Prelude to Cold Weather/Snow - Sun 25th Feb (Onwards)

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

If I recall correctly it was about a week and a half in advance. I'd have to dig up the thread though.

Overall i'd say the charts look impressive tonight but exercise some caution if spreading the word just for now. Give it a couple more days.

Restrain yourselves! :pac:

I’m trying to bite my tongue believe me 🙈🙈 I’ll do my best to hold out until at least Wednesday 😂😂😂😂

kittyn wrote: »

I’m trying to bite my tongue believe me 🙈🙈 I’ll do my best to hold out until at least Wednesday 😂😂😂😂

Too late here..I've started spreading the word already.ðŸ˜

Would I be right in thinking Jan 1987 is the best comparator to what is forecast? Feb 1991 is the other one that comes to mind.

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An even better skew-T for Dublin for Wednesday next week as the GFS has a low sliding up from the south. Much deeper saturated cold profile all the way to 300 hPa, with a -15 °C isothermal layer from 750-600 hPa adding plenty of moisture right where it's needed in the dentritic growth zone.



Early on Thursday Cork gets pummelled as the snowshield goes inop. Massive totals possible if that were to come off. Great to see these charts turning up for Ireland. Whether they verify or not is another matter.

This is exciting stuff folks! Hopefully it’ll come and then all be gone by the time I go to Paris in a few weeks time :-D

Rodar08 wrote: »

At the risk of getting batted over the head with a big shiney snow shovel ... what’s it like for north Donegal during this time? Or is that a question for two days time? Will there be any possibility of dry fluffy white stuff here or if it appears at all will it only be a few cms again. I’m
Not a fan of location questions but I just .. can’t .. stop.. myself ..

If the Greenland high option as currently depicted comes to fruition after the initial easterly, then it is very good news for you. Back in 2010 parts of Donegal had 20-30 cms of snow in a similar scenario. I'm not saying the same will happen this time, but you would see decent accumulations

I think I must be one of the few people who isn't happy about the SSW and the cold weather it's about to bring us. I have a trip to Northern Norway and Sweden starting on Saturday and the temperatures all winter in Sweden (Abisko) have been in the -20C range. With the freezing weather are generally clear skies, perfect for Aurora hunting. Now with the SSW, the temperatures for next week are forecast to go from -17 on Thurs this week to -3 on Saturday through Tuesday. With the warmer weather comes the clouds which is not great for observing the Aurora:mad: On the positive, at least I won't freeze to bits standing around watching:pac::o

Arghhh!

I haven't posted here since the cold spell in 2010, I'm always lurking, learning(thanks to the more knowledgeable posters here) and inevitably getting prematurely excited about any hint of a deep easterly. Good to see this being upgraded and an agreement of sorts being made across all the models, even if it is early days!

I know I should calm it down but I can't help feeling excited when there's a few hundred people showing up on the weather forum and a chance I might get to live out my snow survivalist fantasies!

I'll try to hold off warning people of Snowmageddon and jinxing it. I'll try. Here's to seeing similar charts maintaining the cold on Thurs/Friday!

DOCARCH wrote: »

I refuse to get excited until next Saturday! Bah humbug...

I’m trying so hard not too Doc but it’s looking pretty good for us 😂😂😂

leahyl wrote: »

This is exciting stuff folks! Hopefully it’ll come and then all be gone by the time I go to Paris in a few weeks time :-D

I was in Paris just before Christmas in 2010, there was a lot of snow! It was absolutely magical and made the place even more beautiful. Are you travelling for business or pleasure? There was very little disruption getting around the city and the only issues occurred when we were getting the train to CDG and flying home to Ireland, I'd advise leaving plenty of time for that if these charts materialise. Enjoy your trip!

Irish Steve wrote: »

Last time I can recall snow with temperatures that stayed below zero for a significant period of time was the late 80's, there was about 3 inches of powder snow all over the roads in central Dublin for about 4 days, and it caused traffic chaos, firstly because the snow ploughs of the time couldn't cope with it, and partly because the people trying to drive in it hadn't a clue how to do so, w.

I know people who are accomplished at driving in snow might laugh at this, but for those who aren't- it might be worth reading this:

How to tackle driving in the snow

Wear comfortable and dry footwear
Accelerate gently, use low revs and change up to a higher gear as quickly as possible
Move off in second gear as this will help reduce wheel slip - some cars have a winter mode, which does the same job – so to check whether your car has this function in the vehicle’s handbook

Get your speed right and maintain safe stopping distances between you and the car in front, leaving as much as 10 times the normal recommended gap
Prepare for an uphill by leaving plenty of room in front so you can maintain a constant speed without the need for changing gear

Use a low gear for going downhill and try to avoid braking unless necessary, make sure you leave plenty of space between you and the car in front

When approaching a bend, brake before you actually start to turn the steering wheel. If your car does lose grip try not to panic; the key thing is to take your foot off the accelerator and make sure that your wheels are pointing in the direction you want to go in

If you do encounter a skid, steer gently into it - for example, if the rear of the car is sliding to the right, steer to the right. Do not take your hands off the steering wheel or stamp your foot on the brakes

When driving in heavy snow, make sure that you use your dipped headlights. Relying on daytime running lights is not enough, because they don’t always put lights on the back of your car.

If visibility drops below a 100m, put your fog lights on. But remember to turn them off when the visibility improves.

If the road has not been gritted, be wary of driving in the wheeltracks or other vehicles as compressed snow is likely to be more icy than fresh snow

Controls such as the brakes, as well as the steering, accelerator and even gear changing should be operated smoothly and slowly

Sunglasses can help to reduce the glare of low winter sun on the snow
Keep your speed down and allow more time to stop and steer

Finally, it’s important to think about the environment that you’re driving in, especially microclimates that might appear on the road. These are areas that perhaps the sun hasn’t got to, which could stay icy when the rest of the road has thawed. Bridges are a good example. They’re normally the first to freeze and the last to thaw. So be aware of that when you’re driving in open spaces.