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General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: astragalus on November 01, 2011, 04:36:00 PM

Title: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: astragalus on November 01, 2011, 04:36:00 PM
Winter appears to have arrived before Fall was over.  October 30th - 12" of heavy snow and all the power knocked out almost immediately which means no electric, no water, no phone, no heat.  Thank heavens for fireplaces.  This morning it was 44 degrees and that was inside the house.  Also, no computer etc and I'm using the computer in my husband's office.  I hadn't even finished planting the bulbs!  Took some great pictures but will have to wait until we get our power back to put them on my computer.  We have one burner on the outdoor grill so that means we can boil the water for tea in the morning.  This gets old pretty fast and reading by candlelight is not good.  I have more and more respect for the people who colonized this country.  They must have been pretty tough.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on November 01, 2011, 07:15:17 PM
Last October, we in the UK were moaning very loudly about the fast onset of winter weather, but I think we would have been a lot quieter if we'd been hit with the ferocity of winter wet snow and chaos that has hit North America in the last few days.

Hope you get heat and power restored soon, Anne.

Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: astragalus on November 02, 2011, 04:53:29 PM
Power came back on 20 minutes ago.  Not too bad, it only took 4 days.  Heat, water, electricity, computer, cell phone.... life is good.  Pictures later.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: ArnoldT on November 03, 2011, 01:48:28 AM
We lost power Saturday evening and finally came back this morning at 6 AM.

Lot of catching up to do.



Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: astragalus on November 03, 2011, 02:01:39 AM
Pictures of the pretty part of unseasonable snow storm (12 wet, heavy inches).
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: astragalus on November 03, 2011, 02:07:15 AM
And the not so pretty aftermath - Ulmus parvifolia with many broken large branches and Magnolia soulangeana with several huge trunks now gone.  The magnolia doesn't bloom every year because we have a lot of late frosts that kill the buds, but when it does it's really beautiful

Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: ArnoldT on November 03, 2011, 02:42:30 PM
Here's what a incorrectly placed Fagus sylvatica limb can do.

No one injured.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on November 03, 2011, 02:57:23 PM


No one injured.

Glad to hear that Arnold. It won't do the No Claims Bonus much good though if your vehicle insurance system is similar to ours.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: ArnoldT on November 03, 2011, 03:08:41 PM
Dave:

It will cost us around $500.00 for the deductible to repair the car.

I wasn't sure it was fixable.

Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on November 03, 2011, 04:34:00 PM
Arnold glad to see that no one was hurt. Living next to a forrest I am used to seeing big limbs on our road, luckily enough the owners of the forrest decided to fell the trees at the back of our house after a major storm. I felt relieved after they were felled but also a bit sad to see them go.
I couldnt help notice what I lovely street you live in. I love seeing houses from another part of the world.

It's dull and damp here today. But no sign of snow yet.

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: ArnoldT on November 04, 2011, 12:53:32 AM
Angie:

Thanks, I love the 100 year old trees that surround the house.  I'm afraid they are reaching the end of life stage.

The last two years they have started dropping huge amounts of nuts.

I must have swept up 8 barrels full just off the hard surface.

Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on November 04, 2011, 01:46:44 AM
Here's what a incorrectly placed Fagus sylvatica limb can do.

No one injured.

I know what I'd say if I woke up and saw that: "beech!".
Title: . Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: astragalus on November 04, 2011, 02:46:07 AM
What a pity, Arnold.  The magnolia here is 45 years old and it's heartbreaking.  There's not much left of it.  I planted the Ulmus parvifolia as a 2' whip.  It was really to test the hardiness.  Because of its densely twiggy nature it has shown itself to be extremely susceptible to heavy snow and to ice storms.  It's too bad because it is such a lovely small tree.  Cars can be replaced or fixed but not older trees.  In the tornado of 2000 we lost a huge white oak that was over three hundred years old.  I have heard that a lot of trees were lost at New York Botanical Garden in this snow storm.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on November 04, 2011, 02:53:41 AM
I once had a guided tour of the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh given by the head of arboriculture. He pointed out the various trees that would be losing limbs in the next storms and indicated that it was wind coming from an unusual direction that was the greatest danger, as the trees' strength wasn't in that direction.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on November 04, 2011, 08:24:40 AM
Angie:

Thanks, I love the 100 year old trees that surround the house.  I'm afraid they are reaching the end of life stage.

The last two years they have started dropping huge amounts of nuts.

I must have swept up 8 barrels full just off the hard surface.




Arnold my friend that lived in Houston had a huge tree between the house and annexe that was very old . The first year I stayed there I was woken up early with all these pecan nuts falling on the roof, everyday she had to go and sweep them up. The year she left the tree came down but luckily enough it fell on the annexe which wasn't been used.  One thing i loved was all those pecan pies, cakes and pecan ice cream I got over there.
Hope the old trees stay for a while longer as I say your street looks so nice.

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on November 11, 2011, 08:15:27 PM
Mid November and the sun sets early but the weather is mild. The fjord is without any waves at all - no boats or wind disturb the tranquility.

View across the fjord today.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Arykana on November 12, 2011, 04:28:53 PM
Hoy, those pictures are wonderfull
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on November 13, 2011, 06:44:22 PM
Hoy, those pictures are wonderfull
Thank you, Arykana! But it had been even better with a cup of coffee and a piece of one of your cakes ;)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: WimB on November 22, 2011, 04:23:44 PM
We've been having fog for the last couple of days....not really my favorite weather....but sometimes I can understand why there were so many folktales regarding mist and fog.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: johnw on November 22, 2011, 04:53:45 PM
We've been having fog for the last couple of days....not really my favorite weather....but sometimes I can understand why there were so many folktales regarding mist and fog.

I had a friend who moved here from sunny Québec. He loved our and foggy climate, especially at night.  He said it was like living on a Sherlock Holmes' set.

120+ days of fog a year.

johnw 
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Stephenb on November 22, 2011, 06:55:33 PM
John: We NEVER have fog! My last abode was Edinburgh which has a lot of fog (called Haar locally). I had no problem accepting my new haarless existence...
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on November 22, 2011, 07:26:34 PM
Haar is more to do with mist coming in from the sea. Fog is clouds that reach the ground and is much denser, with a visibility of less than 1km.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on November 22, 2011, 07:55:30 PM
Haar is a sea fog.... but it can reduce visibility to only tens of metres .
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on November 22, 2011, 08:03:50 PM
We've been having fog for the last couple of days....not really my favorite weather....but sometimes I can understand why there were so many folktales regarding mist and fog.

