Severe Weather Snow / Ice Weds 28 FEB ( Onwards ) ** READ MOD NOTE POST#1**

Some other heavy snow events for your interest:

... a few years ago, can't say for sure what year, around 2015, coastal Alaska got severely buried by several metres of snow in towns such as Valdez.

... in late January of 1971, a week of heavy lake effect snow about 50 miles north of Toronto dropped 2-3 metres of snow in some parts of the Georgian Bay snow belt. This persisted on the ground for most of February in higher parts of the region stranding some rural people in their homes for weeks (except that most of them had snowmobiles so they were able to get to aid in nearby villages)

... snowfalls of that kind are fairly commonplace events in Great Lakes snow belt areas from time to time, another memorable event was the Buffalo Blizzard of late January 1977, generally six to ten feet of snow and paralyzing drifts accompanied by -15 C temperatures ... the source of that was Lake Erie.

... I can also recall very high snow packs and plow drifts in London, Ontario, in January 1976, something similar to what I see in the thread pictures only right in the middle of a fairly large city (300,000 people). There were 15 foot high snowbanks after plows "cleared" the residential streets and it was chaos for weeks. Fire hydrants were marked with tall red poles with flags on them so that crews would have some idea where to look.

... A blizzard that hit central Ontario April 2-3 1975 left behind 27" of snow that then blew into alternating bare spots and 8' drifts and that gradually froze solid as a strong April sun combined with record cold temperatures thawed the surface each day then it would freeze solid overnight. People were stranded in community centres and church halls as the storm hit on a weekend and trapped many Toronto weekend skiers and cottagers returning from (ill-advisedly) opening their summer cottages for the season. I was living in a rural area there and spent about a week immobilized in my house, as the roads could not be cleared.

... Final recent note, there were some very heavy snowfalls in New England and eastern Canada in the latter half of the winter of 2007-08 that produced some huge snow depths in Maine and New Brunswick, I seem to recall five feet -- this was not drifting snow just an accumulation from successive storms.

They always talk about historical blizzards in New England and Long Island with snow up to the second storey windows, the most famous of them would be March 11th 1888 and a storm in late February of 1717 that may have been one of a series. Some prairie and northern plains states blizzards of the 1880s are also legendary. If I want to see three feet of snow, all I have to do is drive for fifteen minutes up the nearby west-facing slopes of the Selkirk Mountains and that's what I find at the top (more like a foot down here and that's starting to thaw). Picture to follow ...

Love this video https://instagram.com/p/Bf3sC7OnKw4/

seems like the melt is on.

i think 2010 was much more disruptive aswell. i was living in dublin at the time and the packed ice on the pavement didn't melt for over a week. it was total carnage.

wakka12 wrote: »

Would I be right in saying this event would be exceptional in any country on earth? I doubt theres any urban area in the nordic or east european nations or russia or canada or usa that deal with the level of snow some inland leinster counties did in such a small timeframe

Not really. Plenty of cities in Central Europe get falls like this or more and deal with it. Services may be disrupted a bit but they get things moving. Drifting does pose locally but in general it would not be a general shut down.

That said, Geneva has some struggles with snow a few days ago too. They have the resources to get roads moving, plus you have the mandatory winter tyres on cars Nov - April, which really helps keep roads moving.

The remnants of the cold air are still with us waiting to clear north. Just enough that a little more sleet and snow developing than anticipated along that front moving north over the southern half of the country at the moment. Perhaps a bit of a top up on current accumulations of snow for inland locations.

_Dara_ wrote: »

We’re still being treated to disdainful commentary from continental Europeans unfortunately, both on the news and social media.

A Polish fella got stuck on the road outside our house yesterday, driving a Citroën berlingo, thought he would be "grand", wearing a hoodie and a pair of snicker bottoms, no coat or hat or anything like that. I was thinking he must be that "polish lad" everyone is talking about, you know the one who's laughing at the whole of Ireland?! :pac:

Theres been a lot of bored people the last couple of days. Note to all the midwives, don't look for time off around late November I see a big spike in the birthrate in parts of the country.

https://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://amp.independent.ie/entertainment/flashback-1982-ireland-comes-to-a-standstill-during-the-big-snow-34341111.html&ved=2ahUKEwjDtaLEh9HZAhWnL8AKHQdQBwEQFjABegQICRAB&usg=AOvVaw2nQov4mRWUFu_dVC0LeOpS&ampcf=1

-19.6 in Glasnevin, Dublin 11 in 1982. Read the article.

And yes, the French and the German still refer to Ireland as the British Isles in their tv reports. On purpose.
Very insulting language.

Wales got nothing in comparison to Ireland yet all the reports were coming from there on the French news.

2010 way more disruptive...three weeks plus ilof chaos on East coast and really cold temperatures.

Now that the worst is over...

I work for one of the major Irish utilities, won't say which one, but you can probably guess, and I just want to chime in with a few words of thanks-not just directly to you MT, for your forecasts both here and on FB, but also to all the other skilled forecasters here, who dispense what is often bad news,
without drama, overstatement, and always in a measured way, often a week or more ahead of the (understandably more conservative) professional meteorological bodies.

While we as a company would rely on the likes of Met Eireann in an official capacity, your collective hard work has allowed me (in my job, which involves planning for, and dealing with such widespread weather issues and interruptions to service) to plan ahead at a local level, to be ahead of the curve when it comes to preparedness, and to hit the ground running when it comes to getting people back.

