TODAY'S PENNINE WEATHER

[plaques]

Thanks to a drip in the bathroom, not me I hasten to add, but one in the bathroom sink, the outside outflow pipe has now frozen up. Tried a kettle of boiling water but gave up when it gottoo windy with strong gusts that I started wobbling a bit on the step ladders. Just have to grow a beard and avoid soup.

[PanBiker]

Shows how stupid the meteorological seasons are. Today is the first day of Spring! I was thinking that as they theoretically shift them all forwards by about 3 weeks from when the solstices and equinoxes actually take place it must skew the seasonal figures somewhat. I'll wait until the 20th and then welcome Spring.

[Tizer]

I couldn't resist putting this image on here. It's the BBC weather map for our area of Somerset and Devon this afternoon! You wouldn't know where it was without the names of the towns. Mind you, it looks much like that when I look out of the window, and the snow is forecast to continue into Friday and early Saturday. At least we've seen some kids out snowballing and sledging - screams instead of screens!

[Wendyf]

Hope you can stay safe and warm Tiz, I think you will definitely be getting the worst of the weather over the next couple of days. The winds are still howling around us and I can honestly say it has been an extremely nasty day! I took a few photos out of the windows this morning but they don't convey the extreme conditions very well!

This is looking out from the sheltered end of the house...



Out of the back door....that pile of snow is well over 6ft high.



The sheltered end again...



No more wind please!!

[Stanley]

Not miserable Maz, just nasty and annoying! A dripping tap will do it every time P! No need to let standards drop, boil the kettle and shave in the kitchen, go on, be a devil!
The wind increased even down here Wendy. Snow was blowing across the green at 10:00 and later it got even worse to the extent it has blown the snow off the roofs. We still have the wind this morning and it's very cold but no fresh snow during the night. We have a hopeful sign this morning.... the glass has fallen to 995mb, this means that the storm Emma coming in from the Atlantic is getting the upper hand of the North European high pressure system that is the root cause of our problem. Tiz's bad fortune is our good luck. There is a slight chance the snow Emma is carrying might reach us but more possibility that the incoming air will be warmer than the Siberian stuff!
The forecast is for very little snow, the story is the wind which will be constant, strong, easterly and gusting to 50mph. This will blow the lying snow into drifts like yesterday. The High is -2C and the low tonight -3C. The wind chill is -9C at the moment and will stay almost the same all day but later tonight the east wind eases slightly and this will fall to -7C. The outlook is one of gradual warming and improvement but slow. So take heart, the end is perhaps in sight but we still have a week of bad weather at least yet!
As Ian says, it ain't Spring!
06:15. We've done our circuit of the Green which included a good run round with Jack's whippet mate. Just the job nothing sets a dog up better than a good interaction with a mate like that. We extended the walk by going into the town to get the BET on the Square but for the first time that I can remember, the BET wasn't delivered yesterday. The wind is strong and bitter, I'm glad to be inside out of it. No snow and what snow there was to blow in the wind appears to have gone off the Green and the town roofs. Still plenty about of course. No respite as yet, this is another bitterly cold day.....
The buses are running and the main roads are clearer than they were yesterday but from the news we have been lucky, the M62 at Rocking Stones outside Rochdale is in trouble. We don't need any more snow!

[Marilyn]

Love that pic of Wendy's window...
If you put some Chrissy decorations on that window, take a pic, you could sell your own Christmas Cards...
( not such a silly idea)

[Stanley]

I think that's the last thing on Wendy's mind at the moment. It's about -14C in the wind up at Burnt Hill! She is more interested in getting water to her friends....

[Wendyf]

We have excellent new neighbours at Brown Hill, the chap who is doing work for them brought his telehandler over and cleared a way out for us through the drifts. We don't fancy going out yet though! Local farmers and contractors have cleared a way through the drifts between here and the pub and down Bleara Road into Earby.

[Stanley]

I know it's still bad Wendy and we are not out of the wood yet but there are the first signs of an easing in the weather. Courage mon brave!
The wind was cruel yesterday! At 21;00 it was overcast, the wind had dropped and it was not quite as cold. This morning it's the same, a few fine flakes of snow in the air but not as harsh as it has been. The glass has fallen to 990mb, a sign that the milder Atlantic system, bad though it is, is gaining the upper hand and forcing the high pressure back into Europe. The forecast is for a dry overcast day. The constant east wind is lighter and the high and low are the same at -1C. The wind chill is nowhere near as bad, about 8C all day. This is still winter but a slow improvement over what we have been having and the outlook is for the improvement to continue. Today could be the last of the daytime frosts for a while.....
06:10. Once again I have restricted us to a circuit of the Green, about 3/4 of a mile but good underfoot. I have an idea we could have managed our usual circular walk but decided it isn't worth the risk of slipping and falling. The moderate east wind is bringing in light, fine snow and giving a wind chill that's taking us down to about -10C, face ache country but 5 or 6 degrees warmer than yesterday. We must be grateful for small mercies!
The main roads are clear and ice free but the side roads and pavements are still deadly. Nevertheless, it feels like an improvement and I think we are climbing out of the hole. One warning note, the forecaster gave the possibility of supercooled rain in the NW like the stuff Tiz describes this morning. Be aware because it is the most dangerous condition of all if you are out in it, especially on the road!