I had a friend who moved here from sunny Québec. He loved our and foggy climate, especially at night.  He said it was like living on a Sherlock Holmes' set.

120+ days of fog a year.

johnw 
Some folks are just hopeless romantics...... :-\
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on November 22, 2011, 08:36:14 PM
I have steered my boat in haar as thick as soup - had to navigate by the swell of the sea. It is more common in spring than in autumn here. In autumn its more like the "fog" pictured by WimB.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Panu on November 22, 2011, 08:52:57 PM
We´ve had slight frost for few days, -11oC last weekend. We got also a very thin layer of snow, luckily the forecast says even +5oC for the end of the week.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: WimB on November 23, 2011, 10:00:17 AM
We've been having fog for the last couple of days....not really my favorite weather....but sometimes I can understand why there were so many folktales regarding mist and fog.

I had a friend who moved here from sunny Québec. He loved our and foggy climate, especially at night.  He said it was like living on a Sherlock Holmes' set.

120+ days of fog a year.

johnw 
Some folks are just hopeless romantics...... :-\

 ;D ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: WimB on November 23, 2011, 10:04:28 AM
Haar is a sea fog.... but it can reduce visibility to only tens of metres .

Haar?? In Dutch that means something completely different....  ::) ::) We call sea-fog "sea-flame" or "sea-smoke"....
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on November 23, 2011, 10:43:19 AM
I'm sure Barbara Mullen would have had an answer? Sea fog or sea mist - the difference is in the thickness.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: cohan on November 24, 2011, 08:12:12 AM
We have had a rather early winter as well-- not so much temperatures: we could have been much colder in Sept and Oct than we were, but we got snow in early November that has never really left- several new snowfalls and some melting, but overall, it will be here till spring, though only a couple to a half dozen inches of it on the ground.. a few days ago we had near -20C daytimes, then up to nearly 10C (lots of snow melted on roads, around certain trees, near buildings etc, but not in shade)..
here's an image from the acreage a few days ago, before some those paths were mostly cleared by the melt, then recovered with a a couple fresh inches tonight!

On the topic of fog, its not rare here, though not really common, and only occasionally (at least at the hours we drive!) thick enough to be a real problem, though there was one night coming home from work a couple years ago that it took a couple of tries to find the turn-off onto our gravel road! Overall, I find fog pretty, and love it in the winter when it turns the trees white.... much preferable to grey overcast days without rain or snow, which I find dull and pointless...

On another thread Lori asked what I'd been up to, so I thought I'd stick it in here (rather than hijack a travel thread!): I've been meaning to drop in to the forums for a while, but between forums devoted to my indoor plant obsessions, crappy internet sometimes, and lots of outdoor work ( I actually got a couple of rock beds built this late summer/fall when it finally stopped raining almost daily, and now I've been in the bush getting firewood every day off to try to get some ahead before the snow is deep enough to be difficult to slog through!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on November 24, 2011, 01:26:10 PM
You have been busy, cohan... good to know that you are well.
That photo of the sunlight through the archway of  snowy trees is very pretty.... just the thing for a seasonal card!
Been mostly fairly mild but damp and dark here. Some sunshine today... hurrah! ... but now the wind is getting wild.... hurrummph! :(
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: cohan on November 24, 2011, 07:02:50 PM
Thanks, Maggi :) right in the acreage here, that's mostly how we see the sun in mid-winter: through the trees! though it does just reach the house part of the day (fall / spring we get lots of sun indoors).. luckily, back in the part of the farm woods I've been getting wood from, there is lots of sun, and once out on the road of course its open...
Sometimes I think mild is a good tradeoff for dark and gloomy, other times I am very glad to have the sun! In Toronto winters the sun was more scarce than here and I was always very excited to see it come out again!
Our highs for this week range from -4 to +9 with 3 days of full sun, and mix of sun and cloud the others....
Here are a couple of shots taken this morning by my housemate when he was out to shovel.. I was out shovelling at midnight and it was very beautiful with just outside house lights on the trees, this early morning shot captures a similar feeling...Second shot is looking out the driveway..
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on November 24, 2011, 07:03:01 PM
Haar is a sea fog.... but it can reduce visibility to only tens of metres .

Haar?? In Dutch that means something completely different....  ::) ::) We call sea-fog "sea-flame" or "sea-smoke"....
WimB,
Haar in Dutch is it the same as hår in Noewegian and hair in English?
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on November 24, 2011, 07:09:24 PM
Hello, Cohan, nice "seeing" you again! You are still busy with firewood I see. I have planned some treefelling later this winter - if I get the time ;)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on November 24, 2011, 07:25:41 PM

Here are a couple of shots taken this morning by my housemate when he was out to shovel.. I was out shovelling at midnight and it was very beautiful with just outside house lights on the trees, this early morning shot captures a similar feeling...Second shot is looking out the driveway..

Nothing like snow and darkness to look spooky..... :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: cohan on November 24, 2011, 07:51:54 PM
Hi Trond :)
Yes, always firewood...lol.. in theory I should be doing it in summer, but then it would be impossible to build gardens!! Anyway, I am mostly harvesting deadwood, so I don't need to dry it, and its much nicer to be in the bush with your hands full after the mosquitoes have frozen!!

Maggi-- yes, kind of spooky, but also magical- the snowflakes glisten in night light like a million crystals!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Rogan on November 25, 2011, 10:44:10 AM
Snow, haar, mist, fog, gloom, -20C daytimes - thank goodness I live in South Africa!   ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on November 25, 2011, 11:33:56 AM
Snow, haar, mist, fog, gloom, -20C daytimes - thank goodness I live in South Africa!   ;D

Good point, Rogan.... when can I arrive with you?  ;) ;D
(And I say this on a day when the sun is actually shining here!)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on November 25, 2011, 11:39:31 AM
Snow, haar, mist, fog, gloom, -20C daytimes - thank goodness I live in South Africa!   ;D

Good point, Rogan.... when can I arrive with you?  ;) ;D
(And I say this on a day when the sun is actually shining here!)

Na you would never leave sunny Scotland  ;D.

