Jan 2025 - Snow & Freezing Conditions - Discussion PART II

miamee

This morning was pretty chilly here in east Sligo with a freezing fog until the sun came up. -2 on my phone at 7.30am which progressed to -3 for a while, -1 now. OH's car dash was telling him it was -6 on the dash when he left about 8.15 so hard to know what was correct. It certainly felt colder than -2 out there. Everything still frozen and white with ice.

Greengrass53

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123032526#Comment_123032526

There was no snow or ice lying last January. Completely dry spell so no comparison

jprboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123032322#Comment_123032322

Yep, latest Met.ie forecast (10.31) states:

.. However, scattered wintry showers will affect the west and north, with some moving into east coasts this evening

RINO87

I recall "Road will be like a bobsleigh track" being used a few days ago....well that's exactly what we have here now, you can barely walk on it, nevermind drive! I've yet to even see a tractor pass. Snow still deep on the ground.

Yesterday was an odd one, drove the 10km in to Roscrea, once I left the back roads there was barely even snow to be seen in the fields, never mind the roads!

Neddyusa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123032554#Comment_123032554

It actually is a good comparison.

The majority of the country under the orange warning has no lying snow. It really is daft closing schools for a -1 or -3 frost when roads are generally fine and a bit of watching your step, manages the ice risk.

I think the pictures from Limerick and Tipp, along with the media hype, spooked teachers in parts of the country where conditions are fine.

Slashermcguirk

-3 degrees at 11am at Dublin airport. -5 at Ballyhaise. Impressive temperatures for nearly afternoon

Calibos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123032499#Comment_123032499

Same in Bray. Cars and house Rooves still white with frost at 11:30am.

Cloud insulation works both ways I guess. Stops the heat escaping into space but equally stops a lot of the radiant heat of the Sun in Space from getting in. Yesterday the frost was gone as soon as the sun came up.

odonopenmic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123032581#Comment_123032581

Yep, that was me and I stand by it! We haven't been able to get out of driveway, the hill is sheet ice, the other direction as bad. Local school is higher up the road and still completely covered with lying snow. I feel sorry for them as they sent photos of the grounds almost to justify the closure when everyone local understands it. Sure the roads are impassable by any standard and I imagine it will remain closed until thaw, rightly so.

Hontou

Working from home here in south rural Longford where it is minus 1 now but was minus 4 at 6am. It is eerily tranquil looking over the ice white woodlands and River Shannon. I have only seen 2 cars pass since 9am on my rural road. I have to check an empty house for burst pipes and visit an elderly neighbour shortly. I'll have to walk the 2kms as my car won't get down the slippy driveway. Every area is affected differently according to the condition of the roads and elevation. People from one area should not judge decisions made in another. Well done to the schools and businesses that put the safety of their pupils and staff first, within reason. Well done to Met Éireann for their accuracy on this one. Some knowledgeable posters here have helped me make correct decisions for my dispersed family members and neighbours. Thanks all and feed the birds.

JCX BXC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123032526#Comment_123032526

Was told the school in Clarinbridge is closed today. They didn't even get any snow? Closed because of a bit of frost, it's madness.

It needs to be more targeted. If you understand how the warnings work it's easy to understand what the risks are, but many people don't.

Have had many people in work tell me they hoping/are wondering if its going to be upgraded to Red (for frost?). This shows that people don't actually have an idea of the weather and simply just hear the colour of the warning. This isn't helped by the simplification of weather apps by showing a single symbol and temperature for a given day/hour, leaving no room for any variance.

Anyways, back on topic. Cloud starting to thin out a bit in Galway City, but everything frozen solid. I can see fog across Galway Bay on the Clare side. Everything as far as the eye can see is frozen solid, and the sea is lovely and calm thanks to the slack offshore wind.

pauldry

Still MINUS 5 at Ballyhaise at 11am with less than 6 hours daylight left it could hit the minus 8 there tonight. MINUS 2 in Sligo even though the snow refused us. More rain tonight in MINUS 3 will create hazardous roads and paths.

ClimateObserver

The warnings are warranted for areas that have lying snow. Granted the low -8c's didn't materialise mostly due to the light breeze that persisted throughout the night and in part because the cloud thickened to more than just thin high cloud. It was only the 18z ECM that picked up on the more northward position of the front - all other models had it well south of where it is. Even some precipitation is just into the far Southwest coast of Cork.

