Freezing Weather Discussion - Widespread Snow Tonight/Tuesday

GigaByte

Fingers crossed for lots of snow tomorrow morning!

snowjon

Lovely, snowy update to the UKMO forecast - I've highlighted the important bits! :


This Evening and Tonight:

Band of sleet and snow moving south to southwest England, Wales, the Midlands and eastern England by the end of the night, with heavy snow showers following to Northern Ireland and north and east Scotland. Frosty in the southeast.

Tuesday:

Outbreaks of sleet and snow are expected to move slowly down into much of southern England through the day, and with some further snow affecting many northern and central parts.

Updated: 1427 on Mon 4 Jan 2010
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/uk_forecast_weather.html

Pangea

The novelty of watching all the charts and that is beginning to wear thin, was meant to get snow on new years eve and new years day, didnt happen.
Back to my old methodology, expect nothing and be suprised.

pistolpetes11

Graces7 wrote: »

Thanks for having the courage to write this. As you know from our private correspondence, I feel the same as you and I think an increasing number of other posters.

I am shamed that I did not mail this sooner; thank you for prompting me.

The threat to life and limb, the cost to councils and to businesses, the strain on already overstretched emergency services seem to matter little here.

Many are like myself, unable to leave our homes for nearly three weeks now. I have a voice; many others do not and it is just a matter of time now before we start reading of deaths through hypothermia among the old who truly deserve better.

Or through lack of essential food and medication.

The ones I usually visit I cannot get to. Please God they are safe.

And it gets worse and worse now for more and more.

I know; snow is rare and unusual and dramatic and pretty. But at such a length of time now, it is also a killer.

A two edged sword.

So this wholesale enthusiam which is not in many cases forecasting r scientific, is more and more coming across as... well, words fail, or rather would get me banned for life here; and I am nor easily provoked to anger.

Please, show some responsibilty and maturity?

And please, read this and act on it.

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/ireland/public-urged-to-check-elderly-in-cold-snap-440641.html

Lives depend on us .

I am quitting here because I cannot endure to read more of this.

Some of the messages are beyond belief.

My deepest thanks to the member here who cared and was responsible enough to drive a long distance and who got stuck getting up here and down again, to bring fuel.

He will be mightily blessed. Indeed he will!

Because up here no one else cared one iota. And still do not. I had already risked life and limb to get supplies in ; see "There and back and in between. "

So I can survive this ongoing appalling weather with equanimity now and continue with my work also.

Albeit with no bathroom or washing faciltiies.

Because it only takes one person to save a bad situation. Indeed to save a life.

The moderators here do an amazing job and I will miss so many of you; and I thank most warmly and sincerely all who have messaged me and have shown so much humour here that has cheered these days

If anyone needs me I am on anchoresscj at yahoo dot com.

Here? There has been more snow which has frozen and now freezing fog.

And feeding a whole flock of birds and now a half starved cat also who is never fed at home it seems.

A deadly beauty.

Blessings and peace to all here.

Not wanting to sound too harsh , but you live on the side of a mountain.

You are always going to bare the brunt of the weather up there.

Maybe you should consider living at lower levels where there is easier access to supplies and people.

Again I am not having a go at you , but for your own safety and well being you should consider a move to lower elevations, as the beginning of this winter has seen you stranded and suffering.

WolfeIRE

Dew points at present along the W and NW coastline are not conducive to snow, although that is hardly surprising. Inland areas and the north facing coastline remain well positioned for precip falling as snow

http://www.irelandsweather.com/index.php

Gonzo

had about half a cm of fresh snow last night, not much but considering snow has been very limited during this cold spell im happy with whatever I get. Im expecting between 1 and 5 cm of fresh snow over the next few days as none of the forecasts or charts suggest organised heavy snowfall. I may get more than that or I may get nothing at all except cold rain, just have to wait and see what happens.

Pangea

pistolpetes11 wrote: »

Not wanting to sound too harsh , but you live on the side of a mountain.

My thoughts exactly.

nacho libre

Pangea wrote: »

The novelty of watching all the charts and that is beginning to wear thin, was meant to get snow on new years eve and new years day, didnt happen.
Back to my old methodology, expect nothing and be suprised.

Just a bit more patience is required;)

Johnny1999

Gettin cloudy in Kilkenny:)

Pokes

Light snow here just outside of rosenallis

ciaran67

Beautiful blue sky in Greystones

GusGus

hey just looking at some of these blogs ... i m in dublin due to drive to roscrea in morning and then to Arklow ... do you really think that it will be that bad or is just a load of snow rubbish talk ...