[Stanley]

A day of slow but steady improvement yesterday but still bitterly cold, the east wind had lessened but was still active. At 21:00 last night it was overcast, almost calm and not as cold. This morning it was the same but there has been a very light fall of snow during the night. A first is a patch of wet flags outside the back door! I've just looked out again and it's still calm, very light snow falling but only a slight frost and very little wind chill. The glass is down again at 985mb, the Atlantic low is winning!
The forecast is for an overcast misty day with light snow at almost any time and later in the day any precipitation could be rain. The east wind is only light and the high is 3C and the low tonight 1C, there will be a small wind chill but negligible compared with what we have been suffering lately. It will feel almost mild and the snow will slowly retreat. It looks as though we are coming out of the freeze, the outlook is for the warming trend to continue.
06:05. Back in the warm again. Once more, I declined the full walk round Valley Gardens and we did a slow and safe circuit of the Green, Jack running free all the time, he doesn't mind where he is as long as he can seek out his bitch pee! It's much milder and the light east wind is not as cold or penetrating. My hands were warm all the time I was out. The snow is still crunching underfoot but there is standing water on the roads where the salt is working and on the whole it is a lot better.
Expect a very slow thaw over the next few days and remember that packed snow is slippier when thawing than it is in a severe frost. It would be a pity to celebrate the end of the freeze by having a fall! As an example, the back street is more treacherous now than at any time in the last week.

[Wendyf]

We managed our walk around the fields this morning avoiding the deepest drifts, though the easterly wind was lashing us with icy sleet. It could be a while before we see the last of the snow!

[Wendyf]

I had a root around in the gallery for these photos from February 2012 when we had some freezing rain. I was looking after my friends ponies up at Hainslack and they could hardly stand up crossing her yard. I walked up there across the fields but had to cross the ice sheet that was Skipton Old Road on the bends at the top. I remember standing at the side of the road working up the courage to cross!








I was also in charge of Clare's ponies when we had the monster snowfall in 2013, looking at my images in the gallery that was March 22nd! We got up there in the pick up as the snow was coming down but couldn't get her ponies to their stable as there was already a 5 foot snowdrift in the way. I managed to get rugs on them and put some hay in a sheltered bit, then beat a hasty retreat home. Luckily her husband arrived back a day early and was the last car to get up the road, he managed to dig a way through to the stable. When we were up there the snow plough went along the road and got stuck before the pub where it stayed for 4 days.

[Marilyn]

I am not authorised to see those last 2 images...

[Wendyf]

Which ones Maz? The snowy ones or the icy ones?

[Marilyn]

The icy ones I guess. I see the one with the sign for the farm and one with Bertie...with snow
The two below that say "unauthorised"

[Wendyf]

Perhaps Ian will be able to tell us why? They are from the early days of the gallery. I might be able to download them and re-post.

[Wendyf]

They are in a personal album, that will be why. Hang on!

[Marilyn]

Don't stress too much.
Just keep yourselves warm and have a good day. You have enough on your plate...

[Wendyf]

No stress, it's coffee time...is that better?

[Marilyn]

yup...I can see clearly now...thanks
I think the snowy ones are more impressive.
...after all that...

[Wendyf]

Well in that case I'll take them off again!!

[PanBiker]

Perhaps Ian will be able to tell us why? They are from the early days of the gallery. I might be able to download them and re-post.

I have just looked at your post Wendy and the URL strings were wrong. I have regularised them to the correct syntax.

[Marilyn]

I can see the icy bits better when I zoom in, Wendy...
Looks very cold and MISERABLE. You wouldn't want to have an outside loo !

[Stanley]

Good pics.....
Yesterday in the afternoon I noted that occasionally the wind was in the west rather than the east and it had started thawing slowly, it was a bit misty. At 21;00 it was calm, milder and misty and the snow was retreating. This morning it's calm, mild, misty, overcast but I saw the moon through the clouds. Still lying snow but nowhere near as bad. The glass is down again at 980mb. The forecast is for a murky, overcast day with no frost and dry until late tonight when there is a possibility of some rain. The wind is light, mainly SE and we have a high of 6C and a low of 3C with minimal wind chill, almost warm! There is still lying snow but it is retreating nicely. It could feel almost Spring-like today! I think we can say that the cold has retreated for a while.
05:50. Back after an early walk. It is mild, calm and misty. Much of the snow has gone put what remains is very treacherous because it is thawing. I was tempted to do my normal walk round Valley Gardens but decided that discretion was the better part of valour! This would be just the time to slip and fall and that's what I must avoid. So we did our circuit of the Green and back home. I slipped once on the level in the Pioneer car park but recovered and no ill effects. We will see a further big improvement today and I'll see how I feel about it tomorrow morning, but for today I am satisfied I have done the right thing. I know you probably think I am being over cautious but it's too late when you are laid in bed with a fractured hip or leg! I have to be in good order for the wedding in five weeks!
The long range forecast for farmers is informative.... The jet stream is still well to the south in the Mediterranean so our tendency will be for colder weather for a while but nothing like as severe as this latest episode.

[Stanley]

Yesterday was a nice quiet mild day which during the night has cleared all the lying snow. At 21:00 last night it was overcast, calm and dry after a recent light shower. This morning it was the same. We have had our walk and for the first time in the last few days took our normal route round Valley Gardens. Not a trace of ice or snow and I am sure that I was right in avoiding that route. It is mild, overcast, a slight mist and as we were nearing home a very light shower of rain but nothing serious. The glass is down again at almost 975mb, we are directly under the Atlantic low. This shows in the wind which is light and variable, starting in the east, settling in the SW for most of the day and ending up as a very light easterly late tonight. The High is 6C and the low 1C. There will be a slight wind chill, never moire than 3C and the result is that for most of the day it will feel relatively mild. The overcast will vary also with some bright sunny spells in the middle part of the day and early afternoon. A big improvement over the last week! For which, many thanks.....