Extreme cold weather from Feb 25th on, and now St. Patrick's Day on...

George Sunsnow · 06-03-2018 03:07PM

whelan2 wrote: »

What about milk collections and power?

Sporadic power cuts
ESB trucks got stuck on Friday so left it so
People on high ground drawing milk
I was collected yesterday and the previous Thursday
On the Thursday before Emma there was only a dusting here
By Thursday night it was already a foot deep
By Saturday morning 10 ft drifts in places and 3 foot deep of level snow in my yard which had to be cleared again
Given what happened I think anyone (in my opinion) saying we can’t cope aswell as Sweden are wrong
That said one road beside me is still blocked and up on the hills loads

Not sure when the cows will be out again,snow in the fields here away from the drifts is still about 8 inches
There was a lot more snow here from Emma than January 1982 and 1982 was a lot

whelan2 · 06-03-2018 03:15PM

Is there more snow coming?

wats the craic · 06-03-2018 03:19PM

whelan2 wrote: »

Is there more snow coming?

dont mention that bloody word i dont want to see that stuf again it has been a nightmare here in wexford

Buford T. Justice XIX · 06-03-2018 03:20PM

roosterman71 wrote: »

I see the Greenfield Farm in Kilkenny is getting looked into for the deaths of some animals due to a lack of shelter. They have no sheds there and the cattle and calves sleep outside in open cubicles.

Read all about it here: https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/news/farming-news/cow-death-probe-at-farm-partrun-by-state-agency-36674018.html

The accuracy of the article can be judged from the following line...

Animals there are living in roofless cubicles on a special concrete pad.

The cows are kept on roofless cubicles but the calves are straw bedded in sheds. Again, building a narrative which is in no way accurate.

In fairness, there is enough to be criticising the Greenfield project for without adding untruths to the story.

George Sunsnow · 06-03-2018 03:45PM

whelan2 wrote: »

Is there more snow coming?

I wouldn’t rule it out
The cold air is not far to the north of Scotland
The jet stream is almost into Africa
So one rogue area of low pressure going the wrong way and you’d drag in that air
I doubt it though
Only 5c here in South Wicklow today but a lot of that is due to lying snow which drags the temperature down

Water John · 06-03-2018 05:12PM

Alps, that's like one of the old pig or poultry houses. Avalanches are usually triggered on a slope of 38 Degrees. Most modern roofs a quite shallow. Dome shaped roofs by figure of their geometry are very robust. Not sure what span could be carried with one?

irish snowblower · 06-03-2018 05:36PM

It has been mentioned a few pages back that the councils should have asked for the farmers help earlier, in my area (Laois) no effort was made to keep any road other than main roads open snow was left to pile up by the council knowing that the local farmers would eventually clear it themselves. I have an eight foot wide tractor mounted snowblower for hire and I could not get any council work only private hire why should they hire me when they can sit back and let farmers do it for free. I am not taking a pop at farmers who did this work out of a sense of community spirit but I would like to point out the way they are being used as a free service

patsy_mccabe · 06-03-2018 06:59PM

George Sunsnow wrote: »

I wouldn’t rule it out
The cold air is not far to the north of Scotland
The jet stream is almost into Africa
So one rogue area of low pressure going the wrong way and you’d drag in that air
I doubt it though
Only 5c here in South Wicklow today but a lot of that is due to lying snow which drags the temperature down

George
Ive seen BBC Farming Weather a few times and they always refer to what the Jet Stream is doing. How come Met Eireann never do this?

I gather the jet stream was meandering like hell during the recent bad weather?

J.O. Farmer · 06-03-2018 07:03PM

irish snowblower wrote: »

It has been mentioned a few pages back that the councils should have asked for the farmers help earlier, in my area (Laois) no effort was made to keep any road other than main roads open snow was left to pile up by the council knowing that the local farmers would eventually clear it themselves. I have an eight foot wide tractor mounted snowblower for hire and I could not get any council work only private hire why should they hire me when they can sit back and let farmers do it for free. I am not taking a pop at farmers who did this work out of a sense of community spirit but I would like to point out the way they are being used as a free service

The council couldn't be expected to keep any more than main roads clear unless you propose they bought more ploughs and hired more staff to drive those ploughs at a huge cost for a 3 or 4 day event once in a generation.

