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The Snow Lovers Appreciation Society Winter 2014/15 #MOD NOTE #1
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AnotherYear wrote: »That's not necessarily true Maq. Remember in 2010, the second and most brutal cold spell of that record breaking month came directly from the North.
As per Met.ie extreme Weather Events December 2010-16th to 25th: A cold front moving southwards on the 16th re-introduced an arctic airstream across
the country. Bitterly cold Northerly winds brought snow showers in many areas, most frequently
along Atlantic and Irish Sea coasts, causing considerable disruption of road and air travel. Freezing
conditions persisted for long periods, with the temperature remaining below 0°C for nine
consecutive days in some inland areas.
The lowest
December air temperature ever measured in the country, -17.5°C, was recorded at the
climatological station of Straide, Co. Mayo, on the morning of the 25th
And northern Ireland broke it's all time record when it recorded -18.7 during this time.
On December 17/18th after the Snow had cleared temperatures dropped like a stone. Almost a 10 degree drop in 1hr was recorded in NI.
I believe MT called it the Greenland Express. So no you don't need sustained cold in the East, that Cold spell was entirely of a Northerly origin. In fact you could say an Easterly was wishy in comparison to that Northerly
That was a really exceptional event though. It wasn't your regular northerly with a day or two of polar maritime air, it looked more like a lobe of the polar vortex descending down on us.
And by a couple of days later we were back in a more easterly flow and tapping back into the cold air to our east again.
I'd say that in that case it was a combination of the cold air from the north and the east that resulted in such sustained cold.
The blocking on those charts really is something else. I doubt we'll see the likes of that again in December for a long time!0 -
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AnotherYear wrote: »
You are as likely to see Snow in Ireland if not more likely from a Northerly than an Easterly. That's for the Island as a whole and not just East coast.
I think it is more what part of the country you happen to be. Idealistically speaking, Northerly based snow is more likely to affect the northern half of Ireland, while easterlies more likely to bring snow to the south. Polar Maritime air, which I think was the point of the original post, rarely brings anything more than the wet, slushy type stuff. although there are, and have been, exceptions.
In the less idealized, realistic world, big snowfalls come from the clashing of the various air masses. Just a few examples:
Jan 1917 (southern 2/3rds mostly affected) resulted from returning polar maritime air mass moving up against a fridged continental.
Apr 1917 (west / southwest mostly affected) Arctic maritime air mass
Jan 1982 (east / southeast mostly affected) Polar maritime clashing with Arctic Maritime
Jan 1987 (east mostly affected) Arctic maritime clashing with continental air mass.
The chart below (a bit untidy as I rushed it together) shows sources of the colder air masses in Winter, which is based on the model devised by J.E Belasco in the early 1950s.
New Moon
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AnotherYear wrote: »Maq, It was the Northerly not an Easterly that lead to that severe cold spell so you can't really say it was a combination of the both that time the Northerly done the damage so to speak.
You are as likely to see Snow in Ireland if not more likely from a Northerly than an Easterly. That's for the Island as a whole and not just East coast.
Well the coldest 850 temps for the month for eastern parts anyway was from the easterly/northeasterly flow at the start of the month. Casement recorded -15 around this time. I wouldn't call that wishy washy.
For northern parts it would have been the northerly on the 17th.
And cold was already established to our east before the northerly started :
So as the flow changed from northerly to easterly again around the 19th I think it was the merging of the continental and arctic air that led to the cold being sustained and so severe.0 -
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maquiladora wrote: »Well the coldest 850 temps for the month for eastern parts anyway was from the easterly/northeasterly flow at the start of the month. Casement recorded -15 around this time. I wouldn't call that wishy washy.
I wouldn't call -18.7 in NI wishy washy which came from a Northerly which you implied is Wishy washy
For northern parts it would have been the northerly on the 17th.
And cold was already established to our east before the northerly started :
No one is disputing that but it was a Northerly outbreak not an Easterly.
So as the flow changed from northerly to easterly again around the 19th I think it was the merging of the continental and arctic air that led to the cold being sustained and so severe.
Once again it was the Northerly. It brought deep cold over Ireland and once the Snow stopped we went in to a deep freeze. The East component had nothing to do with it0 -
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Its too cold for snow! -- Irish Mammies throughout the centuries...
Not just mammies say it ! :mad: People my age believe it too and it irritates me so much! Like theyll fight me on it and tell me Im wrong, one of my friends thinks when it hits zero C the snow freezes or some sh*t and then its not able to snow anymore I dont even know what he was trying to say it was so stupid and other people tell me if theres frost then thats a sign it wont snow because its too cold
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Not just mammies say it ! :mad: People my age believe it too and it irritates me so much! Like theyll fight me on it and tell me Im wrong, one of my friends thinks when it hits zero C the snow freezes or some sh*t and then its not able to snow anymore I dont even know what he was trying to say it was so stupid and other people tell me if theres frost then thats a sign it wont snow because its too cold
It has some logic to it to be fair, very low temps very often come from dry high pressure systems that fail to deliver Snow, but obviously as you are aware we can and have seen very cold spells that will deliver Snowfall, 2010 being a prime example.0 -
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