Severe Weather Snow / Ice Weds 28 FEB ( Onwards ) ** READ MOD NOTE POST#1**

josip

All the footpaths in our estate are freezing over again tonight.
None of the 24 houses in our cul de sac bothered to spend 3-4 minutes clearing away their few metres at any time over over the past 4 days.
A few are elderly but most are able bodied.

sryanbruen

Don't forget that we have the Canadian Warming now to impact the troposphere - as well as a third warming spike that occurred on Tuesday.

We already have intense blocking in place so the impacts are going to be very interesting.

Elmer Blooker

sryanbruen wrote: »

Nor should you ever use newspapers as a source for weather or statistics!

Exactly, the highlighted bit is complete fiction and just made up to spice up the article.

In 1982 the schools had just returned when they were confronted with a 36-hour storm on January 8 and 9 which hit the east of the country worst, heralding an extended holiday which lasted up to three weeks in some places. The initial storm dumped 26cm of snow on Dublin Airport, and two more blizzards arrived over the next 10 days, each arriving just as the nation was recovering from the previous one.

MidMan25

Pelvis Parsley wrote: »

Now that the worst is over...

I work for one of the major Irish utilities, won't say which one, but you can probably guess, and I just want to chime in with a few words of thanks-not just directly to you MT, for your forecasts both here and on FB, but also to all the other skilled forecasters here, who dispense what is often bad news,
without drama, overstatement, and always in a measured way, often a week or more ahead of the (understandably more conservative) professional meteorological bodies.

While we as a company would rely on the likes of Met Eireann in an official capacity, your collective hard work has allowed me (in my job, which involves planning for, and dealing with such widespread weather issues and interruptions to service) to plan ahead at a local level, to be ahead of the curve when it comes to preparedness, and to hit the ground running when it comes to getting people back.

What's said here obviously doesn't form the be all and end all of how we deal with such events, but I just want to reiterate that the work all of you are doing is making a real difference, not only to individuals, but to communities and towns across Ireland-so much so that MT, at the risk of embarrassing you, you are now referred to in planning meetings, as "that chap in Canada, what is he saying this morning?"

Thanks again!

Hear, hear. I'm a regular reader of the weather forum as it really is the best way to get a general idea of what weather is coming our way ahead of when the likes of Met Eireann can report it, especially in times of big weather events. Between the wide array of knowledgable posters a general consensus tends to emerge. Thanks to all!

Addle

sryanbruen wrote: »

2. The lowest in 1982 was -14.6c at Birr on January 12th

BIRR??? Really?!

Great thaw in Roscommon today, even though it seems to feel colder than the last few days.

Still can't move my car because of a drift that I hoped would have disappeared of it's own accord by now, but I may have to help it along tomorrow.

The local authority has done a great job clearing roads and paths.
It must've got new tools since December, because it didn't do a good job then.

igCorcaigh

sryanbruen wrote: »

Don't forget that we have the Canadian Warming now to impact the troposphere - as well as a third warming spike that occurred on Tuesday.

We already have intense blocking in place so the impacts are going to be very interesting.

Care to predict what that could mean for us weather wise?

mangobob

I know its been mentioned so many times by other posters, but I just wanted to say it again. Thank you so much to all the knowledgeable members in this thread (you know who you are, M.T. Cranium, Kermit.de.frog et al) for taking the time to share all your insights, knowledge and advice with the rest of us mere mortals. You have done us all an enormous service. Thank you also to all the members who shared their pictures, experiences and thoughts during these last few days. I thoroughly enjoyed the build up to this and its been a privilege to vicariously experience this event through all your contributions in this thread. Its been said to me many times by foreign friends that Irish people are obsessed with talking about the weather. I suppose that's true, but I have to say I love how weather events like this has brought people closer together as a community. In the last few days, I have heard from neighbours that I rarely talk to normally, checking if everything is ok and I or my family here need anything.

Also as much as I enjoyed the feeling of being like a child again, my thoughts have always been with those who are homeless, stranded or just struggling to stay warm in the face of these conditions. Thinking of those people has always tempered my excitement, and made me realise that for some folks this is no fun at all. I really hope everyone came through this relatively unscathed.