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Paul T on November 25, 2011, 11:42:12 AM
Snow, haar, mist, fog, gloom, -20C daytimes - thank goodness I live in South Africa!   ;D

Rogan,

I feel a bit the same way at times.  Personally I think I'd like somewhere in between Scotland and here temp-wise.  Would be nice to not have the 40oC in summer, nor near that.  Still want to be cold enough to grow my cold climate stuff though..... it is why I could never move to the coast.... not cold enough to grow my really interesting stuff.  ;D 
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: cohan on November 25, 2011, 07:01:53 PM
Paul, while I don't really mind the cold (note: a major part of my plant obsessions-including many South Africans!- live indoors all year!) were I to have a chance to move somewhere truly warm, I would adapt just fine to growing the bazillions of fascinating dry or wet tropicals, and would not cry about no crocus...lol
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on November 25, 2011, 09:22:11 PM
I'm with you Cohan. I could quite happily live in Jamaica!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on November 25, 2011, 10:55:36 PM
Just back from a walk outside, boy its cold out there. Snow will be here soon. We have been spoilt lately with the mild weather we have had for this time of year. Now what I would like is just to find a place that is about 25c eight months of the year and not a windy place. I couldn't live in a place that has 40c, I wouldn't be able to spend all day outside gardening.
Now where is that perfect place for me  ::)

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Luc Gilgemyn on November 26, 2011, 04:45:50 PM
Haar is a sea fog.... but it can reduce visibility to only tens of metres .

Haar?? In Dutch that means something completely different....  ::) ::) We call sea-fog "sea-flame" or "sea-smoke"....
WimB,
Haar in Dutch is it the same as hår in Noewegian and hair in English?

I think WimB may have missed this Trond - yep : haar in Dutch = hair in English - and I'm sure you know Norwegian better than we do....  ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on November 26, 2011, 07:02:12 PM
Yep, mist that. ::)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: jomowi on November 26, 2011, 07:09:00 PM

Now where is that perfect place for me  ::)

Angie :)
[/quote]

The answer Angie is Adelaide or Perth in Spring and Autumn, Queensland in the winter and Tasmania in the summer.  Climate is all relative: Once we were driving North into the sun in Queensland in winter.  The weather was like a perfect British summer day should be, i.e. cloudless blue sky, temp. of 70 degrees F. Brian broke his sunglasses, so we went into a store in Cairns to replace them.  "I'm sorry, said the assistant, - we don't have much selection, - it's winter!"
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on November 26, 2011, 07:18:51 PM
You could give Bermuda a try Angie it's never too hot and never too cold, seems to vary from around 18C to 25C. Having said that though, from my only visit there many years ago, I found it the most boring place on earth. Stick with Aberdeen love, just put another layer on ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on November 26, 2011, 09:20:38 PM
My husband has just landed in Glasgow after a week golfing in Portugal. He said it gale force winds and raining. I replied by saying well I have had a great day in Aberdeen I was tidying up in the garden without a jacket on. I felt warm here. Its amazing yesterday was really cold.
I would love to live somewhere warmer but to be honest I couldn't leave the UK I don't think. I feel safe where I live, mind you I went out for a walk on Thursday night and I scared myself so many times, an owl flew down from a tree and deer ran across the field and then a cone from a pine fell in front of me. What a coward I am.

David I fancy Devon. Maureen maybe I need to sell up jump in a motorhome and head off into the sunset. NO I CANT LEAVE MY PLANTS. Maybe next year will be a nice summer  ::) :-X wishful thinking.

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Casalima on November 26, 2011, 11:15:50 PM
I think the wind and rain was last week - clear all over the country today.
In fact, today's weather forecast for my part of Portugal was sun, max. 20 ºC, min. 2 ºC. For tomorrow, sun, max. 21 ºC, min. 2 ºC, and for Monday, sun, Max. 18 ºC, min. 1 ºC !!! Rain back Tuesday. We haven't used warm jackets/coats yet this autumn!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on November 27, 2011, 12:47:03 AM
I think the wind and rain was last week - clear all over the country today.
In fact, today's weather forecast for my part of Portugal was sun, max. 20 ºC, min. 2 ºC. For tomorrow, sun, max. 21 ºC, min. 2 ºC, and for Monday, sun, Max. 18 ºC, min. 1 ºC !!! Rain back Tuesday. We haven't used warm jackets/coats yet this autumn!

Maybe never made myself clear enough. My husband first two days of golf were rained off but the rest of the week has been very nice for golf. Today it was 20c as they left Portugal. Arrived back in Scotland to gale force winds.
Cant understand why they didn't play golf in the rain at least it would have be warm. I have seen him playing in freezing conditions here in Scotland  ::) :-X

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on November 29, 2011, 04:40:16 PM
First real gale of the season. First two fence panels to bite the dust. Roll on spring.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on November 29, 2011, 05:10:56 PM
David, if I had a pound for every fence panel that you've lost over the years I could be writing this from the Bahamas . Wondering if I should be investing in the manufacturing company to make a  mint?!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: mark smyth on November 29, 2011, 06:04:48 PM
very windy and cold here. There is a threat of snow tomorrow  :(
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on November 29, 2011, 06:11:02 PM
I am with you David... ROLL ON SPRING. Gales here as well. Tomorrow we are meant to have a sunny day, hope so  :D

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: cohan on November 29, 2011, 06:26:23 PM
Sunday we had some record winds in Alberta- the worst was south of here- in Calgary and other places- Calgary had winds up to 120km/h at least, trees down, windows broken in high rises, a grass fire near Lethbridge that was a real worry; not sure what ours got to- was supposed to be up to 60k, may have been more- I was in the bush in the morning- at first it was windy, but then it picked up and I thought I needed to get out from under the trees..lol
One of our neighbours nearly had a fire get out of hand- an old brush burning site had left coals in the soil ( a real risk here, especially in peaty areas!) and the wind whipped it up and it had crossed a driveway into grass and trees.. luckily they were able to get it under control before it spread more...
The day was up to around 13C and lots of snow melted (not all of it!) but that evening we got it back , and more over the next couple of days.. temps not bad for this time of year, though-daytimes from +2 to -8 (normal is -3) nights from -4 to -17 (normal is -14)...
here's a flash photo from that evening-- the 'stars' are snowflakes lit by the flash!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on November 29, 2011, 06:46:42 PM
David, if I had a pound for every fence panel that you've lost over the years I could be writing this from the Bahamas . Wondering if I should be investing in the manufacturing company to make a  mint?!