As for farmers being used as a free service we need more people with their attitude. Everyone wants the government to do everything for them but they won't want to pay extra taxes for it. The farmers will hopefully be paid back by someone else providing services free in time be it a lift somewhere (free taxi) or one of the many other things neighbours might do for each other.

Are you serious about the snow blower by the way. It sounds like one of those energia ads with the business selling sun holidays in Ireland.

Icelandicseige · 06-03-2018 07:04PM

irish snowblower wrote: »

It has been mentioned a few pages back that the councils should have asked for the farmers help earlier, in my area (Laois) no effort was made to keep any road other than main roads open snow was left to pile up by the council knowing that the local farmers would eventually clear it themselves. I have an eight foot wide tractor mounted snowblower for hire and I could not get any council work only private hire why should they hire me when they can sit back and let farmers do it for free. I am not taking a pop at farmers who did this work out of a sense of community spirit but I would like to point out the way they are being used as a free service

Ah jaysus talking about being sour over not profiting from the snow spell. Everything you do doesn't have to be about money. Try and help someone out for a change!

alps · 06-03-2018 07:10PM

Water John wrote: »

Alps, that's like one of the old pig or poultry houses. Avalanches are usually triggered on a slope of 38 Degrees. Most modern roofs a quite shallow. Dome shaped roofs by figure of their geometry are very robust. Not sure what span could be carried with one?

From this company. There was an agent in Nenegh but not doing them anymore unfortunately.

www.norsemanstructures.com

As far as I can remember the roof structure cost 6k, down on 12ft timber timber uprights. If I was doing it again I would put it in top of concrete walls, as they would have been as cost effective as the timber in concrete foundations, and would make the building multiuse with the walls. It's 60x30ft and total cost including electric and concreting was 12k..

Water John · 06-03-2018 07:22PM

Alps, thanks for that.
Patsy, you should watch the Farming Weather at 1.10pm on Sunday on RTE1.
Jet Stream is regularly referred to and often a visual diagram.
BBC makes sure they don't stray into ROI but Sky do cover ROI.

Say my name · 06-03-2018 07:23PM

irish snowblower wrote: »

It has been mentioned a few pages back that the councils should have asked for the farmers help earlier, in my area (Laois) no effort was made to keep any road other than main roads open snow was left to pile up by the council knowing that the local farmers would eventually clear it themselves. I have an eight foot wide tractor mounted snowblower for hire and I could not get any council work only private hire why should they hire me when they can sit back and let farmers do it for free. I am not taking a pop at farmers who did this work out of a sense of community spirit but I would like to point out the way they are being used as a free service

I wonder do you have to be on a list that the county manager can call on at any time?

The county manager on the radio here (wexford) said he had someone come from tralee with a fastrac to Wexford to help clear the snow.
Local contractors here who had loaders were called upon by the council. There was no shortage of work anyway.
Even yesterday the council had 5 loaders working together on a regional main road trying to get two lanes open.

greysides · 06-03-2018 07:24PM

Virtually all roads are open in North Wexford and surrounding areas of Wicklow as far as i can see. Some of the lanes on the high areas still might not be but any roads I've needed are. Bbam were out snow ploughing and gritting Friday afternoon. Councils opened primary roads and secondary roads about Sat and farmers cleared county roads Sat and Sunday with only a few left for Monday. As George says some country roads are only one width open with banks of snow beside it but they are functioning. I can't fault anyone. The road network openrd amazingly quickly all things considered. The benefit of modern machinery.
I've heard contractors are getting €30 an hour regardless of size of machinery used (hearsay).

There's an awful lot of sheds down. Everyone can list several locals with one or more down.

wrangler · 06-03-2018 07:36PM

alps wrote: »

From this company. There was an agent in Nenegh but not doing them anymore unfortunately.

www.norsemanstructures.com

As far as I can remember the roof structure cost 6k, down on 12ft timber timber uprights. If I was doing it again I would put it in top of concrete walls, as they would have been as cost effective as the timber in concrete foundations, and would make the building multiuse with the walls. It's 60x30ft and total cost including electric and concreting was 12k..

I put my tunnel on 2ft walls, never regretted it as i can push against them when cleaning out.

George Sunsnow · 06-03-2018 08:53PM

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

George
Ive seen BBC Farming Weather a few times and they always refer to what the Jet Stream is doing. How come Met Eireann never do this?

