Severe Winter Weather, Snow/Ice - Sun 25th Feb (Onwards) ** READ MOD NOTE POST #1 **

Dublin 13 blizzard conditions the last 2 hours. Just died down. Never seen anything like it in my life. Went out for a walk in it. Was something else

Ludo wrote: »

Red warning altered to include Cork and Waterford from now rather than from 4 tomorrow.

About time. I cant understand why this wasnt done this morning. The south coast from Roches point along Kinsale to Clon has had a huge amount of snow all day. The N71 was horrendous since early. Trucks jackknifing and cars being pushed on secondary roads as far north as Bandon. I measured 20 cm accumulation of snow at 6pm. Im generally not one of these people who goes on about the 'Dublin media' but watching thenews the focus is all Dublin and you understand why people say it.

Rant over! :-)

Im in rural Kinsale by the way.

lillycakes2 wrote: »

Are we actually expecting a blizzard, like a snow storm? I work in the health service and I have to go to work. I am sick of hearing the while country is going to stop on Thursday from 4pm until fri 12 noon, what about all the people who cant stop and have to make journeys. The Taoiseach is not giving much information for those people only scaring the crap out of them. What can we expect Friday morning?

I feel your frustration. The current situation is that we have snow showers drifting across the country from east to west, driven by the cold Siberian air that has been nicknamed "The Beast from the East". It may look impressive to people who haven't much experience with snow, but is really not that extreme.

That will change tomorrow afternoon. A storm system named "Emma" will effectively crash into the cold air over Ireland. Emma is your typical North Atlantic low, with lots of moisture, and also packing some considerable wind speeds. When that hits the cold air over Ireland, the moisture that would normally fall down as rain will come down as snow, and be driven by gale force winds, according to the weather models that I have access to.

So, we're expecting VERY strong snowfall driven by gale force winds at temperatures slightly below, or around freezing. Even if it does not meet the meteorological definition of a blizzard, it will feel very much like one.

George Lee on RTÉ slipped in 25cm plus another 40cm Friday in the red zone. That’s on top of what’s fallen already. Heading for 80cm plus surely in places come Friday?

Bucketing down in Cork City now

leahyl wrote: »

Bucketing down in Cork City now

I'd nearly drive to the city to see it

Anything for south dublin yet? only had 1 good blizzard looking cenario so far.. now its all just patchy cloud...

lillycakes2 wrote:

Are we actually expecting a blizzard, like a snow storm? I work in the health service and I have to go to work. I am sick of hearing the while country is going to stop on Thursday from 4pm until fri 12 noon, what about all the people who cant stop and have to make journeys. The Taoiseach is not giving much information for those people only scaring the crap out of them. What can we expect Friday morning? (on a practical level)

Its a very serious situation, and yes it is scary, especially for those in red warning areas. But the warnings are issued for a reason, not to scare monger. What's the alternative, have the relevant bodies (ME / Taoiseach) say nothing and let people go uninformed?

The information is simple, if you heed Met Eireanns warnings depending on where you are.

revelman wrote: »

About time. I cant understand why this wasnt done this morning. The south coast from Roches point along Kinsale to Clon has had a huge amount of snow all day. The N71 was horrendous since early. Trucks jackknifing and cars being pushed on secondary roads as far north as Bandon. I measured 20 cm accumulation of snow at 6pm. Im generally not one of these people who goes on about the 'Dublin media' but watching thenews the focus is all Dublin and you understand why people say it.

Rant over! :-)

Im in rural Kinsale by the way.

Hang on, the Dublin Media do not decide what the warning levels are. Met Eireann decide that.

Fingers crossed the Irish sea pushes those streamers across

I went into my backgarden to measure the snow and now I feel bad for leaving footprints

18cm in total with drifts up to 30cm. My ankles downwards sank in the snow. I tried to limit my footprints. When I came back in, my feet were full of snow. I felt bad and chucked the snow on my feet and trousers into my freezer. At least it's gonna be there for years now

lillycakes2 wrote: »

Are we actually expecting a blizzard, like a snow storm? I work in the health service and I have to go to work. I am sick of hearing the while country is going to stop on Thursday from 4pm until fri 12 noon, what about all the people who cant stop and have to make journeys. The Taoiseach is not giving much information for those people only scaring the crap out of them. What can we expect Friday morning? (on a practical level)

If you have to be in work tomorrow, and if you have to be in work on Friday (and many people do), then you really should consider bringing an overnight bag and staying the night tomorrow. I'm surprised your employer hasn't made arrangements for staff to do so. Many hospitals have made such arrangements for their staff, either on-site or in a nearby hotel.