Big Freeze Discussion [Happy New Year]

Felixdhc

Felixdhc wrote: »

Myself and my wife saw them last night too, was convinced it was a spaceship or something, turns out they are chinese lanterns. I dropped over to the Astronomy & Space forum to find out!

yeah, Ive heard of them too over there They are amazing arent they? I thought I was seeing some strange fleet at first

sdanseo

Su Campu wrote: »

23Z Dublin TAF gives just a slight chance of light snow showers from 3-7pm tomorrow. No mention of it for Casement.

TAF EIDW 012300Z 0200/0224 27010KT 9999 FEW022 PROB30 0204/0210 0400 FZFG BKN001 PROB30 TEMPO 0215/0219 1500 -SHSN BKN006 BKN017CB BECMG 0219/0221 07008KT=

That's a downgrade from earlier, it was SHSN without the "-" then

Rougies

A quick question to anyone in the know ...

To what extent does lying snow affect air temperatures? I presume it would depend on the wind speed and the extent of the snow covered area., but for argument's sake lets say on a clear calm night in a suburban area with extensive snow cover even on roads/roofs etc

Scubadevils

Jake1 wrote: »

yeah, Ive heard of them too over there They are amazing arent they? I thought I was seeing some strange fleet at first

Yeah amazing to watch them go up into the air. We were looking out a velux window in the attic which gives a great view of the sky, lots of fireworks for New Years etc and then we saw this orange light rising into the sky silently... then moving in directions that a plane doesn't do, plus a lot slower than a firework & silent - then disappeared into the sky, then another one! We were well confused as to what they were! Have to get some of those!!!

Felixdhc

Felixdhc wrote: »

Yeah amazing to watch them go up into the air. We were looking out a velux window in the attic which gives a great view of the sky, lots of fireworks for New Years etc and then we saw this orange light rising into the sky silently... then moving in directions that a plane doesn't do, plus a lot slower than a firework & silent - then disappeared into the sky, then another one! We were well confused as to what they were! Have to get some of those!!!

Id have thought the cold air would have extinguished them?:)
Ah well back to watching for snow clouds...

Scubadevils

Jake1 wrote: »

Id have thought the cold air would have extinguished them?:)
Ah well back to watching for snow clouds...

Nah, pretty still air wouldn't have extinguished them.

Yes, priorities.

Su Campu

Rougies wrote: »

A quick question to anyone in the know ...

To what extent does lying snow affect air temperatures? I presume it would depend on the wind speed and the extent of the snow covered area., but for argument's sake lets say on a clear calm night in a suburban area with extensive snow cover even on roads/roofs etc

Snow cover will have a big effect on temperatures, both at day and night. During the day, the snow reflects the shortwave solar radiation that would otherwise have been absorbed by the ground and emitted as longwave radiation, warming the air. At night, the minimum temperature will be lower due to a few facts:

1) The air is already cold from the daytime for the reason above.
2) Melting of the snow layer takes heat from the air, so depending on the relative humidity, the air temperature could drop a couple of degrees by this process alone. The lower the humdity, the more melting, thus the lower the temperature.
3) The snow layer insulates the air from heat radiating from the ground.

smellslikeshoes

t|nt|n wrote: »

So anyone in Wexford seeing any snow / rain ??

Nothing here in Gorey so far, will post as soon as something hits.

Rougies

Su Campu wrote: »

Snow cover will have a big effect on temperatures, both at day and night. During the day, the snow reflects the shortwave solar radiation that would otherwise have been absorbed by the ground and emitted as longwave radiation, warming the air. At night, the minimum temperature will be lower due to a few facts:

1) The air is already cold from the daytime for the reason above.
2) Melting of the snow layer takes heat from the air, so depending on the relative humidity, the air temperature could drop a couple of degrees by this process alone. The lower the humdity, the more melting, thus the lower the temperature.
3) The snow layer insulates the air from heat radiating from the ground.