What's said here obviously doesn't form the be all and end all of how we deal with such events, but I just want to reiterate that the work all of you are doing is making a real difference, not only to individuals, but to communities and towns across Ireland-so much so that MT, at the risk of embarrassing you, you are now referred to in planning meetings, as "that chap in Canada, what is he saying this morning?"

Thanks again!

M.T. Cranium wrote: »

Some other heavy snow events for your interest:

... a few years ago, can't say for sure what year, around 2015, coastal Alaska got severely buried by several metres of snow in towns such as Valdez.

... in late January of 1971, a week of heavy lake effect snow about 50 miles north of Toronto dropped 2-3 metres of snow in some parts of the Georgian Bay snow belt. This persisted on the ground for most of February in higher parts of the region stranding some rural people in their homes for weeks (except that most of them had snowmobiles so they were able to get to aid in nearby villages)

... snowfalls of that kind are fairly commonplace events in Great Lakes snow belt areas from time to time, another memorable event was the Buffalo Blizzard of late January 1977, generally six to ten feet of snow and paralyzing drifts accompanied by -15 C temperatures ... the source of that was Lake Erie.

... I can also recall very high snow packs and plow drifts in London, Ontario, in January 1976, something similar to what I see in the thread pictures only right in the middle of a fairly large city (300,000 people). There were 15 foot high snowbanks after plows "cleared" the residential streets and it was chaos for weeks. Fire hydrants were marked with tall red poles with flags on them so that crews would have some idea where to look.

... A blizzard that hit central Ontario April 2-3 1975 left behind 27" of snow that then blew into alternating bare spots and 8' drifts and that gradually froze solid as a strong April sun combined with record cold temperatures thawed the surface each day then it would freeze solid overnight. People were stranded in community centres and church halls as the storm hit on a weekend and trapped many Toronto weekend skiers and cottagers returning from (ill-advisedly) opening their summer cottages for the season. I was living in a rural area there and spent about a week immobilized in my house, as the roads could not be cleared.

... Final recent note, there were some very heavy snowfalls in New England and eastern Canada in the latter half of the winter of 2007-08 that produced some huge snow depths in Maine and New Brunswick, I seem to recall five feet -- this was not drifting snow just an accumulation from successive storms.

They always talk about historical blizzards in New England and Long Island with snow up to the second storey windows, the most famous of them would be March 11th 1888 and a storm in late February of 1717 that may have been one of a series. Some prairie and northern plains states blizzards of the 1880s are also legendary. If I want to see three feet of snow, all I have to do is drive for fifteen minutes up the nearby west-facing slopes of the Selkirk Mountains and that's what I find at the top (more like a foot down here and that's starting to thaw). Picture to follow ...

<snipped pic for quoting>

All the footpaths in our estate are freezing over again tonight.
None of the 24 houses in our cul de sac bothered to spend 3-4 minutes clearing away their few metres at any time over over the past 4 days.
A few are elderly but most are able bodied.

sryanbruen wrote: »

Nor should you ever use newspapers as a source for weather or statistics!

Exactly, the highlighted bit is complete fiction and just made up to spice up the article.

In 1982 the schools had just returned when they were confronted with a 36-hour storm on January 8 and 9 which hit the east of the country worst, heralding an extended holiday which lasted up to three weeks in some places. The initial storm dumped 26cm of snow on Dublin Airport, and two more blizzards arrived over the next 10 days, each arriving just as the nation was recovering from the previous one.

sryanbruen wrote: »

2. The lowest in 1982 was -14.6c at Birr on January 12th

BIRR??? Really?!

Great thaw in Roscommon today, even though it seems to feel colder than the last few days.

Still can't move my car because of a drift that I hoped would have disappeared of it's own accord by now, but I may have to help it along tomorrow.

The local authority has done a great job clearing roads and paths.
It must've got new tools since December, because it didn't do a good job then.

I know its been mentioned so many times by other posters, but I just wanted to say it again. Thank you so much to all the knowledgeable members in this thread (you know who you are, M.T. Cranium, Kermit.de.frog et al) for taking the time to share all your insights, knowledge and advice with the rest of us mere mortals. You have done us all an enormous service. Thank you also to all the members who shared their pictures, experiences and thoughts during these last few days. I thoroughly enjoyed the build up to this and its been a privilege to vicariously experience this event through all your contributions in this thread. Its been said to me many times by foreign friends that Irish people are obsessed with talking about the weather. I suppose that's true, but I have to say I love how weather events like this has brought people closer together as a community. In the last few days, I have heard from neighbours that I rarely talk to normally, checking if everything is ok and I or my family here need anything.

Also as much as I enjoyed the feeling of being like a child again, my thoughts have always been with those who are homeless, stranded or just struggling to stay warm in the face of these conditions. Thinking of those people has always tempered my excitement, and made me realise that for some folks this is no fun at all. I really hope everyone came through this relatively unscathed.

As an aside, we have for the last year or so "adopted" a wild cat who we feed every day when she shows up. I have not seen her for the last 48 hours and I was heartbroken thinking that she might have perished in the cold. I have been watching out for her with increasing anxiety, but to no avail. I have been doing my best to put as much food out for birds and our visiting foxes as possible, but she has always been on my mind. A few hours ago she showed up wet and bedraggled but very much alive and hungry. Its a joyous end to a very memorable experience Stay safe everyone, and see you all for the next event!