As an aside, we have for the last year or so "adopted" a wild cat who we feed every day when she shows up. I have not seen her for the last 48 hours and I was heartbroken thinking that she might have perished in the cold. I have been watching out for her with increasing anxiety, but to no avail. I have been doing my best to put as much food out for birds and our visiting foxes as possible, but she has always been on my mind. A few hours ago she showed up wet and bedraggled but very much alive and hungry. Its a joyous end to a very memorable experience Stay safe everyone, and see you all for the next event!

piplip87

Are management companies not responsible to make drifts in estates passable ? I know in my estate today a few of us took shovels and went to the older peoples houses and cleared the driveways and the paths. The council finally got round to clearing the road we are on too so its quite OK here.

Still people absolutely cut off out in the countryside. Hopefully now the primary roads are clear, real efforts will be made.


Also I have to say, the Polish Neighbours we have, although we do not see much of them they have being absolutely fantastic helping us clear the snow from paths and exiting the estate.

redsteveireland

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

The remnants of the cold air are still with us waiting to clear north. Just enough that a little more sleet and snow developing than anticipated along that front moving north over the southern half of the country at the moment. Perhaps a bit of a top up on current accumulations of snow for inland locations.

We just got a bit of freezing rain from the edge of it earlier

Macy0161

Not really getting the giving out about councils. They'll obviously prioritise more populated places, and main roads first. With whole villages cut off, back roads with a few houses are not going to be a priority. What are people really expecting!

There was also little point starting while snow was still falling and drifting.

cabledude

Pauliedragon wrote: »

Theres been a lot of bored people the last couple of days. Note to all the midwives, don't look for time off around late November I see a big spike in the birthrate in parts of the country.

The newborn baby girls will be called Emma, the boys, Beast.

degsie

cabledude wrote: »

The newborn baby girls will be called Emma, the boys, Beast.

Beasie Boys ftw!

MrDerp

wakka12 wrote: »

Would I be right in saying this event would be exceptional in any country on earth? I doubt theres any urban area in the nordic or east european nations or russia or canada or usa that deal with the level of snow some inland leinster counties did in such a small timeframe

I was in Stockholm for this:
https://www.thelocal.se/20161110/stockholm-just-set-a-new-snow-record

I got up in the morning and a Swedish colleague rang me advising me to take the metro instead of a taxi. Got to a client site and the most anyone was late for a workshop was 20 minutes. Took the Arlanda express on plowed lines and got to the airport on time.

There was constant snow and my plane needed a second deicing but got away just 55 minutes late and made my connecting flight home in Frankfurt.

It’s all relative to climate and infrastructure, and many people were caught out, but they’re well prepared to carry on within the city because of metro and the airport being equipped to manage without too many cancelled flights.

I was like a gom in work shoes sliding around in flat soles with wet socks but even I got there

Cork Boy 53

According to Siobhan Ryan on RTE just now, 67 cm in Glenbride was the highest snowfall depth recorded from this event.

Bananaleaf

Yes, thank you to the experts on here who called the whole thing early! Made for an extremely stress-free couple of days for our household as we had fridge and presses full, litres of water and candles on standby in case we needed them (we didn't) and extra bags of logs, briquettes and firelighters to last us the week.

Because of the prior warning given here, I was able to shop leisurely for supplies last Saturday and Sunday and we didn't have to leave the house once since Tuesday (we did go out for walks, but all journeys were made because we wanted to) We had lovely food and an abundance of warmth each evening and we were really able to relax.

Even this morning when everyone was digging themselves out of the snow to get down to the shops to replenish stocks, we still didn't have to go anywhere.

It's been great, but it wouldn't have been had I not been checking in here, so thank you all!

piplip87

MrDerp wrote: »

I was in Stockholm for this:
https://www.thelocal.se/20161110/stockholm-just-set-a-new-snow-record

I got up in the morning and a Swedish colleague rang me advising me to take the metro instead of a taxi. Got to a client site and the most anyone was late for a workshop was 20 minutes. Took the Arlanda express on plowed lines and got to the airport on time.

There was constant snow and my plane needed a second deicing but got away just 55 minutes late and made my connecting flight home in Frankfurt.

It’s all relative to climate and infrastructure, and many people were caught out, but they’re well prepared to carry on within the city because of metro and the airport being equipped to manage without too many cancelled flights.

I was like a gom in work shoes sliding around in flat soles with wet socks but even I got there

Stockholm more than likely has infrastructure clearing equipment that is a good investment due to to frequency of snow there.

