Jan 2025 - Snow & Freezing Conditions - Discussion PART II

typhoony

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123040271#Comment_123040271

I remember durung the winters of my youth when we had proper snow the manholes were always visible

OldRio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123040629#Comment_123040629

I read the comment you responded to. I'm not trawling through.

Artane2002

Feels fairly mild to me at 4°C at the moment but I'm happy enough to move on from the cold spell. I wasn't starved for snow going into this winter, so I see this spell as a bonus, because I would've been fine with seeing nothing at all.

Like Sryan, I'm not upset about missing out on what others had. I realised last winter/autumn that I'm not a big fan of particularly severe winter weather as I had a few encounters with very deep snow and blowing shards of ice. The former wasn't even close to being as enjoyable as a nice 5-8 cm (think March 2024) and the latter was downright awful to experience.

Seadin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123040041#Comment_123040041

Everyone wanted a white Christmas and then we get 12 inches of snow in North Cork. I never want to see snow again to be honest.

lordleitrim

After being about deprived all week in Dublin and hearing and seeing nothing but the snow on the news, social media and here, its nice to finally see the white stuff on train down to Kerry! The patchiest of lying snow started around Newbridge but from Portarlington west, it is completely whiteout as can be seen at Portlaoise station and beyond here. Looking forward to seeing it around Charleville where I believe it was particularly heavy!

nacho libre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123040759#Comment_123040759

I can understand where you're coming from based on spending time in Canada during winter,however I still love snow. I got my comeuppance once though when I slipped on ice and had a bruised tailbone, which led to a few curse words, then someone said to me but you like the snow and cold. Haha

Markus Antonius

An honest question from someone who has lived in houses with some form of solid fuel source my whole life. How do new houses or any houses that depend on electricity for heating stay warm when there is a power cut?

Seems like a future without some combustible form of heating looks very grim…

acassells80

hoping to take kids up Dublin mountains after school. Is Ticknock the best place to get to where roads are good?

fits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123040850#Comment_123040850

In my case the house was built in 2018 and retains heat very well. We have an air sealed stove in the middle of the house downstairs so that would keep us warm enough in event of a power cut.

the stove is rarely lit but we do light it for the coldest weather.

Cluedo Monopoly

Big thaw in Galway. Earlier than I thought. I'll have to get to the mountains tomorrow for my snow fix.

pureza

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123040264#Comment_123040264

There’s certainly plenty today on the south Wicklow mountains,more I’m told than further north

The croghan wind farm is reachable down here, a good foot of snow at the top if it doesn’t rain overnight

Rebelbrowser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123040880#Comment_123040880

I'm the same but even stoves are being phased out now it seems so it is a good question…

sryanbruen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123040864#Comment_123040864

Ticknock and Hellfire Club. Cruagh Wood and Tibradden car park remains closed as far as I'm aware.

Gonzo

I will always love snow, I especially love seeing it fall at night and staying around for days. It was magical when I was 7 years old and now several decades later it is every bit as magical as when I was a child. It may be even more magical for me now because back when i was a child in the 1980s I took snow most winters as granted, but now I'm lucky to see a cm or 2 of snow every 3 to 5 years and a proper fall of snow once every 8 to 10 years or thereabouts.

I haven't seen much snow this year, roughly 1 to 2cm but that's better than anytime since the North Leinster snow famine from 2019 to 2024 so I'm thankful for the bit I got. Fingers crossed I'll get another snow event over the next 7 weeks but hopefully next time it won't have a 24 hour cold rain event leading into it.

.Donegal.

-7 last night still -3 and sunny. It’ll be a while before that happens again.

Lip Out

It will take a long while for the snow to thaw in the Wicklow Mountains. I'd recommend driving to Ballinastoe Woods. Plenty of snow there and if you walk right up through the forest, you will come to a clearing where you can look down on Lough Tay. The view there is incredible.

highdef

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123040850#Comment_123040850

Yeah, I've heard plenty of stories from people in very modern houses who had absolutely no way to heat their homes during power cuts in recent months. Not something I'd fancy.

