As such both low solar and our current 'positioning' (with regard the polar jet) appear to favour HP dominance and low rainfall totals as a result. Some places are still running last years deficit for rainfall so may well be moving to 'drought' being declared if spring continues with dry , HP dominated conditions?

 

I went for a long bike ride through north Hampshire at the weekend and was amazed by how little mud there is and how generally dry the ground seems to be. Usually it would be a quagmire at this time of year in several places.

 

i doubt many lowland places in the UK have ever experienced true blizzard conditions.

How old are you, may I ask? 

At the halfway stage I can honestly say this winter is one of the biggest non events of a winter I have know. A dreary gloomy and wet december with some 6 inches of rain here  but not even the gales to go with it just wet and miserable.with one or two sunnier days. Generally mild or very mild but with not one proper air frost . since xmas eve days of drab cloudy mildish or coolish weather with one or two sunnier days thrown in but again without an air frost , just  afew ground frost patches here and there . No rain little wind , no snow and no frost . thoroughly depressing all in all and despite promise in the models of late as at this morning it doesnt look likely that very much is going to change except to a cooler few days with maybe a frost if we are lucky. I hate it when forecasters these days use terms like cooler and fresher in the depths of winter! Lets hope part 2 reverses this nothingness

Agreed, it's been so uneventful - December was wet but even in early Jan when we had the ridge it was a cloudy Atlantic HP which gave us nothing! Not even a proper frost either due to extensive cloud cover! This winter is worse than 2015/2016 so far!

By this time in 2016 - I could at least report gales wind speeds, some severe frosts, sleety showers etc! But this winter i can't report anything because nothing has happened we still have had our coldest night back in Autumn October 27th early hours when it was -3.5c and in Nov 26th when we were down to -3c SInce then we have struggled to get to freezing let alone below.

We did have blizzard conditions at times on 1st March. Powdery snow blew from rooftops and roads and we had drifts and there was poor visibility too! I'll send a video if you don't believe me. Storm Emma was fun! Shame We had freezing rain after and sheet ice !

 

We did have blizzard conditions at times on 1st March. Powdery snow blew from rooftops and roads and we had drifts and there was poor visibility too! I'll send a video if you don't believe me. Storm Emma was fun! Shame We had freezing rain after and sheet ice !

none of that constitutes a blizzard.

 

How old are you, may I ask? 

31

Awful winter so far matching the political landscape. Even though I was expecting it, the lack of sunshine and frost are depressing.

Only good aspect has been the lack of rainfall.

2nd half should partly make up for it, but I always value December more than February. 

 

none of that constitutes a blizzard.

Argh ok so I got it wrong as did the Met Office then, even though you were not in it to experience storm Emma? Ok thanks for that! :D

IMO it certainly was blizzard at times anyway! The snowfall on 17th and 18th March was more heavy snow but the event on 1st of March is something I have never seen ever before in the UK let alone along Exeter Quay. 

 

31

Thought so. You have been unlucky to live through the least snowiest decades of the last hundred years. The good news is you are still young so you have time on your side to get to see conditions pre- 1980 ish. The last decade was better than the previous two. if you get a chance read Leo Bonacina's year by year account of UK snowfalls. https://durhamweather.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/bonacina.html

 

Thought so. You have been unlucky to live through the least snowiest decades of the last hundred years. The good news is you are still young so you have time on your side to get to see conditions pre- 1980 ish. The last decade was better than the previous two. if you get a chance read Leo Bonacina's year by year account of UK snowfalls. https://durhamweather.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/bonacina.html

 

I don’t disagree but that doesn’t mean the word blizzard isn’t ridiculously overused,

 

Argh ok so I got it wrong as did the Met Office then, even though you were not in it to experience storm Emma? Ok thanks for that! :D

IMO it certainly was blizzard at times anyway! The snowfall on 17th and 18th March was more heavy snow but the event on 1st of March is something I have never seen ever before in the UK let alone along Exeter Quay. 