Would such an investment be value for money here, where major snow events happen maybe once a decade ? IMO you cannot compare Ireland with any snowy nation.

wonski

I had dry aged steaks for a dinner tonight. Left overs from shopping earlier this week

Preparation is everything!

sdanseo

Looks like there might be a top up overnight for a few areas in the south, midwest and Wicklow. A weak band looks like moving north on a few models.

Already Wicklow over maybe 200m looks to be getting a good dose:

nacho libre

sryanbruen wrote: »

Don't forget that we have the Canadian Warming now to impact the troposphere - as well as a third warming spike that occurred on Tuesday.

We already have intense blocking in place so the impacts are going to be very interesting.

I wonder why the ecm was showing the pv reorganising earlier on then. I hope we get one more easterly blast- a long shot, i know. I miss the ice days and seeing everything white. Maybe if i had witnessed as much as some people here had, i might think differently:pac:, though. I really hope you're right about low solar activity meaning we will see severe cold outbreaks sooner rather than later in the future. Although i doubt we will see anything quite like the last few days ever again in Ireland.

sryanbruen

igCorcaigh wrote: »

Care to predict what that could mean for us weather wise?

nacho libre wrote: »

I wonder why the ecm was showing the pv reorganising earlier on then. I hope we get one more easterly blast- a long shot, i know. I miss the ice days and seeing everything white. Maybe if i had witnessed as much as some people here had, i might think differently:pac:, though. I really hope you're right about low solar activity meaning we will see severe cold outbreaks sooner rather than later in the future. Although i doubt we will see anything quite like the last few days ever again in Ireland.

I will reply to these comments tomorrow, I need a good rest tonight after yesterday's long night .

You may want to look at this post as another teaser: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=106334218&postcount=1562

jmc_93108

wakka12 wrote: »

Would I be right in saying this event would be exceptional in any country on earth? I doubt theres any urban area in the nordic or east european nations or russia or canada or usa that deal with the level of snow some inland leinster counties did in such a small timeframe

Well based on the five winters I spent in Seattle there were two major snow storms that were equal or worse than the last few days. One dropped a foot of snow downtown, a few feet in the outer suburbs and more in the foothills of the Cascades. Stayed on the ground for three weeks and wind chill got down to -20C some nights. The other was a hit and run storm of about a foot of snow. Both had some serious drifts. Not unusual for that area and pretty trivial compared to what they get in the High Plains and Mid West. Last year I was able to help a friend navigate through a big storm that hit Minnesota by watching the webcams on the snowplows and telling her by text which freeways were still open and plowed. That storm dumped at up to a rate of almost a foot per hour at some places for over a day. It was a blizzard so most of it ended up elsewhere. Probably Lake Michigan.

In the Pacific Northwest the locals just go through the snow routine, streets on steep hills close, people clear their drives and sidewalks and after the first day after the main fall life just goes on. For really big falls streets like the CounterWeight on Queen Anne Hill get turned into informal downhill ski runs. Fun to watch.

I was in Ireland for the '82 snow. Dug my dads car out a six foot drift at Dublin Airport. 1982 was actually more impressive than this storm. Faster, more unexpected. Missed 2010, was in California. But due to good timing got to see this storm a few miles from where I saw 1982. The sea effect snow was impressive. The blizzard last night was really impressive. It was fun standing on the beach in 50mph plus winds leaning into the wind watching the snow swirl around. By good fortune I had my Seattle winter gear here so I was warm and cozy while out and about. Actually a wind chill of -14C when the air temperature is -2C is quite pleasant compared to a wind chill of -14C when the air temp is -12C. The air temp never got low enough during this storm to be physical painful to breath or to burn the skin. So when properly dressed it was a very enjoyable experience to be out experiencing the storm. If it had hit in January it would have been more disruptive than 1982, at least in the eastern half of the country snowed under in '82. But as its March the snow is disappearing very fast. So more of a hit and run storm. But saying that the '82 snow hit on a Friday and by Tuesday things had already started getting back to normal again.

As the Norwegians say, there is no such thing as bad weather - just the wrong clothes.

Larbre34

Still hard to believe the last 5 days happened. How many near misses have been debated in this place over the years only for the whole Country to get nothing short of blasted.