Excellent, thanks!

SpitfireIV

-3.5c here now, DP of -4.3c. My wind vein must be frozen in place as its been pointing SSW the past couple of hours!

Snowshoe Sam

Just taken a quick trip outside. Very still and calm with some high cloud and a haziness around the moon, but lots of stars visible.

Feels a little milder than earlier on. The air does not have so much of a "bite" to it.

Alas, no sign of any more snow though......

Have the showers that were headed this way passed off?

sdanseo

http://www.raintoday.co.uk/

Looks like it's missed Gorey but the tip of Rosslare and Wexford town should be getting a spattering right about now.

Rougies

Snowshoe Sam wrote: »

Just taken a quick trip outside. Very still and calm with some high cloud and a haziness around the moon, but lots of stars visible.

Feels a little milder than earlier on. The air does not have so much of a "bite" to it.

Alas, no sign of any more snow though......

Have the showers that were headed this way passed off?

They never really got there in the first place, just clipping the east coast. Rosslare area might see something.

Tom Cruises Left Nut

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

-3.5c here now, DP of -4.3c. My wind vein must be frozen in place as its been pointing SSW the past couple of hours!

Maybe stop sticking your arm in the same direction the whole time ;);)

That was a terribly spelling joke, I do apologise lol !!!

Su Campu

Does anyone think that snow off the isle of man might yet get here?
is it still a possibility?
Thanks.

I think Im calling it a day now. This waiting for snow is exhausting :0
Nite all.

SpitfireIV

t|nt|n wrote: »

Maybe stop sticking your arm in the same direction the whole time ;);)

That was a terribly spelling joke, I do apologise lol !!!

Haha


emmm......


I dont get it?

Rougies

Jake1 wrote: »

Does anyone think that snow off the isle of man might yet get here?
is it still a possibility?
Thanks.

http://www.met.ie/latest/rainfall_radar.asp
There's no snow there. There aren't any showers forming in the Irish Sea at the moment.

Tom Cruises Left Nut

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

Haha


emmm......


I dont get it?

Hang on... drawing a diagram.... lol !!!! ;)

Rougies

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

Haha


emmm......


I dont get it?

:rolleyes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_vane

SpitfireIV

t|nt|n wrote: »

Hang on... drawing a diagram.... lol !!!! ;)

Oh har dee har! :P Vein, vane.......they're both the same thing.....sort of :pac:

cocoemma

guys popped outside there and it's reading -4 it v.cold out the sky is clear no snow showers tonight.. the roads will be very bad tomorrow

Tom Cruises Left Nut

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

Oh har dee har! :P Vein, vane.......they're both the same thing.....sort of :pac:

LOL !!!!!

lucernarian

I've missed out on much of the action of the last 2 days. Well at least Dublin got a theoretical fall of snow. By snow I mean a nasty hail/snowflakes mix.

Has it been accepted then that John Eagleton's forecast was correct?? And that the Celtic Sea LP dragged air from a mainly Western Europe source and over a North Sea and Irish Sea that's still fairly warm?

I'm quite annoyed as to seeing wintry weather goes. I haven't seen snow fall since February this year. When I was up beyond Coleraine, it was dry and pretty bright. Saw a 5 minute hail shower just before I left. Then I came back here, to find the snow showers have been and gone:mad:

The last of the charts that I saw on Wednesday indicated that the wind direction would be more northerly/NWerly than predicted, but this is taking the biscuit. I did expect plentiful showers on Thursday daytime onwards before the wind turned too northerly...

Finally, Dublin Bus cancelling all their services tonight?!?! On the majority of routes (all without any steep slopes, especially the northside ones) there was no problem with driving if it was done slowly. Healty and Safety my ass, the only thing that would have caused an accident on some routes was bad driving.

pistolpetes11

Su Campu reckoned we mite see something pop up to the west of the Isle of Man

Met.ie Radar is showing nothing at the moment but you never know !