True Maggi, very true. South West peninsula = south west prevailing weather = more wind than a Scotsman on haggis and peas= David's fortune(!!!) on fence panels ;D

I read about the winds in Alberta from a post Lori made on the NARGS Forum. Horrendous.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: TC on November 29, 2011, 10:32:47 PM
I think that the weather you get in Devon is like a gentle Zephyr compared to the West coast of Scotland!  We have had a semi-gale to full gale blowing for about 3 weeks, with more promised.  Nobody in their right mind uses fence panels up here.  A fence needs 100mm posts set in concrete and 12mm double cross rails to survive.
The last time I was in Plymouth in November 2009, there were severe weather warnings out for storms passing through.  Listening to the TV news it was as if the apocalypse was coming.  I walked the length of the Hoe in a strong wind but it just seemed like an average Winter's day at home.  I suppose it is what you are used to.  The Shetlanders or the folk in the Hebrides would probably think our weather was nothing to remark about.  I saw that the Buchan coast recorded a wind gust of 160km last week from a SW direction which is rather unusual.  You expect the winds to come roaring in from the NE as Maggi could probably testify
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on November 29, 2011, 11:00:55 PM
Tom the worst winds are the South Westerly here, they cause so much damage. Now the NE winds are the coldest, it goes right threw you Been here nearly 18 years and every tree in the Forrest around us has been taken down by the SW winds. Today I expected a tree to come down but only a branch of a Scots Pine broke, nice firewood  ;D
Maggi wouldn't have gales where she is, she is tucked away in the town, as snug as a bug  ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: razvan chisu on November 30, 2011, 10:01:31 AM
I NEED some RAIN/SNOW, anything humid.
It has not rained here since August. Lilac shrubs were beginning to wilt in October.
I was in a trip to the Romanian gene bank yesterday, and lots of river beds were almost completely dry.
It's unbelievable.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: TC on November 30, 2011, 12:33:01 PM
That does surprise me Angie.  I always thought that windspeed decreases over the land and increases with altitude.  Of course local topographical features can cause huge increases in the wind.  We live close to a cutting on the A77.  If the wind comes from SE to East, we are in trouble.  When the wind hits the cutting and it acts like a venturi tube and comes out with considerably more force.  In 1973 we were hit by hurricane force winds from the SE.  My new greenhouse exploded and the aluminium frame was twisted out of shape.  I had umpteen roof tiles taken off and a large wooden garage stately moving down the road outside the house.   The large roadsigns on the A77 were bent double.  Hence my fixation on approaching gales.
I see on the weather forecast that there are more severe gales coming in later this afternoon - oh joy.  So Angie, batten down the hatches
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on November 30, 2011, 03:16:05 PM
Tom I think my problem is I have Pinetrees all around me but at the SW end there is an opening that acts like a tunnel and offcourse it tunnels the wind right to my house. There is the most beautiful uninterrupted view across the Deeside so the wind comes right up that valley up the hill and to my house.
When I moved here 18 years ago, it was a calm sunny day, I got so excited thinking about my new garden ( it was only grass with a couple of trees then when we bought the land ) soon found out that it wasn't the sheltered site that I had first thought. It's a challenge for sure.
Tom you live in such a lovely place, its well worth putting up with the odd gale  ::) I always laugh to myself when my friend says we had gales here today ( Surrey ) I think she means a couple of gusts  ::) :-X
Just come in from the garden, picked up the leaves that the wind kindly blew into a corner for me  :D
Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on November 30, 2011, 07:51:32 PM
I think that the weather you get in Devon is like a gentle Zephyr compared to the West coast of Scotland!  We have had a semi-gale to full gale blowing for about 3 weeks, with more promised.  Nobody in their right mind uses fence panels up here.  A fence needs 100mm posts set in concrete and 12mm double cross rails to survive.
The last time I was in Plymouth in November 2009, there were severe weather warnings out for storms passing through.  Listening to the TV news it was as if the apocalypse was coming.  I walked the length of the Hoe in a strong wind but it just seemed like an average Winter's day at home.  I suppose it is what you are used to.  The Shetlanders or the folk in the Hebrides would probably think our weather was nothing to remark about.  I saw that the Buchan coast recorded a wind gust of 160km last week from a SW direction which is rather unusual.  You expect the winds to come roaring in from the NE as Maggi could probably testify

It does vary somwhat with altitude as you said in another post Tom. We are about 400 feet above sea level and on the southern escarpment of Dartmoor and the moor exercises a considerable affect on our local weather. The last rainfall figures I've seen that could be construed to cover my area show around 900mm annually whereas Plymouth city at sea level has significantly less than that. Princetown, on the moor, about 12 miles away as the crow flies, has significantly more. If there is any wind about we get it.

I'll always remember, shortly after we moved down here, a few flakes of snow fell in Plymouth, not enough to even begin to cover the ground, and shops closed; the Naval Dockyard closed and you couldn't get a parking space at Tescos for love nor money. You should really see the locals attempting to drive in snowy conditions it would be a joy to your eyes.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on November 30, 2011, 09:56:17 PM


I'll always remember, shortly after we moved down here, a few flakes of snow fell in Plymouth, not enough to even begin to cover the ground, and shops closed; the Naval Dockyard closed and you couldn't get a parking space at Tescos for love nor money. You should really see the locals attempting to drive in snowy conditions it would be a joy to your eyes.

David do you get much snow down in Devon. Its really windy here again and raining. I think I need to move to a nice quiet village down south before I get to old  ;D

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: cohan on November 30, 2011, 10:27:06 PM
I think that the weather you get in Devon is like a gentle Zephyr compared to the West coast of Scotland!  We have had a semi-gale to full gale blowing for about 3 weeks, with more promised.  Nobody in their right mind uses fence panels up here.  A fence needs 100mm posts set in concrete and 12mm double cross rails to survive.
The last time I was in Plymouth in November 2009, there were severe weather warnings out for storms passing through.  Listening to the TV news it was as if the apocalypse was coming.  I walked the length of the Hoe in a strong wind but it just seemed like an average Winter's day at home.  I suppose it is what you are used to.  The Shetlanders or the folk in the Hebrides would probably think our weather was nothing to remark about.  I saw that the Buchan coast recorded a wind gust of 160km last week from a SW direction which is rather unusual.  You expect the winds to come roaring in from the NE as Maggi could probably testify

It does vary somwhat with altitude as you said in another post Tom. We are about 400 feet above sea level and on the southern escarpment of Dartmoor and the moor exercises a considerable affect on our local weather. The last rainfall figures I've seen that could be construed to cover my area show around 900mm annually whereas Plymouth city at sea level has significantly less than that. Princetown, on the moor, about 12 miles away as the crow flies, has significantly more. If there is any wind about we get it.

