>NORTHEAST WINDS USHERS IN A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME!

Written by on November 29, 2009 in Rest of Europe with 4 Comments

>What a difference a week or so makes and currenly we have a fresh to strong Northeast surface flow drilling chilly, dry air out of the northeast. Vastly different weather picture to when strong southwest winds pushed mid-50s into the area along with torrential, tropical-like rains and strong winds.

We have 15-25mph sustained winds and gusts beyond 30 which is transporting polar or sub-polar origin air across Scotland. Glasgow up until 12.30pm couldn’t top 40 degrees and now sits at 41 degrees as of 12.48pm. But gusty winds are making the air feel close to freezing. The sky is very polar-like with the high clouds and filtered sunshine. Not much moisture is accompanying this typically dry origin air mass and if it were to precipitate, snow falkes could be possible here at only 100-200 feet above sea level. Nearby peaks above 2,000 ft have snowcover now and I would imagine it would be cold up on them today since here at the house we have a current reading of 38 degrees and a brisk 20 mph sustained wind and gusts likely over 30, which is making the wind chill remain in the 20s..

Current cold spots across Scotland:

Lockerbie 38
Greenock 39
Loch Glascarnoch 32. Wind chill 17 degrees
Glen Ogle 31. Wind chill 16 degrees
Tomintoul 27.

Note the 27 degree as of 1pm at Tomintoul, which I drove through at the beginning of the year. Tomintoul is a place deep in the heart of the Cairngorm Mountains. High in altitude (by British standards, anyway) at 1,130 ft and sheltered from the sun by the surrounding hills, which means not only is the village higher altitude and therefore typically cooler, but it’s protection from both it’s relatively interior location (away from the warming influence of Atlantic to west and North Sea to east this spot in like other nearby locations which experiencing “cold air draining” as the air flows down the surrounding hills into communities like Tomintoul and other “cold valleys” as long as the valley isn’t too steep! Other classic cold spots. Dalwhinnie, Aviemore, Braemar, Tulloch Bridge and Altnaharra. These local geographical factors make Tomintoul and places listed, Britain’s coldest places.

Our low here dropped off to 29 degrees, which was kept milder than what could have been because of very dense fog which prohibited the residual surface warmth from escaping into a clear, calm starry skies which could be seen only 100 feet above the ground. The fog was rapidly replaced by a strong west wind which as the morning wore on turned and is now blowing hard out of the northeast. Currently it’s 38 degrees here and the cold origin air is keeping temperatures from rising much at all. With gusts around at least 30 mph, our wind chill is roughly 25 degrees.. Around 9am with a reading at 35 degrees and strong gusts blowing past 30mph, our windchill was down at 20 degrees!

Slightly Milder and Stormy down South!

Whilst much of Scotland is feeling the bite of the Arctic, southern and central England as well as Wales are experiencing strong south to southwest winds, heavy rain and thunderstorms and air in the upper 40s to 50 degrees!

National chilly spot at the moment: Tomintoul, Banffshire: 27 degrees, National Warm Spot: Shoreham-By-Sea, West Sussex: 50 degrees (UPDATE: SEVERAL LOCATIONS ACROSS THE SOUTH COAST AND SOUTHEAST HITTING 50, SOME PLACES LIKELY GOING TOWARDS 53-54 FOR HIGHS). The contrast across England. Spadeadam, Cumbria is currently 39 degrees. Shoreham as already mentioned is 50 degrees. Much of England although experiencing a southwest flow (warmer origin) the general jet orientation is south of Britain and therefore the entire low pressure circulation is within a colder environment. Last week’s extreme rains and air was SOUTH of the jet and therefore, the circulation was able to pull an unlimited amount of warm, tropical air up from the Azores and lower latitudes. As the south coast and southeast of England warms nicely, albeit within a windy, wet environment, once away from the English Channel, readings sharply drop off with much of south-central England northwards is only in the low 40s with Manchester only at 41 many areas of Cumbria still in the 30s.

Basically the amount of warming achievable is limited because the southwest flow across the southern half of the British Isles is withi the same environment as Scotland’s air. The south is just slightly moderated, that’s all as the cold air rushes south from the colder NORTH and moderates over the mild Atlantic waters (Atlantic SST’s will be a few degrees warmer off southwest Britain than north of Scotland where the air is originating).

Pennines Snowfall..

Anywhere high up is within reach of receiving snow, especially north-central England where the precipitation band is nearby. Much of Scotland, even at low levels may have seen some flakes fly today if there was moisture available but as is often the case, the cold, dry air and northerly flow often erodes clouds and sucks out moisture from high-level clouds.

Thanks for reading.

-Mark

Follow us

Connect with Mark Vogan on social media to get notified about new posts and for the latest weather updates.

Subscribe via RSS Feed Connect on YouTube

4 Reader Comments

Trackback URL Comments RSS Feed

  1. Anonymous says:

    >I am indeed from Derry Lodge. I have a wood burning stove, and Niqoteen patches to keep me going through the winter. My car has been snow bound for days now? My Black and Decker leaf blower is a measely 3 Watts. I need a Diesel blower to rescue my car. I have marked its location with some snow poles.

  2. Mark'sWxWorld says:

    >your in the cairngorms right? im heading up that way today, what are the roads like? could you elaborate on your description as i find it interesting!! Thanks

  3. Anonymous says:

    >I had to use my leaf blower to remove the great drits of snow encasing my vehicle this morning. I've not seen snow this far south at this time of year since 1807.

  4. Leif says:

    >It looks as if Scotland is beginning to freeze over, I envisage us gaining our own ice shelf. It will come in handy for stranded polar bears and peoples aboard their drifting, melting ice bergs. We'll just tether them onto the ice shelf off our Northern seaboard…

    Do you think that our cool shall be as a result of low pressure dragging air south as it is now or as deep high pressure system? I'd like to know and preferably in degrees celsius.

    Last year's rain didn't fall so hard, do you have any thoughts? One minute it was very dry with frost on the ground and the road was flooded. I find this disturbing especially in the dark.

    Also, who would win in a debate between Caroline Lucas and Nick Griffin?

Leave a Reply

Top