On a side not M2 buoy DP has risen to 3.2 and air temp is 6.7

Here in Newbridge

A tasty -4.2 Temp

DP -5.3

Lowest Temp last year in this location was -5.1, I think it could be beaten tonight

Su Campu wrote: »

I'm going to hedge my bets and say we're going to see some precipitation come up on the radar in the next hour, just west of the Isle of Mann, which may affect the Dublin area. The 700hPa winds are briefly turning northeasterly, which will give a larger sea fetch, which might generate something. They have been northerly all day.

Rambling rose

Eagerly awaiting a snow shower. Managed to escape for far too long. Any chance weather watchers? Make my new year with some good news....

pistolpetes11

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

I've missed out on much of the action of the last 2 days. Well at least Dublin got a theoretical fall of snow. By snow I mean a nasty hail/snowflakes mix.

Has it been accepted then that John Eagleton's forecast was correct?? And that the Celtic Sea LP dragged air from a mainly Western Europe source and over a North Sea and Irish Sea that's still fairly warm?

I'm quite annoyed as to seeing wintry weather goes. I haven't seen snow fall since February this year. When I was up beyond Coleraine, it was dry and pretty bright. Saw a 5 minute hail shower just before I left. Then I came back here, to find the snow showers have been and gone:mad:

The last of the charts that I saw on Wednesday indicated that the wind direction would be more northerly/NWerly than predicted, but this is taking the biscuit. I did expect plentiful showers on Thursday daytime onwards before the wind turned too northerly...

Finally, Dublin Bus cancelling all their services tonight?!?! On the majority of routes (all without any steep slopes, especially the northside ones) there was no problem with driving if it was done slowly. Healty and Safety my ass, the only thing that would have caused an accident on some routes was bad driving.

Well you obviously missed out because the Snow in South Dublin last night was big thick dry beautiful flakes !

Trevor451

Our boiler broke down so there its freezing in the house :mad: At least there is snow tho

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

Here in Athlone, currently -4.5 with a dew point of -9.7 no less.

lolli

The snow needs to go away! I'm due a baby in a few days and i cant even get out of my yard at the moment eeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkk!

SpitfireIV

Rambling rose wrote: »

Eagerly awaiting a snow shower. Managed to escape for far too long. Any chance weather watchers? Make my new year with some good news....

Not tonight anyway, maybe, and thats a big maybe you might be in with a chance tomorrow evening.

Sierra Oscar

-5.4 here at the moment. There is still a freezing fog around . . . very eery with the bright moon! Everything has turned white.

Rougies

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

I've missed out on much of the action of the last 2 days. Well at least Dublin got a theoretical fall of snow. By snow I mean a nasty hail/snowflakes mix.

Has it been accepted then that John Eagleton's forecast was correct?? And that the Celtic Sea LP dragged air from a mainly Western Europe source and over a North Sea and Irish Sea that's still fairly warm?

I'm quite annoyed as to seeing wintry weather goes. I haven't seen snow fall since February this year. When I was up beyond Coleraine, it was dry and pretty bright. Saw a 5 minute hail shower just before I left. Then I came back here, to find the snow showers have been and gone:mad:

The last of the charts that I saw on Wednesday indicated that the wind direction would be more northerly/NWerly than predicted, but this is taking the biscuit. I did expect plentiful showers on Thursday daytime onwards before the wind turned too northerly...

Finally, Dublin Bus cancelling all their services tonight?!?! On the majority of routes (all without any steep slopes, especially the northside ones) there was no problem with driving if it was done slowly. Healty and Safety my ass, the only thing that would have caused an accident on some routes was bad driving.

Theoretical fall of snow? There's 1-2 inches lying here in south dublin!

The event the Eagle was forecasting is over, we are in a diifferent situation now.

I was in the same boat as you yesterday, I was close to throwing my PC out the window due to lack of snow! Patience.