I'll always remember, shortly after we moved down here, a few flakes of snow fell in Plymouth, not enough to even begin to cover the ground, and shops closed; the Naval Dockyard closed and you couldn't get a parking space at Tescos for love nor money. You should really see the locals attempting to drive in snowy conditions it would be a joy to your eyes.

That's very funny, David! Though I do understand that much depends on what you are equipped for...
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on December 01, 2011, 09:23:28 AM


I'll always remember, shortly after we moved down here, a few flakes of snow fell in Plymouth, not enough to even begin to cover the ground, and shops closed; the Naval Dockyard closed and you couldn't get a parking space at Tescos for love nor money. You should really see the locals attempting to drive in snowy conditions it would be a joy to your eyes.

David do you get much snow down in Devon.


Normally not Angie. We moved here 25 years ago when the kids were 6 and 11, neither of them remember using their sledges more than once. Having said that last winter we had a spell of about a week when I couldn't get the car up our road. It wasn't the depth of snow but the ice underneath it that caused the problem.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Stephenb on December 01, 2011, 09:48:03 AM
It's now official, November 2010 was the coldest November ever here. This year was the warmest ever (records go back to the 1700s!) and we still have only had one frost!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Panu on December 01, 2011, 11:40:34 AM
And here it was among the three warmest. In parts of Lapland it was even 6 degrees above the average.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: TC on December 05, 2011, 02:03:54 PM
Winter at last.  Flurries of snow are falling but luckily are melting as they hit the ground.  Inland the snow is lying and there are icy patches.  It is about time I moved the tender plants from the greenhouse.  The snow seemed quite thick when I took the picture through the window, but it has not registered too well.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on December 05, 2011, 02:31:52 PM
Annoyingly showery here. Everytime I start a job I have to race around putting things away again. Sod it, I'll stay in ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on December 05, 2011, 02:39:28 PM
Seeing pictures of quite a lot of snow on the news.... nothing here in Aberdeen.... jolly cold though!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: cohan on December 05, 2011, 09:45:23 PM
No problems getting the snow to register in photos here ;)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: TC on December 07, 2011, 07:44:02 PM
Here we go again !  The past few days have been very windy, with squalls of sleet and torrential rain.  The fields around have turned into lakes in many cases.  The only things that seem happy are the thousands of geese and Whooper swans who are paddling round the fields.  The weather forecast is warning us of storm force winds of 80/90mph -( 130/140kph) -coming through southern and central Scotland tomorrow.  This has been hitting us here for about 10 weeks.  It's about time someone else took their share !
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on December 07, 2011, 09:00:22 PM
Got some frost last night -2C! The sodden ground and slush that fell the other day has frosen solid. I've seen some stars too ;)
The forecast says more sleet and milder, then a frosty night and then mild weather next week. Have brought the last pots inside. If December doesn't get too cold then 2011 will be the warmest year ever recorded in spite of a cold January and February!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: RichardW on December 07, 2011, 09:58:42 PM
first day I've actually been cold at work this winter, after throwing Magnolia leaves into a trailer and watching them blow out again for 20 minutes I had the bright idea to do some mowing, forgot about ride on mower windchill and couldn't feel my hands for rest of the afternoon, grass looked nice though  ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: TC on December 08, 2011, 12:42:45 PM
Well, the gales arrived sooner than expected.  I had to go to the library and I could not open the car door due to the force of the wind. I then had to park it nose on to the wind to get out.
The wind strength took me by surprise - I was leaning forward to stay in the same place.  However, it was quite sunny so I took the car to the sea front to look at the waves.  The police had blocked off a main road at the front as the waves were crashing over the wall and the road was seriously flooded.  With the river in flood and being high tide, the water level was about a foot below the main quay roads.  I went down to the breakwater for a look and decided to go no farther.  It was almost impossible to stand and the spume was horizontal with a good mixture of sand in it.  I risked a couple of pictures and then beat a hasty retreat.  Looking out the window now, the storm has passed through or else we are in its eye - the former I hope.       
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Neil on December 08, 2011, 08:39:42 PM
Here we go again !  The past few days have been very windy, with squalls of sleet and torrential rain.  The fields around have turned into lakes in many cases.  The only things that seem happy are the thousands of geese and Whooper swans who are paddling round the fields.  The weather forecast is warning us of storm force winds of 80/90mph -( 130/140kph) -coming through southern and central Scotland tomorrow.  This has been hitting us here for about 10 weeks.  It's about time someone else took their share !


We did in 1987
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on December 08, 2011, 08:59:13 PM
We do.

Several storms last weeks and a new one today. But mild weather again and the ice which covered everything is melting very fast.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on December 08, 2011, 09:44:15 PM
Just got back inside from picking up my chimney top, landed nicely in the front garden. Because I have trees all around the house the noise outside is so loud. Will be glad when this wind stops. There must be some trees down arond me. Hopefully none will land on my greenhouse. Will be out first light to check. Hope everyone is cosy and safe here in Scotland.

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: TC on December 08, 2011, 11:01:47 PM
It seems that the worst has gone through now and now we are told to expect freezing conditions tomorrow.

Angie,
I think you will have to batten down the hatches as the storm has moved on to Buchan, Moray and Sutherland.  According to the weather news, we had gusts of 85mph.  The Cairngorms had a gust of 165mph or 290kph.  I have been in aircraft that could not fly at this speed!

I will have a look round the garden tomorrow to see if there is any damage.   I can see plastic flowerpots everywhere.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on December 08, 2011, 11:34:55 PM
Tom hope there isn't to much damage with you. I just hate the wind. I am gad that we felled all the trees next to the house. They were beautiful and very old but after living here for a few years and seeing how easy a tree can come down we just decided we would prefer to be in control of when these trees would come down. There are so many trees around us that after a wee while we never missed them and at least we could sleep through a storm without wandering if one would come down on top of us.

I usually have my christmas lights on my big conifer tree by now but we never got it done last weekend good job as they probably would be out in the North sea by now.

ROLL ON SPRING  ;D

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on December 09, 2011, 03:48:53 AM
Here we go again !  The past few days have been very windy, with squalls of sleet and torrential rain.  The fields around have turned into lakes in many cases.  The only things that seem happy are the thousands of geese and Whooper swans who are paddling round the fields.  The weather forecast is warning us of storm force winds of 80/90mph -( 130/140kph) -coming through southern and central Scotland tomorrow.  This has been hitting us here for about 10 weeks.  It's about time someone else took their share !


