Winter 20/21 - General Discussion

SleetAndSnow

sryanbruen wrote: »

86.3 hrs now... the third sunniest January on record at Cork Airport. January 2011 had 87.5 hrs so will likely become the 2nd sunniest but not likely to beat the sunniest - which was January 2010 with 118.4 hrs.

The January 2010 total also happens to be the national record for January, what a phenomenal January 2010 was and to have 2 back to back very sunny Januaries.

Casement in comparison has had 35.9 hrs to 24th.

And it’s another sunny day today! Blue skies. Loving this period of hard frosts, cold weather and blue sky. Next best thing if we can’t get the snow

Just under 2 degrees here atm

Goldfinch8

Artane2002 wrote: »

it's a beautiful morning in Dublin 5, extremely frosty and icy with brilliant sunshine and pink skies!

Similar here in Mayo this morning. The skies were a real treat earlier. Personally, I love these type of winter mornings.

leeash10

Beautiful clear bright day, 2c. Ice and frost thawing in sunshine. West Wicklow.

https://twitter.com/Arklowweather/status/1353669059297112064?s=19

appledrop

Managed to get out for early walk before I started work it was stunning & beautiful!

Yes freezing but paths were all sparkling + lovely to see morning snow + frost.

Nqp15hhu

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

The size of the 26 compared to eastern Canada:

Wow!

Nqp15hhu

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

Some useless info but it is interesting to note that the most westerly point of Ireland is closer the far east coast of mainland Canada than it is to Moscow, not by much, but still.

Yep, the North Atlantic Ocean is not that wide and can be flown across in 3.5 hours at times. It’s the amount of land in North America that makes transatlantic flights long.

Oneiric 3

How we'd look if were a Mediterranean island:




Or an east Greenland offshoot:

Gaoth Laidir

This gives a bit more scale/context.

Belmullet is 400 km closer to Greenland than it is to Rome.

Tyrone212

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

The size of the 26 compared to eastern Canada:

Cough

Oneiric 3

Tyrone212 wrote: »

Cough

redsteveireland

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

Must have coughed on his keyboard. Into the elbow folks.

Moved my car to get the most out of any sunshine that gets through that high cloud.

ZeroSum76

Met Eireann, in addition to mistakenly flashing up Christmas Eve on the weather last night, mentioned there might be further snow in some areas on Tuesday 26th. Is that a long shot or can that be ruled out now at this stage I wonder? Would be nice to get another flurry before things warm up again this week. Been a really nice cold snap of late.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHn4Rpn-6Y0

Nqp15hhu

ZeroSum76 wrote: »

Met Eireann, in addition to mistakenly flashing up Christmas Eve on the weather last night, mentioned there might be further snow in some areas on Tuesday 26th. Is that a long shot or can that be ruled out now at this stage I wonder? Would be nice to get another flurry before things warm up again this week. Been a really nice cold snap of late.

There is a warm front coming through around 10pm onwards. It is bringing an area of rain with it, models do appear to show some short lived snow in the western areas of Ireland I.e knock. For Ulster it is a longer duration but primarily looks to be of snow around the inland areas and also at altitude.

I am thinking this will be a 300 metre+ event.

Nqp15hhu

ICON shows 7-8 cm on high ground. I am personally expecting rain, perhaps some wet snow if the temperature drops to freezing prior to the event.

However, in recent times these systems come ashore a lot earlier than forecast.

Oneiric 3

redsteveireland wrote: »

Must have coughed on his keyboard. Into the elbow folks.

Moved my car to get the most out of any sunshine that gets through that high cloud.

That high cloud came in just in time to prevent temps from falling too low here last night. Every single time the temp tried to fall during any night this winter, Mr Cloud always moved in just in time to prevent it. Thanks Mr Cloud!

Gonzo

AuntySnow wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHn4Rpn-6Y0

interesting video. They claim most lowland and southern parts of the UK get 10 days of falling snow per year or less. Many parts of Ireland struggles to get 1 or 2 days of falling snow per year I reckon. Some parts see no flakes at all some years.

