It's snowing

[deko]

Guess it would be pretty similar to a bird strike.

The difference though is that a bird has bones and other bits that are hard enough to maybe do damage, a snowball is essentially water, it surely couldn't bring down a chopper.

 

[Jokester]

The difference though is that a bird has bones and other bits that are hard enough to maybe do damage, a snowball is essentially water, it surely couldn't bring down a chopper.

You mean that pesky solid water that we get sometimes

So - If this is a "normal" winter so far - explain what you mean by abnormal

It would be abnormal if low temperature records were being beaten all over the UK, as a whole, -18C isn't uncommon in the UK but if it was occuring on a regular basis across the UK then it would be extreme. As it is, this winter will be probably classed as the worst since the 70s or something. If they come back and say it was the worst on record, then yeah it would be extreme.

 

[LabR@t]

Met has suggested 2010 to be warmest on record

 

[[TW]Sponge]

Met has suggested 2010 to be warmest on record

The MET have got more chance of guessing my dogs name than getting the weather right.

 

[Heliospherez]

The MET have got more chance of guessing my dogs name than getting the weather right.

Agreed. They are next to useless. Anything over 24 hours and it's hardly worth worrying about their predictions - and as for their localised weather 'forcasts' ????


In fact I remember a Russian website from about 4 months ago stating that the long term forcast for this winter (in Europe - and the UK in particular) was extremely cold - and possibly the coldest on record. It wasn't until about 3 weeks ago that the MET decided to say we 'might' be in for a bit of a cold snap - yet they didn't think it was anything to worry about - and wouldn't last too long.

 

[pdw8]

I must say some drivers, including Lorry drivers are so stupid - speeding along even though visibility was poor and the road was covered in snow.

I drove home from London along the M2 earlier and agree that the truck drivers were going way too fast. Mostly foreign trucks though which is no surprise and I really cant be arsed to go on another rant on that issue!!

 

[Amp34]

Met has suggested 2010 to be warmest on record

Well other than a month in Jan/feb and this december most of the rest of the year has been average or above average so I can't see wht not. I'm guesing, like last winter it will also be one of the driest winters on record, we've had about an inch of rain in a couple of months, way below average.

 

[Amp34]

Starting to wonder now too if we will actually get a white christmas? First time since I was born if we do! Whether it actually snows on christmas day is another matter but there may just be some snow left on Saturday!

 

[[TW]Sponge]

Well other than a month in Jan/feb and this december most of the rest of the year has been average or above average so I can't see wht not. I'm guesing, like last winter it will also be one of the driest winters on record, we've had about an inch of rain in a couple of months, way below average.

I think snow classes as wet stuff. Rain will not fall in these temperatures.

 

[[TW]Sponge]

Starting to wonder now too if we will actually get a white christmas? First time since I was born if we do! Whether it actually snows on christmas day is another matter but there may just be some snow left on Saturday!

I've got a bet on that it will snow on Christmas day. £2 richer on Saturday hopefully!!

 

[badcompany]

You have to laugh.

THE MET Office



Their models are so full of BS AGW data the data its spews is a *'ing joke.

Well other than a month in Jan/feb and this december most of the rest of the year has been average or above average so I can't see wht not. I'm guesing, like last winter it will also be one of the driest winters on record, we've had about an inch of rain in a couple of months, way below average.

take a 5 month average but only use the hottest month? Hmm not trying to influence the data are we?

In fact, the Met still asserts we are in the midst of an unusually warm winter — as one of its staffers sniffily protested in an internet posting to a newspaper last week: “This will be the warmest winter in living memory, the data has already been recorded.

For your information, we take the highest 15 readings between November and March and then produce an average. As November was a very seasonally warm month, then all the data will come from those readings.”

I like this bit

For your information, we take the highest 15 readings between November and March and then produce an average. As November was a very seasonally warm month, then all the data will come from those readings.

 

[Amp34]

I think snow classes as wet stuff. Rain will not fall in these temperatures.

Erm yeah, but large parts of the country have had very little snow (this winter and last) to go with their low amounts of rain. It's normally all to do with the fact cold weather comes from the north and east, whereas rain comes from the south and west.

take a 5 month average but only use the hottest month? Hmm not trying to influence the data are we?

I like this bit

Cool, you already posted that. Unfortunately for you I'm guessing that system has been used for the last 200 years so we can't just randomly change it because it doesn't fit your theory... There will most likely have been dozens of similar winters that are classed as warm over the last couple of hundred years due to one month being very warm, one month being very cold and the rest being average.

Change it for this year and you had better go back and change it for all the rest of the years since records began (probably dooable as they will have the daily records since then), in which case you'll probably find that all winter temperatures will be all over the place and we will end up in a similar situation to now... Stats are meaningless without analysis and that analysis has to be the same every time.