We did in 1987
Not according to Michael Fish. 8) BTW, how is the town of One Oak these days?
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: TC on December 09, 2011, 11:25:32 AM
Well.we got away without any noticable damage.  I noticed that a few of my neighbour's TV aerials are pointing at the ground.  Now we have just had a heavy fall of rain which turned to sleet and then snow.  What next, a plague of boils or locusts ?
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on December 09, 2011, 03:45:49 PM
Well.we got away without any noticable damage.  I noticed that a few of my neighbour's TV aerials are pointing at the ground.  Now we have just had a heavy fall of rain which turned to sleet and then snow.  What next, a plague of boils or locusts ?

Love that Tom, hopefully the plague will give us a miss. Cant believe there isn't more damage. I always wanted a thatched cottage and my greenhouse roof has its own thatched look from all the fallen needles and cones. I couple of Scots Pine branches down across the road but nothing to worry about. Only need to get hubby to get on top of the roof and put my chimney top back on and everything will be back to normal.

Angie  :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Neil on December 09, 2011, 07:29:56 PM
Here we go again !  The past few days have been very windy, with squalls of sleet and torrential rain.  The fields around have turned into lakes in many cases.  The only things that seem happy are the thousands of geese and Whooper swans who are paddling round the fields.  The weather forecast is warning us of storm force winds of 80/90mph -( 130/140kph) -coming through southern and central Scotland tomorrow.  This has been hitting us here for about 10 weeks.  It's about time someone else took their share !


We did in 1987
Not according to Michael Fish. 8) BTW, how is the town of One Oak these days?

Congested, I must remember not to travel through it at rush hour
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on December 09, 2011, 07:33:39 PM
The weather has hit Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Bawbag
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Neil on December 09, 2011, 08:51:59 PM
That is a bit of a degrading name for a storm!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Peter Maguire on December 09, 2011, 09:28:53 PM
I've just broadened my vocabulary!  :o
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on December 09, 2011, 09:48:37 PM
It may be short lived? ::)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: johnw on December 09, 2011, 10:39:08 PM
A very nasty weather bomb passed through here on Thursday.  The Confederation Bridge was shut down as were most ferries; quite a number of power outages as well.  I hope it's not headed toward the UK! 

johnw
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on December 10, 2011, 08:55:18 AM
It may well be John. The forecast here is a return to strong gales and heavy rain from Tuesday onwards.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on December 10, 2011, 09:55:35 AM
My wife tells me there is two inches of snow in Dunblane today. Just as well she's heading back here today.  ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on December 10, 2011, 11:27:25 AM
My wife tells me there is two inches of snow in Dunblane today. Just as well she's heading back here today.  ;D
Anthony did you leave your snow shovels for the new home owners  ;D

It may well be John. The forecast here is a return to strong gales and heavy rain from Tuesday onwards.

Well there is no point sweeping up all the mess and cleaning the windows then  ::)

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Neil on December 10, 2011, 03:35:18 PM
It may well be John. The forecast here is a return to strong gales and heavy rain from Tuesday onwards.

Well there is no point sweeping up all the mess and cleaning the windows then  ::)

Angie :)


Great got frozen hands for nothing then, I really should check the weather forecast before I clean my windows!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on December 10, 2011, 06:58:09 PM
Sweeping up I can cope with but I get a man in for the windows. I get dizzy if my feet are more than a foot above the ground :-[
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on December 10, 2011, 10:55:45 PM
My wife tells me there is two inches of snow in Dunblane today. Just as well she's heading back here today.  ;D
Anthony did you leave your snow shovels for the new home owners  ;D


Angie :)
No as we still had some use for them during our six weeks in Bridge of Allan.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Neil on December 11, 2011, 11:09:15 AM
David I use one of these http://www.window-tools.com/home-window-cleaning.htm
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on December 11, 2011, 06:50:44 PM
Er! Yes, thank you Neil. I've worked long and hard to avoid doing a job I hate so I'm not about to draw the boss's attention to that kit in a hurry ;D Anyway for £7 a full clean I don't think it's bad value at all, and if I ask him nicely he'll clean all my bargeboards, soffits and guttering for £25. I'm very happy with that and whilst he's doing it I can get on with something important like guitar practice.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on December 11, 2011, 08:28:05 PM
Sweeping up I can cope with but I get a man in for the windows. I get dizzy if my feet are more than a foot above the ground :-[
If my feet are more than a foot above the ground I'm usually asleep! ::)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on December 14, 2011, 09:12:58 PM
It's like winter here. Gales, driving rain, cold! :(
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on December 14, 2011, 09:42:46 PM
Funny, it's like that here as well!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on December 14, 2011, 10:24:50 PM
It's supposed to be like that with you David. That's why I'm here! ::)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on December 14, 2011, 10:49:39 PM
Shum mishtake!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on December 14, 2011, 10:59:00 PM
I'm shaken, but not stirred by your comment David! ::)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on December 23, 2011, 02:28:13 AM
One of the main causes of unidentified effing objects: lenticular clouds: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-16302606
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on December 26, 2011, 10:13:16 PM
Tonight we have the third gale in three days! The second was of hurricane force and have done a lot of damage. I was lucky and the gales have not damaged anything here.
StephenB, are you still alive? And what about your garden?

Edit: Fortunately not my place, but further north.

(http://static01.vg.no/drfront/images/2011-12/26/88-b99ca007-59099df6.jpeg)

(http://static.vg.no/uploaded/image/bilderigg/2011/12/26/1324912782711_774.jpg)

http://www.vg.no/protokoll/?pid=1026
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Lina Hesseling on December 27, 2011, 02:05:50 AM
This is terrible if it hits your area. Are you not afraid with all these trees around you? Do you stay up all night?

Lina.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: cohan on December 27, 2011, 06:44:28 AM
Tonight we have the third gale in three days! The second was of hurricane force and have done a lot of damage. I was lucky and the gales have not damaged anything here.
StephenB, are you still alive? And what about your garden?

Yikes, good to hear your property is okay.... winter is not a time for violent weather here, usually-- that is summer thunderstorm season for us, and spring and fall winds.. in fact, one thing I look forward to in spring is more interesting skies- winter can be clear or cloudy, but not dramatic or exciting clouds...lol
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on December 27, 2011, 09:42:22 AM
This is terrible if it hits your area. Are you not afraid with all these trees around you? Do you stay up all night?