I've renovating an old house at the moment. It's not suitable for heating via renewable energy. SSAI confirmed this. There are currently 9 open fireplaces and two ranges. Whilst I like the look and sound of an open fire, that's literally the only good thing about it. I'll be blocking up one fireplace and the other 8 will have stoves fitted. Only a few of the stoves will be used regularly, central heating will be the main source. I'll also have a back up diesel generator however in the event of a very very long power cut lasting more than several days, I'll still be able to provide some level of heating to the home, even if I run out of fuel for the generator.

I'd be mad not to have the stoves as backups.

DellyBelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123039639#Comment_123039639

I actually noticed that about the daffodils myself. You'd normally associate them with early Spring...generally the 1st week of February but I've seen them in bloom during Christmas this year. Seasons are getting messed up

lordleitrim

Just on train to Kerry here. How come nearly a week on, none of the train station platforms down the country have been salted or gritted or even a narrow path shovelled? Charleville and Banteer below. Surely a compo claim in the making?

Bishop of hope

Good pics from you, be careful out there.

Warnings aren't for nothing as some have suggested.

WolfeEire

A 14 C difference in the temperature from north to south.

Ballybofey in Donegal remains freezing at -3.2 C while Sherkin Island in Cork is 10.7 C.

Meanwhile, light snow was reported at Knock Airport in Mayo at 2pm.

Thunder87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123040454#Comment_123040454

I mostly agree and and also mostly came to the same realisation over the years, used to love the idea of snow when I was younger but these days I detest this time of year and just look forward to the first day with a bit of warmth from October onwards.

In saying that I'd love a repeat of 2010, one thing that stood out in the December period was that the temperature never went above freezing at all after the snowfall so the snow never developed a layer of ice on it and was really easy to walk on, almost like walking through fine grainy sand. The endless blue skies (sunniest December on record I think) and every single surface turning white with frost made for a really surreal landscape.

With our regular slushy snow though I'm glad it usually only lasts a few days at most

Billcarson

Maybe part of the reason those that got snow are complaining is because it was wetter snow so became more icy and concrete like after a few days and therefore more difficult to get around in. Would dry fluffy snow have brought less complaints??

ClimateObserver

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123041884#Comment_123041884

Absolutely. Because the snow fell when temperatures were mostly between 0c and +1c, this allowed a very slight thaw as it settled. This liquid froze underneath the snow and in particular where people walked on the snow or car wheels drove, this compressed into solid ice. It was brutal to get about in.

The Beast from the east was more powdery, especially in the showers beforehand - I remember barely able to roll up snow for a snowman a day before the main event hit. The snow in 2010 was also much more light and fluffy, as too was the January 2021 'dusting'.

I think this event was one of the most impactful on general travel and mobility for a long while. The only other comparison was late-March 2017 (not the St. Patrick's Day one of 2018). That event was very heavy in these parts and brought down light branches.

Mooro

The thaw has definitely set in in Tullamore. While I enjoyed the last couple of days I am glad to see the back of it. Most of my work for this week had to be rescheduled due to the weather conditions. Back to normal next week. Here's a few images from outside the town yesterday morning.

miamee

Fantastic photos @Mooro

squonk

Back to resistive mills shítty drizzle here in north Clare. I know I personally wasn’t seriously impacted by the weather over the last week alder from yesterday when roads and paths froze over but I’ll miss the cold, calm conditions.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123041884#Comment_123041884

I think so. We were hit hard by the Beast from the eat at but that seemed much easier to get around and melted quicker. Even today now at 4 C it’s stubborn as hell to go

Thunder87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123042086#Comment_123042086

Entirely depends on your location though, I was fully snowed in for a full week in 2018 in Kildare

Supercell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123042021#Comment_123042021

Wow, just wow, those are amazing! First one and second from last could be postcards, really beautiful. Never ever gets like that here so close to the coast, would love to see scenes like that for real one day.