Fear Sneachta

Did anyone catch the forecast on RTE with Jean Byrne at 3.10?? Snow icons for all to tonight!! Major upgrade from Lunchtime forecast, I would expect them to issue a warning soon!

force eleven

Pokes wrote: »

Light snow here just outside of rosenallis

That's some of the stuff we had earlier - a few bursts or flurries to put a dusting on the cold ground,nothing major, main event potentially later.

Wibbler

Fear Sneachta wrote: »

Did anyone catch the forecast on RTE with Jean Byrne at 3.10?? Snow icons for all to tonight!! Major upgrade from Lunchtime forecast, I would expect them to issue a warning soon!

Spot the odd north west country out:

http://www.meteoalarm.eu/

200motels

Crystal clear here. Will we get snow? I don't know, we've had nearly 3 weeks of cold weather and not a flake. Earlier I was optimistic that we might get some, but now I'm not.:(:(

DOCARCH

Looking at radar, sat pics, temps, etc., I am starting to really worry about prospects for any snow tonight! Hope to be wrong of course.

To add to this concern, Met E, since lunchtime, have downgraded threat on http://www.meteoalarm.eu/ from orange (warning of snow) at lunchtime now to green - i.e. no warning! No warning on Met E website either.

DOCARCH

Wibbler wrote: »

Spot the odd north west country out:

http://www.meteoalarm.eu/

That was orange (not even yellow) at lunchtime!

glossy

Fear Sneachta wrote: »

Did anyone catch the forecast on RTE with Jean Byrne at 3.10?? Snow icons for all to tonight!! Major upgrade from Lunchtime forecast, I would expect them to issue a warning soon!

thanks missed it,

Figuramatyi

Hey, some thoughts on the effect of this weather on people's lives.
Honestly, Ireland is fully and completely unprepared for even a slightly colder than average winter. I could start with the quality of buildings in general (cardboard houses with no insulation of any kind, paper walls inside etc), continuing at improper and very ineffective heating methods (no central heating almost anywhere???), and finishing at having next to none road care tools and equipment.
In my country, cold is normal (-5 -10 is general), but snow is totally random. Sometimes there are winters with no snow for 2-3 year in a row, sometimes we have 2 feet. But, there are also years with almost no winter (2006/2007 we had +10 +15 degress through the whole winter.

When I first came here I was pretty shocked to see how this country is wasting (in my eye) an INSANE amount of money and energy by heating the outside world basically (since when there is no insulation, this is what you do). Single glazed windows, half inch gaps between door and frame, etc. In my opinion, if the country would spend, let's say 500M EUR on insulating every home in the country, this money would come back in 5 years. Well, 3 years with winters like this one. Not to mention health issues - having a bathroom at 10 degrees in the morning causes lots of problems in your health. When a bathroom is not properly heated (it actually should be the warmest room in the house!!), it gets damp. Damp gets it moulded - again a serious health risk. Having no proper heating in a bathroom was the most shocking thing I experienced when moving here.

Ok, I understand that there are windy, mild winters (like the 2006/2007 one above), where you only need a little heating - but that's deceiving, since because of the wind, less insulated homes cooled down in almost seconds in the wind... even worse than real cold with no winds.

So... I know and fully understand that the current experience of winters (last 20-25 years, with maybe an exception of 1, max 2 winters) does not signal a need for changes in this kind of (lack of) preparation for a winter. But there are more and more upcoming voices saying that cold winters like this can be more and more common in the future. Anyone heard of Joe Bastardi? Not saying I share his ideas, but they are certainly worth a read, at least.

So, about Graces's long post - feeling stranded and helpless is undestandably bad. Still, if you had a home with proper insulation, suitable heating methods, and most importantly - usable infranstructure (!) around your house, you would have no issues. In my country we have snow ploughs cleaning even the most desolate roads, if people live there. Of course we have grit (albeit not very good for the environment, they are). We have gas heating everywhere but the tiniest villages and farms. But most importantly, we have houses made from bricks (98%), and with proper inside and outside insulations. And no, I'm not from Russia, but from Central Europe, where sometimes we have just as mild winters as Ireland
We really only get into trouble when we have something like 1-2 feet of snow, with strong winds, so dunes of 2-3 meters in hight build up blocking roads, and problems only start around -25 degrees. Still at that, no pipes burst (they are insulated), no cars die (de-freezer in the cooling liquid is compulsory), people can get mostly everywhere (winter tyres, not compulsory yet but could be soon), and basically, life cannot stop, even if we have serious winter event only every 5-10 years (which is true).
I'm not trying to say everything works perfectly there (oh, no, very very far from that , but I seriously hope that Ireland learns a lesson from this cold snap, and some of these preparations that I mentioned above will/would be done. Some of these are not even very expensive, but can make a world of difference, and most importantly - as you said - can save lives!
If you feel bad/frustrated about someone, be it for those who don't inform or help people to PREPARE for such kind of events, and not for those who seek a little enjoyment in a beautiful event like snowfall

Sorry for the wall of text

dollydishmop

Snowing in North Tipp....only lightly, but its settling....first now we've seen here!
Been watching the snow reports around the rest of the country with growing envy!