Lina.
We were lucky and the worst wind hit north of us and we slept well all night to the loud noise from the wind and waves. But my sister in law who lives further north, didn't sleep all night. A small house on their property was completely demolished but the main houses stood it off.

The pictures are from the newspapers.

(http://static04.vg.no/drfront/images/2011-12/27/88-72571cbf-48e4867b.jpeg)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Stephenb on December 27, 2011, 07:36:43 PM
We weren't so lucky...hope it went better up on the farm, Trond? There is more damage down near the fjord than the last major storm in 1992, so I would say that this was probably at least the 50-year storm locally, some compensation for losing the greenhouse. Haven't heard of anyone being hurt luckily as it was well forecast and happened in the middle of the night! Luckily, my son and daughter were here and we tidied up the pile of broken glass and aluminium! This morning we were woken up by a mighty clap of thunder which is very unusual in winter here! I think Thor is unhappy!
P.S: The fallen trees are from Malvikodden on the other side of the bay! I just lost the greenhouse and a shelter wall and no damage to the house.

Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Stephenb on December 27, 2011, 07:48:04 PM

We were lucky and the worst wind hit north of us and we slept well all night to the loud noise from the wind and waves. But my sister in law who lives further north, didn't sleep all night. A small house on their property was completely demolished but the main houses stood it off.


Is this on the farm near me? Glad no-one was hurt. I amazingly slept right through the storm. When I went to bed it was almost completley still and I thought the storm had passed....


Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on December 27, 2011, 08:01:09 PM
Very frightening  weather. Glad none of you are injured.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: TC on December 27, 2011, 10:36:47 PM
The damage looks pretty bad.  I can see why the houses here are made of stone or brick.  Tonight's forecast is for severe gale/storms to hit the central belt of Scotland and the North mid morning to evening.  Shades of Groundhog Day !!  Anyway, we have enough booze to keep us in a comfortable stupor until the end of January!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: cohan on December 28, 2011, 11:33:27 PM
We weren't so lucky...hope it went better up on the farm, Trond? There is more damage down near the fjord than the last major storm in 1992, so I would say that this was probably at least the 50-year storm locally, some compensation for losing the greenhouse. Haven't heard of anyone being hurt luckily as it was well forecast and happened in the middle of the night! Luckily, my son and daughter were here and we tidied up the pile of broken glass and aluminium! This morning we were woken up by a mighty clap of thunder which is very unusual in winter here! I think Thor is unhappy!
P.S: The fallen trees are from Malvikodden on the other side of the bay! I just lost the greenhouse and a shelter wall and no damage to the house.



Glad to hear it wasn't worse (bad enough)... did you lose plants in the greenhouse, or is it just a summer greenhouse?
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Stephenb on December 29, 2011, 08:55:09 AM
Glad to hear it wasn't worse (bad enough)... did you lose plants in the greenhouse, or is it just a summer greenhouse?

Thanks for the commiserations. There were a lot of plants in the greenhouse including a hardy grape and the national collection of Alliums overwintering in large buckets waiting for a permanent home! I'd also sowed a number of spring salad crops, winter shallots, winter peas and there are  a number of other tuberous perennials like Apios waiting for spring. None seem to have damaged, just lots of glass splinters, so I'll have to be careful weeding! I'll protect them a bit with hessian sacking if it gets very cold. Otherwise they should all pull through - there's no sun at this time of year, so that it's just as cold inside, just drier.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on December 29, 2011, 09:19:20 AM

Is this on the farm near me? Glad no-one was hurt. I amazingly slept right through the storm. When I went to bed it was almost completely still and I thought the storm had passed....


Yes, your neighbors almost.

Tonight a new storm hit us here where I live although it is not as bad as those that hit further north. Woke up in the early morning today (still pitch dark) when the house started shaking.
Have to take a look at my seedpots later. Hope they still are there.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Magnar on December 29, 2011, 09:50:44 AM
Hoy: I'm near you at the moment, in Haugesund, so I know what you're talking about. My son in law is out to look after their summer house in Føynå ( small island outside here), and he phoned and said it is a white inferno out there now.. At home in Harstad we have not had much wind, and from what I see on the net, my seed pots now have a nice cover of 40 cm of snow :)

Stephen: I really felt sorry when i saw what had happened to your greenhouse. I do hope the plants will survive.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: TC on December 29, 2011, 11:20:49 AM
Luckily, the storm was not as bad as we expected - winds locally 70mph.  Here are a few pictures of the sea yesterday taken from inside the car.  A bit too dodgy standing on the quay.!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on December 30, 2011, 08:06:05 AM
Hoy: I'm near you at the moment, in Haugesund, so I know what you're talking about. My son in law is out to look after their summer house in Føynå ( small island outside here), and he phoned and said it is a white inferno out there now.. At home in Harstad we have not had much wind, and from what I see on the net, my seed pots now have a nice cover of 40 cm of snow :)

Stephen: I really felt sorry when i saw what had happened to your greenhouse. I do hope the plants will survive.
Welcome south, Magnar! Have you sown any interesting new species?
Btw, did the Chrysospleniums you got from me survive?
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on December 30, 2011, 11:44:13 AM
Here are the whole year in one picture:

(http://nrkbeta.no/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Allof2010.jpg)

From this site:  http://nrkbeta.no/2011/01/06/et-helt-aar-i-ett-enkelt-bilde/
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Magnar on December 30, 2011, 04:51:19 PM
Hoy: I'm near you at the moment, in Haugesund, so I know what you're talking about. My son in law is out to look after their summer house in Føynå ( small island outside here), and he phoned and said it is a white inferno out there now.. At home in Harstad we have not had much wind, and from what I see on the net, my seed pots now have a nice cover of 40 cm of snow :)

Stephen: I really felt sorry when i saw what had happened to your greenhouse. I do hope the plants will survive.
Welcome south, Magnar! Have you sown any interesting new species?
Btw, did the Chrysospleniums you got from me survive?

I have sown / will sow  about 500 species this winter, mostly wild collected seeds, so there will be many new and interesting species. Those that need cold treatment are already outside, ther rest I will sow in February.

And yes, the Chrysospleniums have survived so far  :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on December 31, 2011, 10:18:02 AM
Only two non-rain days in December here. Maureen's non-scientific weather record shows 2011 to be the wettest year since 2004 when her records began.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Darren on December 31, 2011, 11:36:04 AM
Only two non-rain days in December here. Maureen's non-scientific weather record shows 2011 to be the wettest year since 2004 when her records began.