The north-west propbably see's more snow on average than any other part of Ireland (Donegal, Mayo, Sligo).

Nqp15hhu

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

That high cloud came in just in time to prevent temps from falling too low here last night. Every single time the temp tried to fall during any night this winter, Mr Cloud always moved in just in time to prevent it. Thanks Mr Cloud!

Same here too!

Supercell

Gonzo wrote: »

interesting video. They claim most lowland and southern parts of the UK get 10 days of falling snow per year or less. Many parts of Ireland struggles to get 1 or 2 days of falling snow per year I reckon. Some parts see no flakes at all some years.

The north-west propbably see's more snow on average than any other part of Ireland (Donegal, Mayo, Sligo).

I'd agree with that, my sister in Coolaney, Sligo seems to send us pictures of snowmen pretty much every year at least once, rare as hens teeth here .

Donegal Storm

Gonzo wrote: »

interesting video. They claim most lowland and southern parts of the UK get 10 days of falling snow per year or less. Many parts of Ireland struggles to get 1 or 2 days of falling snow per year I reckon. Some parts see no flakes at all some years.

The north-west propbably see's more snow on average than any other part of Ireland (Donegal, Mayo, Sligo).

If you read the title of that map it says sleet/snow so I'd say they're being fairly liberal with what classes as a day with falling snow

The map seems to come from here where there's also a lying snow map though again it doesn't explain what they mean by lying snow

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/snow/snow-in-the-uk

Gonzo

Gonzo wrote: »

interesting video. They claim most lowland and southern parts of the UK get 10 days of falling snow per year or less. Many parts of Ireland struggles to get 1 or 2 days of falling snow per year I reckon. Some parts see no flakes at all some years.

The north-west propbably see's more snow on average than any other part of Ireland (Donegal, Mayo, Sligo).

People here say that Southern England gets no snow, bur that's not totally true. A channel low, which used to be more common, will plaster the south of England, conditions being right. And of course they are closer to continental cold.

Anyway when I lived in the South West there was clearly more snow than in Dublin, for the 4 years I lived there. Twice as much I would say. I wasnt in Cornwall though, but close to Bristol which is to the North of the South.

Tyrone212

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

You left me out. Was joking.

Nqp15hhu

Gonzo wrote: »

interesting video. They claim most lowland and southern parts of the UK get 10 days of falling snow per year or less. Many parts of Ireland struggles to get 1 or 2 days of falling snow per year I reckon. Some parts see no flakes at all some years.

The north-west propbably see's more snow on average than any other part of Ireland (Donegal, Mayo, Sligo).

We definitely see several days of falling snow each main winter month, maybe 3-7 days each month in a typical winter. That increases rapidly with altitude.

I’m not sure about the 10 days of snow in southern England. When I lived there it rarely snowed and if it did it was usually a transient NW, that brought some sleety snow showers in a 4-8 hour interval.

Tyrone212

Gonzo wrote: »

interesting video. They claim most lowland and southern parts of the UK get 10 days of falling snow per year or less. Many parts of Ireland struggles to get 1 or 2 days of falling snow per year I reckon. Some parts see no flakes at all some years.

The north-west propbably see's more snow on average than any other part of Ireland (Donegal, Mayo, Sligo).

As Donegal mentioned its the sleet/snow criteria. For instance Malin head has the most days with sleet/snow recorded per year on Met Eireanns 30 year averages with 20 plus. It has such a strong maritime influence so doesn't have many days with laying snow. A lot of those 20 plus would be sleet only but if there sleet at malin head it will almost certainly be snowing inland in that area.

Nqp15hhu

[Deleted User] wrote: »

People here say that Southern England gets no snow, bur that's not totally true. A channel low, which used to be more common, will plaster the south of England, conditions being right. And of course they are closer to continental cold.

Anyway when I lived in the South West there was clearly more snow than in Dublin, for the 4 years I lived there. Twice as much I would say. I wasnt in Cornwall though, but close to Bristol which is to the North of the South.

Channel lows are not that common. Most southern winters are about 8-9c with perhaps a frost once or twice a week. The further east you go the sunnier it becomes, so there may be more frosts there.