I gather the jet stream was meandering like hell during the recent bad weather?

They do sometimes but met Éireann are a 5 days ahead only service for public broadcasts so don’t bother with the detail the BBC orthe UK met office go into especially on their Facebook pages
Follow/like the UK met office page and they do 3 or 4 update videos a day and a look at 10 days ahead
All very well explained
Even though it’s UK focused it’s easy to look at Ireland on their maps and get the gist

Reggie. · 06-03-2018 10:56PM

greysides wrote: »

Virtually all roads are open in North Wexford and surrounding areas of Wicklow as far as i can see. Some of the lanes on the high areas still might not be but any roads I've needed are. Bbam were out snow ploughing and gritting Friday afternoon. Councils opened primary roads and secondary roads about Sat and farmers cleared county roads Sat and Sunday with only a few left for Monday. As George says some country roads are only one width open with banks of snow beside it but they are functioning. I can't fault anyone. The road network openrd amazingly quickly all things considered. The benefit of modern machinery.
I've heard contractors are getting €30 an hour regardless of size of machinery used (hearsay).

There's an awful lot of sheds down. Everyone can list several locals with one or more down.

They would want to get €30 min

Gawddawggonnit · 07-03-2018 05:10AM

Reggie. wrote: »

They would want to get €30 min

€30/hr would just about cover the driver...

Muckit · 07-03-2018 07:13AM

Maybe they're paying the farmer that......

I says · 07-03-2018 05:12PM

Lesson for next cold snap is heed warnings from George and fill ibcs with water and turn of water in the shed(saves a lot of bolloxing after the thaw believe me).

nhg · 15-03-2018 07:14AM

M.T. Cranium's Forecast from the Weather Forum

Thursday, 15 March, 2018

Forecasts for Ireland

ADVANCE ALERT for severe cold and an increasing risk of heavy snowfalls at least for Leinster and midlands, south coast, setting in during the day Saturday and with the greatest risk of snow Sunday into early Monday. Models have shifted back overnight to a greater risk of significant snowfalls in the range of 10 to 30 cm for central and south Leinster, 5 to 15 cm for midlands and south coast. The whole country will turn very cold over the weekend and away from the snowfall zone nights will be as cold as -7 C with some chance of lower temperatures later in the spell if skies clear over or near snow-covered terrain. I still don't think this will be as severe as the previous spell for snowfall or major disruption, but still a very significant potential for some level of disruption, unless the guidance does one final turn towards a less severe outcome (and time is running out on that possibility).

TODAY will see the last of the rain in the east more confined to north Leinster and east Ulster, then as that system dies out, scattered heavy showers will develop in the still rather mild southeast flow, so after brief brighter intervals some showers or even thundershowers may develop in parts of Munster and these would likely drift northwest into south Connacht by afternoon. Highs 10 to 13 C and winds southeasterly 40 to 60 km/hr at times.

TONIGHT will be foggy in many areas with drizzle or light rain developing, east winds 30 to 50 km/hr and lows near 4 C.

FRIDAY will bring outbreaks of light rain (5-10 mm) and it may stay rather misty or foggy especially near higher ground in the north, as slightly colder air seeps in on moderate east winds, allowing highs to recover only to about 8 to 10 C.

SATURDAY (St. Patrick's Day) will turn quite windy and much colder with passing showers of sleet or wet snow mingled with sunny intervals, in easterly winds of 50 to 70 km/hr. Morning temperatures of 1 to 3 C will likely be close to the afternoon highs as temperatures will not make much upward progress due to the arrival of arctic air from Scandinavia. Highs of 5 to 7 C may be achieved in west Munster and coastal Connacht. For most, especially in Leinster, the wind chills will be significant (making it feel like -1 C).

SUNDAY is where some uncertainty remains, we can say with some confidence that it will be very cold with lows -7 to -2 C and highs 1 to 4 C and windy (east to northeast 50 to 80 km/hr) but the risk of snow is now fairly significant and the most likely areas to see 10 to 30 cms of snow potentially would be central and south Leinster with 5 to 15 cms the most likely range for parts of the midlands and south coast. This is still not "carved in stone" and I am thinking 80% chance of some snow, 60% chance of more than 10 cm in some places (away from high ground where it's not disruptive). But the guidance could change again. Regardless, there should be some sunny breaks away from the snow streamers in parts of west Ulster and Connacht. The wind chill could be quite severe too at about -8 C at times.