Once this moves east - I think tonight will be a different ball game regarding low temperatures depending on fog thickness.

squonk

Is the high cloud due to push away? It’s keeping temperatures at -1 here which is fairly consistent with what we had when I woke up after 7 this morning. Blue sky does appear to be slowly encroaching from the north west but I think if shoes clear later it’s have on for temperatures to really drop back now from such a low base.

adocholiday

Temps were forecast to be -4 last night in Wicklow but don't think they got that low. We've had a few frost events here in the last few years where my outside tap and the toilet in the shed froze but both completely fine this morning. Even my pond which froze a few nights back had no ice on it this morning. Maybe the low temperatures on top of the low thaw today might result in further impacts the next couple of nights.

squonk

I know temperatures were forecast to be low last night and didn’t quite hit those values in a lot of places. Here in north Clare-8 was forecast. That was never going to happen here by the coast I think however I can see them hitting-2 or -3 tonight as it’s currently-1 here anyway. I think there are a lot of factors in local areas that determine temperature and if it’s bit hitting a forecasted value in your back yard it could week be hitting suffering much life a few miles from your area. I see these as minimum values and don’t see a problem with the orange warnings. Luckily roads seem to have dried out here at least.

John.Icy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123032322#Comment_123032322

Upgraded potential overnight on some of the hi-res for sure. Not sure the airmass is cold enough (alongside continued above average SSTs) for good snow though, dew points a little dodgy right on the coast but further inland actually look just about ok. One of our snow parameter experts can pop in and give better insight here…

Winds quickly turn unfavorable though and all the action will start to push southwards down the Irish sea. Maybe a coastal dangler for the bulkier parts of Wicklow in play too?

Could be a similar night to was it December 8th? An hour or two of a NE wind in a marginal airmass that inland and higher up produced a covering in Dublin, before the winds quickly shifted north and the rest stayed offshore. Some snippets below for Harmonie.

.Donegal.

Aperge at 7/8ish has that shower too

Some accumulation Wicklow/wexford from it.

Might have more oomph than that. Could be some surprises, radar watch this evening.

RINO87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123032613#Comment_123032613

We got out in a 4x4 yesterday, as did a good few others...that traffic yesterday tho has pretty much made the laneways today impassible.

hawkwing

Early Dec 22 had a cold snap, -7 etc :

The cold snap in pictures: Frost, ice, snow and deer – The Irish Times

Calibos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123032771#Comment_123032771

My bets on the Arpege with it hitting North Wicklow rather than South Dublin…..purely based on the fact that I ordered those Cross Climate 2 All Season tyres for the car just now and they will be delivered in 3-4 days, so of course Bray will have a few cm of snow from tonight till Friday night but the tyres won't arrive till its all gone by Monday. LOL.

Joking aside, despite me genuinely believing that once ordered and fitted its unlikely these Tyres will see snow during their lifetime till about 2030, I don't see them as a wasted expense. Sure they're only about €30 a corner more expensive than the Summers I usually put on the car anyway. More importantly though, they provide better traction below 7degC and we see plenty of that every Winter and despite not seeing much frost or ice in Bray, I do plan to get back into the Amatuer Astronomy game this year and going forwards, so there will likely be many trips up to the back of the Sugarloaf in the middle of Winter during these tyres lifetime. I know from past experience observing up there that despite it being literally just up the road from Bray, the Sugarloaf Plateau can be frozen solid while Bray is above zero.

2smiggy

PXL_20250108_121752035.MP.jpg

More or less most local roads around here, single track, frozen snow, with the tracks solid ice. NW Cork

Greengrass53

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123032604#Comment_123032604

No it's not. I drove up the blackstairs on 2 of the days mentioned and walked to the top of mt. Leiinster from the car park.Absolutely freezing but bright and dry. Roads perfect. I can't get my car out of my house since Sunday let alone walk up a mountain..

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123032881#Comment_123032881

You are the exception tot he rule to be fair. Most areas and most people are fine. A little chilly but fine. The widespread warnings are a massive problem and we need the correct authorities to to look at the criteria again.

giveitholly

Currently -2.7c and cloudy here in tipp

WolfeEire

It will take until Sunday for temperatures to properly recover across Ireland though it will slowly get milder in southern counties from Friday. Snow depths will recede slowly which will reduce the risk of flooding, unlike following November's rapid thaw.

The below chart shows average air temperatures (red line at top) for a Midlands location. The bottom red line shows forecast precipitation levels i.e. it will be largely dry and settled.

fits

Just took a walk to check on the stock. The lane here is lethal. Black ice.

Mount Leinster looks lovely though.

Greengrass53

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123032892#Comment_123032892

I may well be but I doubt it. However I was replying to the suggestion that conditions pertaining atm were comparable to those of early January last year. Imo the comparison was odious.

Goldengirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123032349#Comment_123032349

Yes. Very cold and white today .

Left food and warm water out for the birds this morning around 11 ..the water is frozen solid there now .

WolfeEire

regarding east coast this evening

HI RES modelling showing showers bubbling up over the Irish Sean in the direction of Dublin/Wicklow.

The reason is winds will briefly turn NE to ENE this evening before veering back N and then NW.

Rebelbrowser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123032412#Comment_123032412

But i didn't! I said that where there was lying snow (as in all of Tipp) it made complete sense. Its elsewhere that's the issue.