Is frost more intense now?

Dinkleman

Hi guys,

Is it just me or is the frost these days more intense? I remember when I was younger and it would be frosty on grass but not on the roads. Now even with salt the roads are lethal. Today it was 3c and I could see the road glistening with frost and ice. Is it just me or does anyone agree?

thetonynator

Probably trying to save money by using less salt.

Or have you moved inland since you were younger?

Su Campu

It's just the fact that the ground was wet after the recent days' wintry showers, so as the ground temperature falls below zero this surface water will freeze.

We normally get frosts when there is a high over us, which usually means dry weather and hence drier ground, so we don't see the same icy glaze. But this recent frost is not unusual.

Dinkleman

Lived in laois all my life! It's just the past 4 years the frost has been more noticeably harsh! I know temps were down well below freezing! Maybe I have a short memory!

Irish Steve

Some of the difference is the relative humidity. If there is a lot of moisture in the air, as it cools, it has to precipitate out, which can lead to a lot more moisture on things like tarmac, cars, anything where water is visible, and as the temp then drops below 0, or further, it freezes, hard.

If the Relative humidity is low, basically drier air, there's not such a dramatic precipitation out.

Steve

Stripey Cat

I agree about the frostier frost.

Teenagers are cheekier now too. And there is more different types of cheese in the shops, I've noticed.

What does it all mean?

Sponge Bob

Dinkleman wrote: »

Is it just me or is the frost these days more intense?

You are quite obviously too young to remember 1963 or you would not ask!

Wild Bill

Sponge Bob wrote: »

You are quite obviously too young to remember 1963 or you would not ask!

Yes I am, but just about...I have vague recollections.

Back in the day we had wind in mph and knots were something Boy Scouts did :cool:

Deep Easterly

Sponge Bob wrote: »

You are quite obviously too young to remember 1963 or you would not ask!

That sounds almost like an accusation!

Wasn't around in 63' myself but listening to stories from those who did get to experience that winter it was apparently a very sunny and dry one (in the west anyway) with the ground so hard that the dead could not even be buried and seems in accordance with the actual stats. Relative humidity was exceptionally low and it was also quite windy a lot of the time with winds frequently from the east or southeast.

squonk

I remember the 80s and severe frosts then too. I was in Clare and spent the 90s and Noughties in Dublin where frost didn't seem as severe, but the winters were mild a lot of the time too. Having said that, the last two winters, my last in Dublin, were frosty there too.

Sponge Bob

Here is Zzippys EPIC photo of lough corrib this time last year. I knew someone who drove a tractor across a deep frozen Lough Corrib, and back, in 1963.

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/108231/140612.jpg

BEASTERLY

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Here is Zzippys photo of lough corrib this time last year. I knew someone who drove a tractor across a deep frozen Lough Corrib, and back, in 1963.

That picture is too small, need magnifying glass to see it, can you resize to make it bigger?

JanuarySnowstor

I have to agree the ice over last 3 years is something i've never seen before and I remember the 80's well. It's my view that the the ground temp never really recovered properly after the 1st bad freeze two years ago and ice seems to form much quicker than anything seen in the last 20 years

Danno

Alot of wet weather prior to these cold spells have played their part. Rain will lower soil temperatures and as a result when cold air moves in the ground will give up it's heat rather quickly.

Wild Bill

Danno wrote: »

Alot of wet weather prior to these cold spells have played their part. Rain will lower soil temperatures and as a result when cold air moves in the ground will give up it's heat rather quickly.

Is that correct? I thought the opposite was true? Does water not retain heat better than sand/stone/earth etc?

I'm going to find my old Geography teacher and demand my money back, even if I have to dig him up. :mad:

Su Campu

Yes you are right Bill. Dry soil will lose its heat a lot faster than wet soil due to the high latent heat of vaporisation of water. Water acts as an insulator around soil particles and the energy lost from the particle is absorbed by the water and not lost to space, thus retaining the overall temperature of the ground.

Dry soil will also heat up quicker in sunny conditions as the sun's radiation is all taken up by the soil and surrounding air, whereas with wet soil, a lot of energy is absorbed in vaporising the water in the soil. So dry soil gets warmer during the day but colder at night than wet soil.

road_high

Totally agree with the OP and he could have taken the words out of my mouth as I was just saying the same at home a few days ago. In recent years, we seemed to have this heavy rain and then hard frosts resulting in the lethal roads. In the past it seemed like if we had rain we'd never have frost (too mild) and vice versa. it's akin to "ice rain" you hear of in Canada and places. But far less severe of course.
Perhaps I'm driving more these days and notice it more though on the roads. Frost and rain is a lethal combo though. It wasn't a "dry" forst as such lately.

Zzippy

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Here is Zzippys EPIC photo of lough corrib this time last year. I knew someone who drove a tractor across a deep frozen Lough Corrib, and back, in 1963.

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/108231/140612.jpg

That photo was taken at the far south-western corner of the lower lake, so it shows over 4.5km of unbroken ice across to the far shore!

KatyMac

JanuarySnowstor wrote: »

I have to agree the ice over last 3 years is something i've never seen before and I remember the 80's well. It's my view that the the ground temp never really recovered properly after the 1st bad freeze two years ago and ice seems to form much quicker than anything seen in the last 20 years

I remember when I was a lad??? that areas in our fields that became waterlogged during the winter would have ice that my brothers and I were able to skate on . That would be around the late 60s/early 70s.