MONDAY some of this snow may linger closer to the coasts before dying out, as sunshine will become more dominant, but it will stay very cold after lows in the range of -8 to -4 C. Highs will be held down to near freezing (0 C) over snow cover and 2 to 5 C elsewhere. Winds will remain rather brisk northeast 40 to 60 km/hr dying out slowly by evening.

TUESDAY could bring an exceptionally cold start as clear skies and light winds allow for strong cooling especially near any snow packs that might develop, so that lows in central counties (if the snow happens) may fall to -8 C or lower. Around coasts it will be closer to -2 C. The day should turn out mostly sunny after any fog dissipates, and highs would likely remain quite cold in the 2 to 7 C range.

FURTHER OUTLOOK calls for this cold spell to end mid-week with moderating slight frosts and milder days, possibly followed rather quickly by strong southwest winds and rain by Thursday and Friday with temperatures back to more normal values.

Stay tuned and expect to find an update around 7 p.m. as I check the latest guidance for any new twists in the plot.

larthehar · 15-03-2018 08:34AM

nhg wrote: »

M.T. Cranium's Forecast from the Weather Forum

Thursday, 15 March, 2018

Forecasts for Ireland

ADVANCE ALERT for severe cold and an increasing risk of heavy snowfalls at least for Leinster and midlands, south coast, setting in during the day Saturday and with the greatest risk of snow Sunday into early Monday. Models have shifted back overnight to a greater risk of significant snowfalls in the range of 10 to 30 cm for central and south Leinster, 5 to 15 cm for midlands and south coast. The whole country will turn very cold over the weekend and away from the snowfall zone nights will be as cold as -7 C with some chance of lower temperatures later in the spell if skies clear over or near snow-covered terrain. I still don't think this will be as severe as the previous spell for snowfall or major disruption, but still a very significant potential for some level of disruption, unless the guidance does one final turn towards a less severe outcome (and time is running out on that possibility).

TODAY will see the last of the rain in the east more confined to north Leinster and east Ulster, then as that system dies out, scattered heavy showers will develop in the still rather mild southeast flow, so after brief brighter intervals some showers or even thundershowers may develop in parts of Munster and these would likely drift northwest into south Connacht by afternoon. Highs 10 to 13 C and winds southeasterly 40 to 60 km/hr at times.

TONIGHT will be foggy in many areas with drizzle or light rain developing, east winds 30 to 50 km/hr and lows near 4 C.

FRIDAY will bring outbreaks of light rain (5-10 mm) and it may stay rather misty or foggy especially near higher ground in the north, as slightly colder air seeps in on moderate east winds, allowing highs to recover only to about 8 to 10 C.

SATURDAY (St. Patrick's Day) will turn quite windy and much colder with passing showers of sleet or wet snow mingled with sunny intervals, in easterly winds of 50 to 70 km/hr. Morning temperatures of 1 to 3 C will likely be close to the afternoon highs as temperatures will not make much upward progress due to the arrival of arctic air from Scandinavia. Highs of 5 to 7 C may be achieved in west Munster and coastal Connacht. For most, especially in Leinster, the wind chills will be significant (making it feel like -1 C).

SUNDAY is where some uncertainty remains, we can say with some confidence that it will be very cold with lows -7 to -2 C and highs 1 to 4 C and windy (east to northeast 50 to 80 km/hr) but the risk of snow is now fairly significant and the most likely areas to see 10 to 30 cms of snow potentially would be central and south Leinster with 5 to 15 cms the most likely range for parts of the midlands and south coast. This is still not "carved in stone" and I am thinking 80% chance of some snow, 60% chance of more than 10 cm in some places (away from high ground where it's not disruptive). But the guidance could change again. Regardless, there should be some sunny breaks away from the snow streamers in parts of west Ulster and Connacht. The wind chill could be quite severe too at about -8 C at times.

MONDAY some of this snow may linger closer to the coasts before dying out, as sunshine will become more dominant, but it will stay very cold after lows in the range of -8 to -4 C. Highs will be held down to near freezing (0 C) over snow cover and 2 to 5 C elsewhere. Winds will remain rather brisk northeast 40 to 60 km/hr dying out slowly by evening.