There are some good easterlys forecast in the models as well as north/northwesterlies. Patience.

Seriously, the roads in dublin are trecherous. What ever about a car having a little slide, imagine a bus full of people losing control on a bend :eek: It's the council's fault for not gritting the roads. In fairness, the snow last night wasn't expected to be so heavy and they're probably low on resources, but they are still to blame. It's funny how much disruption a simple oul snow shower can cause in this city :rolleyes:

Rambling rose

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

Not tonight anyway, maybe, and thats a big maybe you might be in with a chance tomorrow evening.

fingers & toes crossed. Thanks

eireanbo

will longford be in for anymore snow anyone no...dont think i could deal with the roads being that bad again roads are still bad in places here...

lucernarian

Well was there much of it? I don't live in south County Dublin. The radar looked like you guys got more of it alright. I just wish I saw some!!

MetLuver

eireanbo wrote: »

will longford be in for anymore snow anyone no...dont think i could deal with the roads being that bad again roads are still bad in places here...

you may have some tomorrow from that trough coming down south, maybe only light flurries or freezing rain

gothwalk

Maynooth currently has -3.7C, bright moonlight on lying snow, and me unable to sleep. This is mostly due to sleeping until noon, rather than any weather related excitement, though you'd think two long walks today would have tired me out.

Tom Cruises Left Nut

Its not feeling that cold in Naas... though I know it is !!!

Skies are clear but the snow doesn't seem to be freezing on the surface

Snowman10

Walking home from the foundry last night and it was snowing, graigue bridge was fair slippy

lucernarian

Rougies wrote: »

Theoretical fall of snow? There's 1-2 inches lying here in south dublin!

The event the Eagle was forecasting is over, we are in a diifferent situation now.

I was in the same boat as you yesterday, I was close to throwing my PC out the window due to lack of snow! Patience.

There are some good easterlys forecast in the models as well as north/northwesterlies. Patience.

Seriously, the roads in dublin are trecherous. What ever about a car having a little slide, imagine a bus full of people losing control on a bend :eek: It's the council's fault for not gritting the roads. In fairness, the snow last night wasn't expected to be so heavy and they're probably low on resources, but they are still to blame. It's funny how much disruption a simple oul snow shower can cause in this city :rolleyes:

I should have added the word City to the Dublin comment. There's feck all snow anywhere between Tyrone and Dublin City centre that I saw. Absolutely no reason to cease all bus services. They are NOT treacherous if drivers knew how to handle them. If you drive slowly enough, then you don't need to swerve or brake much. And I was in a bus today that was able to drive at the speed limit in Co. Dublin even though the snow was on the roadside. The road being driven on was dry and had no frost or snow on it. Heck, I even walked on the road instead of the footpath in Dublin to avoid ice, several times! I know that the event the Eagle forecasted was over. Over as of what, yesterday afternoon? But he was right, wasn't he?

And to make matters worse for DCC, the snow was forecast for yesterday and today. He hastened to point out that showers will follow the LP as it retreats south, and he explicitly said they would be of snow when they reached the east coast. The forecast was there for all to see in the city council.

My patience is admittedly low, but I think after 2 weeks of model gazing and wishful thinking on this forum, and even the bad timing of everything, I don't see why anyone here can claim why next week is will be "the week". Twice in the last month there's been "ooh look at those charts in t+120, they look pretty and we like the trend". Then they fail to verify and we'll go through the same high expectations and ignore the bad news when it comes and just take the good news into account. I admit that the forecasts are good still for the next few days, but there have been better forecasts for here at t+120 hours and they didn't deliver the goods.