Is any more due to come our way?

snow ghost

Figuramatyi wrote: »

Hey, some thoughts on the effect of this weather on people's lives.
Honestly, Ireland is fully and completely unprepared for even a slightly colder than average winter. I could start with the quality of buildings in general (cardboard houses with no insulation of any kind, paper walls inside etc), continuing at improper and very ineffective heating methods (no central heating almost anywhere???),

Not sure what kind of a house you live in??? :eek:

There are very strict building regulations in Ireland, so dodgy builders aside, the vast majority of recently built houses should be very well insulated.

Also no harm having a gap around a door or window in our damp climate, otherwise mould can become rampant.

maquiladora

DOCARCH wrote: »

That was orange (not even yellow) at lunchtime!

Thats because the weather warning was removed. The Meteoalarm level seems to be in sync with the current weather warning. The warning that was up there was a very short affair and didnt really deal with snow potential overnight/tomorrow at all, so I'd expect we'll see a new warning on Met.ie soon and then after that Meteoalarm will get updated again.

Figuramatyi

snow ghost wrote: »

Figuramatyi wrote: »

Hey, some thoughts on the effect of this weather on people's lives.
Honestly, Ireland is fully and completely unprepared for even a slightly colder than average winter. I could start with the quality of buildings in general (cardboard houses with no insulation of any kind, paper walls inside etc), continuing at improper and very ineffective heating methods (no central heating almost anywhere???),

Not sure what kind of a house you live in??? :eek:

There are very strict building regulations in Ireland, so dodgy builders aside, the vast majority of recently built houses should be very well insulated.

Also no harm having a gap around a door or window in our damp climate, otherwise mould can become rampant.

I live in a relatively new house - albeit not very new, from the looks, I'd say 15-20 yrs old maybe? -, but it's just as catastrophic as the ones I lived earlier in. I certainly believe that new houses have much better regulations, but in the area where I live, older houses are much more common.
And with the gap around the window/door - I heard this argument, but it's completely wrong. Dampness can only be fought with heat. The only way to dry a room is to heat it (yes, you need to air it sometimes too), If a room becomes cold, it's walls get cold, so the moisture in the air just gets precipitated on the walls. You need to have warm walls, basically

Euro_Kraut

Figuramatyi wrote: »

In my opinion, if the country would spend, let's say 500M EUR on insulating every home in the country, this money would come back in 5 years. Well, 3 years with winters like this one.

Hmm like some type of Home Energy Saving Scheme?? It will never happen.

Agree that Irish house are not built for this weather. Lived in Austria before. Far higher average standard of building. Much, much warmer and energy effiencent than here.

maquiladora

200motels wrote: »

Crystal clear here. Will we get snow? I don't know, we've had nearly 3 weeks of cold weather and not a flake. Earlier I was optimistic that we might get some, but now I'm not.:(:(

I'd say that the upcoming weather is Waterford's best chance of seeing snow showers from this cold spell so far. I wouldn't expect much, and it still might not happen, but could see a dusting or a bit more.

ninebeanrows

GFS moves an increased intensity cold front south reaching Dublin near 3am with potentially heavy snow in places. This band will fall as sleet or rain in the northwest and west as a warmer maritimes airmass erodes slightly into flow.

The GFS doesn't have the resolution to resolve our potential polar low feature following in the morning.

Although the 12z does tighten the NE gradient through Tuesday/Wednesday with increased potential for heavy snow showers onto the East coast.

Sierra Oscar

There is some tiny tiny snowflakes falling here at the moment!

Figuramatyi

Euro_Kraut wrote: »

Hmm like some type of Home Energy Saving Scheme?? It will never happen.

Agree that Irish house are not built for this weather. Lived in Austria before. Far higher average standard of building. Much, much warmer and energy effiencent than here.

Yep, very close
I can imagine that the recently build (last 5-10 yrs) houses here have better insulation. But on average, this is almost nonexistant!

BTW just got a report about snow falling in Tuam

Calibos

Grace, can I use an analogy here. What you are saying is akin to saying,

"I am a fishermans wife who worries about her husband out at sea, I'm leaving boards because of the insensitive surfers on the surfer forum getting excited about the big waves coming in on the shore."