TUESDAY could bring an exceptionally cold start as clear skies and light winds allow for strong cooling especially near any snow packs that might develop, so that lows in central counties (if the snow happens) may fall to -8 C or lower. Around coasts it will be closer to -2 C. The day should turn out mostly sunny after any fog dissipates, and highs would likely remain quite cold in the 2 to 7 C range.

FURTHER OUTLOOK calls for this cold spell to end mid-week with moderating slight frosts and milder days, possibly followed rather quickly by strong southwest winds and rain by Thursday and Friday with temperatures back to more normal values.

Stay tuned and expect to find an update around 7 p.m. as I check the latest guidance for any new twists in the plot.

Holy god says Miley...
Will this weather ever let up?!

Reggie. · 15-03-2018 08:38AM

larthehar wrote: »

Holy god says Miley...
Will this weather ever let up?!

Not by the looks of it

Mooooo · 15-03-2018 09:24AM

Fcuking pissing rain in cork anyway non stop

Skedaddle · 15-03-2018 09:41AM

There's unusual disruption to the Polar Vortex, a normal wind patern that circulates around the North pole and partially drives many of our normal weather patterns.

The temperature at the pole is far warmer than it would normally be. That's causing some very unusual weather that we wouldn't typically experience. So there's still a lot of potential for strange weather.

K.G. · 15-03-2018 02:46PM

Skedaddle wrote: »

There's unusual disruption to the Polar Vortex, a normal wind patern that circulates around the North pole and partially drives many of our normal weather patterns.

The temperature at the pole is far warmer than it would normally be. That's causing some very unusual weather that we wouldn't typically experience. So there's still a lot of potential for strange weather.

Yeah but it couldnt be sunshine and 25º could instead of more misery

Skedaddle · 15-03-2018 04:32PM

K.G. wrote: »

Yeah but it couldnt be sunshine and 25º could instead of more misery

It's Ireland in spring

greysides · 15-03-2018 10:30PM

Update from tonight.

M.T. Cranium wrote: »

UPDATE __ Thursday 15 March 8 p.m. __

After consulting with the latest guidance and some experienced weather forum posters, I have drawn the conclusion that the forecast needs no significant amendment. I continue to expect onset of scattered snow showers in Leinster around mid to late afternoon Saturday 17th and more widespread snow overnight and during Sunday at times covering most parts of Leinster, some coastal and eastern portions of Munster, and those adjacent areas of Connacht (Roscommon and east Galway in particular). Southeast Ulster may also see some snow. Amounts will generally be in the range of 10 to 30 cm in the heavier snowfall areas of central and southeast Leinster, and 5 to 15 cm towards the margins of the zone outlined above.

There may be some mixing of precipitation types in these streamer bands especially during the first half of the event. Thunder is likely especially around Dublin. Snow depths will be decreased during and after the falls partly by the stronger "insolation" power of the mid-March sun so that falls achieved overnight may partially melt even if new snow falls during the day.

A rough guide to how much you might expect in your locality would be to take one-quarter of what fell in the previous severe episode except if you live in counties on the west coast, take one-tenth as I don't think these streamers will be quite as able to traverse the entire country with as much intensity. Roughly 5 cm is the over/under for Galway city for example. Places that had no snow last time will be most likely to repeat this time but a few places that had snow last time won't get any this time (into parts of south Mayo and in Kerry or west Limerick possibly).

The other item to underline is that very cold temperatures will be more widespread after the snowfall this time because there won't be much cloud around by Monday night or Tuesday night and strong high pressure will build up, unlike the cloudy and drizzly end to the cold snap last time. So we may see lower readings than were experienced in many locations around 1st of March.

jimmy G M · 15-03-2018 11:09PM

Mods - Perhaps a good idea to add something to thread title so lads know we are now talking about winterly weather for this weekend?

Villain · 16-03-2018 02:39PM

Windchill and some snow showers will cause issues for those with lambs out. Sudden drop in temps from tomorrow afternoon with strong Northeast to Easterly winds meaning windchill will be down to as low as -10c in some areas.

Also snow showers will start to kick in off the Irish Sea Saturday afternoon and become more widespread Saturday night into Sunday morning, Id estimate up to 8cm in areas that catch a train of snow showers.

Very low temps Monday night as high pressure brings clear skies, down to possibly -8c.

Extreme cold weather from Feb 25th on, and now St. Patrick's Day on...

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