Interesting to note that I work with a lot of international students and we were pointing out to them that the weather in October and November was really unseasonal, much warmer and dryer than normal.

 

[[TW]Sponge]

Erm yeah, but large parts of the country have had very little snow (this winter and last) to go with their low amounts of rain. It's normally all to do with the fact cold weather comes from the north and east, whereas rain comes from the south and west.



Cool, you already posted that. Unfortunately for you I'm guessing that system has been used for the last 200 years so we can't just randomly change it because it doesn't fit your theory... There will most likely have been dozens of similar winters that are classed as warm over the last couple of hundred years due to one month being very warm, one month being very cold and the rest being average.

Interesting to note that I work with a lot of international students and we were pointing out to them that the weather in October and November was really unseasonal, much warmer and dryer than normal.

I don't know about you but I look outside of my bedroom window and see SNOW, the same as 90% of the UK. Which means it is very cold outside, and has been very very cold for a few weeks. And you are seriously telling me this is one of the warmest winters on record? We had snow in November. Very unusual considering you just said It was one of the warmest Novembers on record. October maybe, but not since then.

 

[Amp34]

I don't know about you but I look outside of my bedroom window and see SNOW, the same as 90% of the UK. Which means it is very cold outside, and has been very very cold for a few weeks. And you are seriously telling me this is one of the warmest winters on record? We had snow in November. Very unusual considering you just said It was one of the warmest Novembers on record. October maybe, but not since then.

I knew I should have said "until this cold spell struck"... It was above average in the first half of november yes.

And yes there is snow, but remember a cm of snow is actually only ~1mm of rain. Large parts of the country have only a few inches and it hasn't rained that much betwen times.

Last winter had significantly less precipitation than the 77-2000 average for example and if this winter carries on in the same fashion then it too will most likely have much less precipitation than normal.

Significant snowfalls occurred widely at times from mid-December until the end of February. These included falls of over 20 cm in southern England in early January and over 30 cm in central and northern Scotland in late February. During each month, rainfall totals over the UK were below the 1971-2000 average with 81% in December, 66% in January and 86% in February. Less than 50% of normal was recorded in each month in many western areas, especially western Scotland.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/2010/winter.html

As for the cold, doesn't matter what you may think, its all about the statistics which are designed to average out the periods of cold and periods of warm and compare them to past winters. It may be unseasonably cold now but there may quite easily have been periods like this (well below average temperatures) in past years that are recorded as warm winters due to the averages. That's the point, unless you go back and reanalyse all the data from the last couple of hundred years using a new system you need to stick to the old system.

EDIT: I do admit just taking the 15 warmest temps and averaging them out does seem a bit strange, but then it was probably so people without electronic means could work things out relatively easily in the 1800/1900s. Either way I bet if you did reanalyse the data in a more thorough way we would probably still see the last couple of winters as being not particularly cold on average.

 

[Neil79]

BIG Flakes!, just outside of canterbury

 

[[TW]Sponge]

I knew I should have said "until this cold spell struck"... It was above average in the first half of november yes.

And yes there is snow, but remember a cm of snow is actually only ~1mm of rain. Large parts of the country have only a few inches and it hasn't rained that much betwen times.

Last winter had significantly less precipitation than the 77-2000 average for example and if this winter carries on in the same fashion then it too will most likely have much less precipitation than normal.



http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/2010/winter.html

As for the cold, doesn't matter what you may think, its all about the statistics which are designed to average out the periods of cold and periods of warm and compare them to past winters. It may be unseasonably cold now but there may quite easily have been periods like this (well below average temperatures) in past years that are recorded as warm winters due to the averages. That's the point, unless you go back and reanalyse all the data from the last couple of hundred years using a new system you need to stick to the old system.

EDIT: I do admit just taking the 15 warmest temps and averaging them out does seem a bit strange, but then it was probably so people without electronic means could work things out relatively easily in the 1800/1900s. Either way I bet if you did reanalyse the data in a more thorough way we would probably still see the last couple of winters as being not particularly cold on average.

Bored now.

 

[[TW]Sponge]

BIG Flakes!, just outside of canterbury

I had what looked like Walkers Crisps falling earlier, was amazing.

 

[Amp34]

Bored now.

Really?

Soo essentially you're saying the Met office are lying due to a political agenda?

Cool, I'll add you to L@brat and badcompany then as wacky conspiracy theorists...

 

[BigglesPiP]

Friday's experience:

The M58 and the occassional nervous nancy doing walking pace! Cruising at a safe 30 here.

The M6 suddenly stops:

5 hours later:

 

[Swifty55]

Using your phone white driving! Tut tut!