I hope someone gets what I'm saying....:o

SpitfireIV

Snowman10 wrote: »

Walking home from the foundry last night and it was snowing, graigue bridge was fair slippy

Very few of them here will know where that is

Snowman10

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

Very few of them here will know where that is

Co. Laois sorry

Winger_PL

gothwalk wrote: »

Maynooth currently has -3.7C, bright moonlight on lying snow, and me unable to sleep. This is mostly due to sleeping until noon, rather than any weather related excitement, though you'd think two long walks today would have tired me out.

Huh, same here, although we were up until 7am last night. With the ground frost everything is just white now, I certainly don't remember snow holding for over 24 hours in Maynooth, although I've only been around for a few years. I'd love to see a foot of snow around...

SpitfireIV

Snowman10 wrote: »

Co. Laois sorry

Oi!!

plein de force

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

. There's feck all snow anywhere between Tyrone and Dublin City centre that I saw. Absolutely no reason to cease all bus services. They are NOT treacherous if drivers knew how to handle them. If you drive slowly enough, then you don't need to swerve or brake much.

have you been through housing estates and suburbs,where the busses travel through, the hills and even slight incline/declines are lethal,not to mention just average housing estate roads, they're just sheets of ice, even the most experienced drivers can't help the laws of physics

Our man in Havana

It is in laois you know.

lucernarian

Yes I have actually. I've already driven to Dublin city centre on a bloody bus today, there was no reason why buses that use the EXACT same route could not have driven it. The number 41 is a case in point. And the laws of physics would also show that a bus driving at 30kph or below are going too slowly to be a danger full stop. That's not much faster than a sprint sure! A vehicle can slide on its own accord down a steeper hill when covered in ice. But even if we assume that the powdery snow/hail mix that I saw on the roads was actually glassy ice everywhere else in Dublin, we're hardly talking about driving in Cork? Most of the northside has a gentle gradient to the city centre in its entirety. Anyway, sure it's a weather forum:D This is my last reply about buses.

SpitfireIV

Bond-007 wrote: »

It is in laois you know.

I wont listen to that!! :mad:


Haha, ah no, I dont really care if Graigue is in fact part of Carlow or Laois, a lot of people are highly strung over it.


But anyway, in Graige, Carlow now its -3.7c!


:pac:

Rougies

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

I should have added the word City to the Dublin comment. There's feck all snow anywhere between Tyrone and Dublin City centre that I saw. Absolutely no reason to cease all bus services. They are NOT treacherous if drivers knew how to handle them. If you drive slowly enough, then you don't need to swerve or brake much. And I was in a bus today that was able to drive at the speed limit in Co. Dublin even though the snow was on the roadside. The road being driven on was dry and had no frost or snow on it. Heck, I even walked on the road instead of the footpath in Dublin to avoid ice, several times! I know that the event the Eagle forecasted was over. Over as of what, yesterday afternoon? But he was right, wasn't he?

And to make matters worse for DCC, the snow was forecast for yesterday and today. He hastened to point out that showers will follow the LP as it retreats south, and he explicitly said they would be of snow when they reached the east coast. The forecast was there for all to see in the city council.

My patience is admittedly low, but I think after 2 weeks of model gazing and wishful thinking on this forum, and even the bad timing of everything, I don't see why anyone here can claim why next week is will be "the week". Twice in the last month there's been "ooh look at those charts in t+120, they look pretty and we like the trend". Then they fail to verify and we'll go through the same high expectations and ignore the bad news when it comes and just take the good news into account. I admit that the forecasts are good still for the next few days, but there have been better forecasts for here at t+120 hours and they didn't deliver the goods.

I hope someone gets what I'm saying....:o

IF drivers knew how to handle them. True. But in general they don't. A little cop on goes a long way but there's still no substitute for experience. Regarding the buses, I doubt the drivers are trained adequately for driving on snow/ice and even if they were, they'd have little/no experience (except the Eastern European ones of course). It's too risky for them not to cancel services in conditions like these. Granted there wasn't as much snow north of the Liffey, but there still was some and the temps are sub zero.

EDIT: Yeah, enough about buses, let's get back on topic