Long Term Weather Outlook (Cold to continue?)

snaps

What makes me laugh is apparently this Thaw will happen just like that. Last year when it happened we had rain come off the Atlantic and the ice that formed on the roads was unreal. So my question is, even though the land seems a lot colder than last Christmas (Much lower temps), is this not going to happen and it will be just straight rain that will not freeze on the ground that has been under zero for many weeks?

nacho libre

desolate sun wrote: »

I'm living in the North West and I got snow but not snowmageddon. Snowmageddon would be blizzards and x foot drifts?

.

Close to a foot of snow is a rare occurrence in the north west. On Friday evening it sure looked liked snowmageddon to me with the town blocked out due to how heavy the snow was and snow lying to a depth of 9 inches generally and up to 11 inches in drifts in the field. Had everything gone just right(which it did time and again 1947) we could have had close two foot of snow out of this cold period in the north and west, but unfortunately the positioning of the lows wasn't in our favour - the greenland express ran out of steam on Friday night.
I think whatever happens from now on this winter will be tame in comparison to what we got last Thursday and most of Friday. I'm saying that secretly hoping I'm 100 per cent wrong:D

snowstreams

Im still hoping for a wind and snow storm. Maybe 1 foot of snow mixed with high winds. Similar to what happened at the end of the last cold spell. I remember seeing the drifts in places that were amazing.
Surely this could still happen in January later on in round 3 or 4 of cold?

nacho libre

snowstreams wrote: »

Im still hoping for a wind and snow storm. Maybe 1 foot of snow mixed with high winds. Similar to what happened at the end of the last cold spell. I remember seeing the drifts in places that were amazing.
Surely this could still happen in January later on in round 3 or 4 of cold?

it could happen at the weekend;) if milder air trying to push out the colder air is repelled over Ireland, resulting in the front stalling and eventually decaying, you could have a windy period with very heavy snow for several hours. it's unlikely, though, as there is no model support for it, but just maybe they are underestimating how difficult it will be to move the mass pool of cold air over us. there have been past situations where snow was expected to turn quickly back to rain, which didn't, and instead we ended up with continuous snow.

Pangea

nacho libre wrote: »

Close to a foot of snow is a rare occurrence in the north west.

I wouldnt say that is accurate to include the north west in that sentence, The north west probably has the best chance out of the rest of Ireland to get a foot of snow, so it may be more accurate to say a foot of snow is a rare occurrence anywhere in Ireland Nacho.

Birroc

I want to do a winter hill-walk as soon as I get a nice dry day after Xmas Day but the RTE weather are saying mild and rain for a few days. Can you tell yet when the next clear day will be? Will this mild weather have much impact on the snow on higher ground?

hotwhiskey

nacho libre wrote: »

it could happen at the weekend;) if milder air trying to push out the colder air is repelled over Ireland, resulting in the front stalling and eventually decaying, you could have a windy period with very heavy snow for several hours. it's unlikely, though, as there is no model support for it, but just maybe they are underestimating how difficult it will be to move the mass pool of cold air over us. there have been past situations where snow was expected to turn quickly back to rain, which didn't, and instead we ended up with continuous snow.

This is true last march a system was moving across the country i believe it came form the west or N/W and it also was forecast to fall as rain which it did in many areas except in the North midlands it snowed all day and well into the night a couple of feet of snow fell in these parts. It wasn't highlighted to much in the media but there was photo's posted here with snow drifts over 6f on high country roads.

Put this time the system is coming from the S/W a more milder direction. I have still hope that there is one final sting in the tail of this cold spell.

nacho libre

hotwhiskey wrote: »

This is true last march a system was moving across the country i believe it came form the west or N/W and it also was forecast to fall as rain which it did in many areas except in the North midlands it snowed all day and well into the night a couple of feet of snow fell in these parts. It wasn't highlighted to much in the media but there was photo's posted here with snow drifts over 6f on high country roads.

Put this time the system is coming from the S/W a more milder direction. I have still hope that there is one final sting in the tail of this cold spell.

I remember that photo well! I couldn't believe when i first saw it that it was taken here in Ireland, and at the end of March too.

Harps

First week of April wasnt it? I remember that one well, got stuck in Barnsmore Gap :rolleyes:

fryup

whats it going to be folks.......St stephens day washout or will that rain turn to snow???

Bullseye1

fryup wrote: »

whats it going to be folks.......St stephens day washout or will that rain turn to snow???

Hopefully rain.

thetonynator

fryup wrote: »

whats it going to be folks.......St stephens day washout or will that rain turn to snow???

it looks likely that it will start as snow anyway, it's whether or not it quays that way is the question. My own opinion is that most of the country bar maybe north connacht and north leinster will see mainly sleet or freezing rain, and ulster will prob see snow or sleet. Just my own opinion!

Ally Dick

My snow fatigue has well and truly set in at this stage. If it starts to rain, I will be like Tim Robbins standing out in it in the Shawshank Redeption...

Mmcd

Bullseye1 wrote: »

Hopefully snow.

Thats the attitude

snaps

Have you seen how quick that front is moving in. its on sat24.com pics now and its moving at quite a rate. I cant see how that will not be here until Sunday, they rate its moving, it will be here by tonight, unless its going to stall somewhere?

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

and when it meets the freezing air over ireland surely it will fall as snow?

http://www.sat24.com/homepage.aspx?page=ir

kkontour

The GFS show that band of precipitation dissipating before it reaches us. Another band just behind it does make land on the 26th though.