 

Exeter, and Devon in general, normally gets a flurry or two each winter, further South down here it is definitely less common away from the moors. Last March was a rare event, that said, I am sure we will get similar again, maybe even during this winter.

It is what it is, nobody can change it, that's why if it is going to be clear and dry and less cold, then look on the bright side.... it could be alot worse. 

Winter 2019 is far from over though.

 

Exeter, and Devon in general, normally gets a flurry or two each winter, further South down here it is definitely less common away from the moors. Last March was a rare event, that said, I am sure we will get similar again, maybe even during this winter.

It is what it is, nobody can change it, that's why if it is going to be clear and dry and less cold, then look on the bright side.... it could be alot worse. 

Winter 2019 is far from over though.

This is a moaning thread for moaning people. We'll have no optimism here!!

 

 

This is a moaning thread for moaning people. We'll have no optimism here!!

 

 

 

 Ok Tubbs 

 

 

I don’t disagree but that doesn’t mean the word blizzard isn’t ridiculously overused,

Yes you are right. It definitely is. They weren't that common then and certainly rare now.

What happened to the mid-January cold spell? I can only assume it ended up in the bin. I would check but unfortunately it's overflowing with the 46 days of winter already in there 

At this half way point we have seen two frosty mornings and not even a blob of sleet mixed in with rain. It went beyond a joke a long time ago. Can't even remember the last time it dropped below freezing as day after day of rancid mild tripe just blends into one never ending pile of rot.

It's 8.2C just now and after this ridiculous mild, near average temperatures of around 5C are forecast for the remainder of the week. Will likely fail to dip below freezing as surprise,surprise the usual vile wind is also being forecast. Can hear it starting to pep up already

Horrible winter which is just an even more extreme version of the utterly awful rubbish we have suffered for the majority of this hideous decade.

Well, this is just bloody typical of our weather (or rather, the lack of any weather) in this part of the world during this complete non-event which is known as this "winter".

Here in the most boring part of the UK during our most boring winter on record, the Sun is shining and the skies are clear. Yet even with those clear skies and a northerly wind, we still CANNOT get a F@&KING frost as once again, too much wind meant that the temperature just refused to drop during the early hours of this morning once that occluded front had moved through and so, our frost-free hell just goes on with no end to that in sight just now (so much then, for that really cold weather which we were supposed to be getting from the north).

This just shows that this so-called "winter" continues to be one massive borefest in this part of the world where it just seems to be asking too much for anything which is even remotely interesting in terms of our weather, to actually happen even when there is a lot of excitement elsewhere (Richard from Aberdeen occasionally claims that title of the most boring part of the UK in terms of the weather for his area, but even he has got to witness a bit of snow already during this latest northerly outbreak as reported by doctormog (who is after all, in the same city as Richard) on this forum) and so this surely has to prove once and for that I live in the most boring part of the UK here in Edinburgh, in terms of our weather.

I'm getting my pre-event moan in early (as someone else did not long back)

I foresee this spell going as follows:

The initial PPN-laden periods will deliver rain, sleet and non-sticking snow only. The real cold will come from an easterly and it'll be bone dry IMBY, with the east & south and Jockland all enjoying a snowfest.

Yet another embarrassingly lame and pathetic 'dry' northerly. These type of synoptics used to produce frequent heavy snow showers that might add up to about 5cm over a day or so. Now it's weak infrequent snizzly showers and a depth of 2cm that doesn't even completely cover grass 

Worse still it's thawed out and turned to sludge with no top up throughout the day and non-cold temperatures.  More than two hours after sunset it's still above freezing 

A desperate state of affairs when this is what a cold spell in the midst of winter brings. The biggest joke is this may well be the only snowfall this nightmare of a winter produces. As if the past two months haven't been bad enough it looks like getting even worse. All I'm seeing over the weekend and next week are utterly depressing grey skies, rain and vile temperatures of 3-5C 

I'm struggling to get excited about this upcoming spell. All looks too marginal, then too dry/easterly for here.

I dare say it'll get chilly/cold, but I can't see other than light dustings here.

Ah well, another winter, another year to wait for another 2009/2010