But for the most part it does not snow there much if at all, as the NW air streams moderate a lot before reaching there.

The NE and midlands would have a lot more snow. (NW is affected by winds coming in off the Irish Sea).

Oneiric 3

Tyrone212 wrote: »

You left me out. Was joking.

Sorry, slow off the mark today...

Unfortunately, that site limits Ireland by its political boundary:

https://thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~!MTY1NTU2Mzc.OTg0Njc2NA*MjkwMzU1NjQ(NTMyMjY3Mw~!CONTIGUOUS_US*MTAwMjQwNzU.MjUwMjM1MTc(MTc1)MA~!IN*NTI2NDA1MQ.Nzg2MzQyMQ)MQ~!CN*OTkyMTY5Nw.NzMxNDcwNQ(MjI1)Mg~!IE*MA.MTgwMDAwMDA)Mw

Oneiric 3

Snow events in the UK, outside of Scotland that is, are often overhyped in my opinion, both by the media and the UK Met Office. England and Wales are not really that snowy at all.

Nqp15hhu

I think hilly areas of NI do better than most of England, at least in terms of frequency of snow.

The hills here above 500 metres have a semi permanent snow cover. And slieve Donard is actually below freezing quite often, even when it is 5-6c at sea level.

Nqp15hhu

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

Channel lows are not that common. Most southern winters are about 8-9c with perhaps a frost once or twice a week. The further east you go the sunnier it becomes, so there may be more frosts there.

But for the most part it does not snow there much if at all, as the NW air streams moderate a lot before reaching there.

The NE and midlands would have a lot more snow. (NW is affected by winds coming in off the Irish Sea).

It snows more than in Ireland, perhaps outside the North, but of course less than the more northerly parts of Britain. There are high hills and moors on the south west which are snowy.

from wiki:

In the south-west the number of days of snowfall increases with altitude: per approximately every 100 m (330 ft) increase in altitude, the number of days of snow falling increases by five days. From 1979 to 2000, on average there were fewer than 10 days per winter in which snow fell in the islands of the south-west and the coastal areas of Devon and Cornwall, and slightly more than 10 days on average near to the Severn Estuary. Inland areas received between 8–15 days of snow falling; more days of snow fall were noted particularly to the north-east. Some upland areas received, on average, over 25 days per year of snow falling.[11]

Similarly to the ratio of days of snow falling to altitude, the number of days in which snow settles on the ground increases by five days per every 100 m (330 ft) increase in altitude. In the south-west, it is rare that snow settles on the ground. From 1979 to 2000 on average, lowland areas did not record any lying snow in one out of every three years. During this period, snow settled, on average, fewer than three days per year across the Isles of Scilly and on the coasts of Devon and Cornwall. Inland areas had an average of 5–10 days of snow lying per year and, as with the days of snow falling; this was higher towards the north-east of the region. More than 20 days of snow lying can be expected on the high grounds of Dartmoor and Exmoor.[11]

Seems higher than most of Ireland.

And then the Atlantic hitting the cold continental air.

The south-west, although the mildest region of the British Isles, has been affected by some of the most severe blizzards. Blizzards are a rare occurrence in the United Kingdom, but can occur when especially cold easterly winds from the continent meet an Atlantic depression, causing a prolonged snowstorm and high winds. This occurred in February 1978, when 50 cm (20 in) of snow accumulated in inland Devon and 90 cm (35 in) on Dartmoor and Exmoor, caused by −2 °C (28 °F) winds at 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph). In January 1982, snow drifts were 1 m (3 ft 3 in) deep around the Bristol area. Convective showers on 12 January 1987 left parts of Cornwall with deep snow: 35 cm (14 in) at Falmouth, 39 cm (15 in) Penzance and 23 cm (9.1 in) on the Isles of Scilly.[11]


So it does seem like the 1982 incident, which also affected Ireland, is more common there, even if not that common. Ireland is far west so an Atlantic storm sliding south of us and advecting cold from the continent is rare over Ireland but slightly more likely in England. We probably got rain in that 1978 blizzard.