there was one on the way.

Su Campu

Sorry, maybe the title is a bit misleading, I should have said "A polar low has formed, but nowhere near Ireland"!:D

lucernarian

Aye, it's a bit off the mark to say "we" have a polar low:D

Lumi

It's downright cruelty to toy with our emotions like that! Though 'tis nice to see one 'n all it's in the WRONG PLACE!
I can only imagine the effect this has had on Nacho ...

lucernarian

Quite frankly, I'm tempted to report this thread just to get the title changed haha!

greysides

Polar low............pah!.....Solar plexus low!

Rougies

I'm fascinated by polar lows. I missed out on watching it's progress today

Here's a recent satellite image


Looks like a cool eagle gargoyle

Su Campu

And do we have a second polar low in 24 hours? The Satrep team seem to think so, around 70N (where it says "INFO")!! :eek:

It appears that a new polar low kind of development is occurring near latitude 70N.

http://www.knmi.nl/satrep/cgi-bin/show2.cgi?FILE=/data/satrep/archive/FMI/satrep.2010013018.gif

And here's their comment on the first one further south this morning

Nice convective polar low with plenty of curving rain/snow bands. At 500hPa
-40C and beneath that quite mild lower 0-2 km layer. Few lightning strikes
possible.

Su Campu

Today's first Low shows up nicely near on the radar near Bergen. Bergen airport is reporting light to moderate snow all evening, with thundersnow at 2050Z. The Norwegian Met Offfice have a warning out for dangerous driving conditions and strong winds.



(How's yer Norwegian??!!)

Su Campu

Here's the second Polar Low in a more westerly location than the first, heading southwards towards the Faroes and Scotland.



Pity it's nearing the end of its lifetime, no chance of it reaching these parts as anything substantial. It gets deflected eastwards by the increasingly westerly flow tomorrow, clipping northeastern Scotland, but is progged to redeepen over the North Sea as it moves southeastwards towards southern Norway and Denmark.





Closer....but no cigar :rolleyes:

.

chilipepper

Maybe it will be 3th time lucky for us. It's still very encouraging to see two form in 24 hours

nacho libre

It would be nice to see a bump to this thread before the winter is out. With the first line letting us know a polar low is on the way to Ireland.

nacho libre

Have we ever had a polar low in March before?