Effects on my own house on the edge of Dublin and Meath were awesome enough, but i spoke to family in on the coast near Wexford town and it was simply historic, snow of a scale never seen in living memory.

This event was probably a good balance, a record breaker, a visual feast, a time of fun memories for the kids of this generation, but not a deep freeze like the 2010 events. If this was January 3rd and not March 3rd, I dread to think of the crippling effect it could have had on the whole island for weeks, we are fortunate to be looking at a fairly quick thaw. But, as it was, the Community came together and the arms of the state acted well and we didn't loose a single person, at the time of writing and hopefully farms and businesses and travel will recover quickly and move forward.

So, only -19.5C from 1982 lives to fight another day, and I suspect even the snow bunnies here might not want to see that day for another 36 years.

Ladies and gentlemen, 2018, The Big One.

Donegal Storm

nacho libre wrote: »

I wonder why the ecm was showing the pv reorganising earlier on then. I hope we get one more easterly blast- a long shot, i know. I miss the ice days and seeing everything white. Maybe if i had witnessed as much as some people here had, i might think differently:pac:, though. I really hope you're right about low solar activity meaning we will see severe cold outbreaks sooner rather than later in the future. Although i doubt we will see anything quite like the last few days ever again in Ireland.

I've definitely had my fix for this winter now, any more cold and snow would inevitably pale in comparison so I'd far prefer some nice Spring warmth over a prolonged spell of 5C days and a couple of centimetres of overnight slush.

This has definitely reignited my enthusiasm for the weather in this country though, I've found a lot of the 'big' events in recent years to be huge letdowns and the constant westerly snow events just don't really interest me so to actually have something exceed even my most optimistic expectations was amazing to see.

wakka12

Cork Boy 53 wrote: »

According to Siobhan Ryan on RTE just now, 67 cm in Glenbride was the highest snowfall depth recorded from this event.

Thats on level ground that wasn't affected by drifting? And I thought some places in wicklow and kildare would have got more than 2 foot snow

wakka12

piplip87 wrote: »

Stockholm more than likely has infrastructure clearing equipment that is a good investment due to to frequency of snow there.

Would such an investment be value for money here, where major snow events happen maybe once a decade ? IMO you cannot compare Ireland with any snowy nation.

I think the uselessness of snow infrastructure in ireland is over exaggerated, I think a few snow ploughs would be well worth the investment..there is on average probably disruptive snow every 4-5 years and it costs a lot to the economy to have a country come to standstill and I think costs more than the investment in snow removal infrastructure

Cork Boy 53

wakka12 wrote: »

Thats on level ground that wasn't affected by drifting? And I thought some places in wicklow and kildare would have got more than 2 foot snow

I was only posting what she said on RTE. Apparently not the case.

degsie

Cork Boy 53 wrote: »

I was only posting what she said on RTE. Apparently not the case.

Couldn't have been RTE if it was metric

Cork Boy 53

Larbre34 wrote: »

Still hard to believe the last 5 days happened. How many near misses have been debated in this place over the years only for the whole Country to get nothing short of blasted.

Effects on my own house on the edge of Dublin and Meath were awesome enough, but i spoke to family in on the coast near Wexford town and it was simply historic, snow of a scale never seen in living memory.

This event was probably a good balance, a record breaker, a visual feast, a time of fun memories for the kids of this generation, but not a deep freeze like the 2010 events. If this was January 3rd and not March 3rd, I dread to think of the crippling effect it could have had on the whole island for weeks, we are fortunate to be looking at a fairly quick thaw. But, as it was, the Community came together and the arms of the state acted well and we didn't loose a single person, at the time of writing and hopefully farms and businesses and travel will recover quickly and move forward.

So, only -19.5C from 1982 lives to fight another day, and I suspect even the snow bunnies here might not want to see that day for another 36 years.

Ladies and gentlemen, 2018, The Big One.

Actually, the whole country was not blasted. Many areas, especially in the west and northwest, got relatively little snowfall. Also, as was posted earlier, the -19.5C figure in 1982 is incorrect.

piuswal

degsie wrote: »

Couldn't have been RTE if it was metric

It was RTE and all general weather measurements given by ME are metric;

exceptions are height in feet for aviation

and wind speed in knots for sea forecasts.

Any other exceptions, anyone?

fin12

Would it be ok to walk the blackrock/Mahon, Cork walk tomorrow? Just wondering what the walkway be like?