I was just saying to Susan - two days until I get back to work and I've not seen the sun for the whole of the holiday. It was the same last year except 20 degrees colder! Just a bit of sun for a day to raise the temps under glass enough to make it comfortable to work in the greenhouse is all I ask!

I suppose there is an upside - I've not switched on the greenhouse heater at all so far this winter so it's going to be cheaper if nothing else.


Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on January 01, 2012, 08:58:48 AM
My wife's cousin has suggested we go back to Scotland as, since we arrived, Auckland has had the coldest winter for 70 years and the wettest Christmas he can remember, and he's been here 30 years! ::)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on January 01, 2012, 09:07:54 AM
We had the coldest winter for about 100 years last winter (2010-2011) but 2011 as a whole is one of the warmest and wettest ever! The winter is so far one of the milder too.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: jandals on January 01, 2012, 07:14:34 PM
We will happily take all your rain Anthony . Currently testing the drought resistance of Meconopsis as it costs me now to water them ( about $400 a go) . The only good thing for them is we haven't had any high temperatures
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: mark smyth on January 01, 2012, 09:26:56 PM
Very sunny and warm here today
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: mark smyth on January 01, 2012, 10:41:55 PM
What I really like about the new year is we gain about 10 minutes a week in day length
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: cohan on January 02, 2012, 06:41:15 AM
We started the new year with a chilly day- somewhere well below -20C overnight (wont see the figure until it's 'yesterday min(imum) and a high around -13.. still nothing extreme for this time of year, where we could have occasional daytime temps below -30 (normals are -7days/-19nights) and in fact its only one chilly day, then back above freezing for most of the week- +7 tomorrow, +9 wed! So far continuing December's trend which was mostly above normal.... still lots of snow on the ground, however..
This shot from today's (jan 01) walk in the bush on the farm... in open/low areas like this slough, snow can be just below the knees; in the forest beyond, snow would vary from a foot to only a few inches deep, with bare areas around spruce trees, and larger bare areas where the ground under those spruce gets sun....
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on January 02, 2012, 09:04:48 PM
Start the year with a song about the weather: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eT40eV7OiI
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: TC on January 03, 2012, 11:43:02 AM
Here we go again !!  The most recent storm arrived about 3am, accompanied by rain and hail.  Maybe it' s an age thing, but I just went back to sleep.  At 8am the wind was still howling.
Listening to the local news we have had wind speeds of 90mph with even stronger gusts in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The radio channels went down suddenly so there must be some damage to the transmitter aerials.    Now at 1130 it has moderated to a force 8 gale. Luckily I dug up my Asiatic primulas before they were shredded and then put them in the greenhouse - they had started to flower already.  The next job is to put the bird feeders back onto their positions.  I have had a selection of birds hanging round looking at me reproachfully as they wait for their peanuts.
To our friends in the N.E., get out your snow shovels as high winds and blizzards are coming your way.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on January 03, 2012, 11:51:45 AM
Gales and rain hit here about half an hour or so ago. Wondering if the glasshouses will stand it?

Hope Angela and Derek decided against setting off  today to drive down to the Eden Project ..... :-\ :o
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on January 03, 2012, 12:25:04 PM
Well, this storm, christened Emil, seems to hit a little south of us! The last big one (Dagmar) hit a little north of us with wind speed 35-45m/s.
We have strong SE wind at the fjord at the moment but the house are in lee of a hill so it is not much wind here but rain of course.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Michael J Campbell on January 03, 2012, 12:30:38 PM
Surprisingly I still have two greenhouses intact after last night, was afraid to look out this morning. One of the most vicious storms we have had in a along time,lots of traffic and train disruption with roads and rail lines blocked. It is calm now and the sun is shining, but bitterly cold.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Tony Willis on January 03, 2012, 02:50:27 PM
Just had to go out and re-glaze part of one of the greenhouses,a lump of cement has come of the roof and gone through it. The wind is so bad it is difficult to stand up in it.

Quite exciting stood on top of the stepladders with a sheet of glass in one hand acting like a sail trying to get it in position as you try and stop being blown of by holding the roof with the other.At least the lashing rain helped them slide into position.

A bit irritating really as the greenhouses and frames are tied down and I had not anticipated flying rocks.

I am not going onto the roof yet to see what is happening up there,it is a question of priorities.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Lina Hesseling on January 03, 2012, 02:51:35 PM
Stormy weather here too. Lots of rain. A friend of mine has a big problem in her garden. Her snowdrops need swimminglessons now.  :'(
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Magnar on January 03, 2012, 05:21:06 PM
I am tired of this stormy and rainy weather here in south west Norway. Going back home tomorrow to the north were we have a proper winter ;D

Long term forecast for Harstad: http://www.yr.no/place/Norway/Troms/Harstad/Kilbotn/long.html
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: mark smyth on January 03, 2012, 06:08:58 PM
Water 'drops, Lina.

Can someone explain where these weather systems are coming from and what's causing them?
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Lina Hesseling on January 03, 2012, 06:22:40 PM
Next week in our gardenclub we have a meteorologist (??) giving a talk about the weather. (What else!) I'll ask her. ???

Lina.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Martinr on January 03, 2012, 06:43:57 PM

Can someone explain where these weather systems are coming from and what's causing them?

Eh........across the Atlantic. Seriously, these depressions (aptly named) are normal at his time of year, albeit the number and severity are probably above average. The route they follow is, at least in part, controlled by the position of the jetstreams and the polar front. They are a bit further South than normal this year.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: johnw on January 03, 2012, 07:32:58 PM
Martin - Mark can blame us.  A low pressure system passes through the Atlantic Provinces every 3-5 days at this time of year...no wonder we're known as the meteorological tailpipe of North America.

johnw -  +5c and sunny
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Martinr on January 03, 2012, 08:13:30 PM
John, if you're the tailpipe what does that make us ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on January 03, 2012, 09:43:16 PM
I think it might be what Scotland is getting at the moment? It looks terrible with huge ancient trees blown over in the wind.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: johnw on January 03, 2012, 10:23:37 PM
John, if you're the tailpipe what does that make us ;D

 :-X
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: zvone on January 03, 2012, 10:49:01 PM
Hi!

In our country in Slovenia, weather was for New Year's Eve pleasantly. Utilized am him for trekking round mountain to Peca ( 2126 m).

Look of picture on : http://zvone.blogspot.si/ , when you will have some time...

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-lV3MenyW7dU/TwCL1Lo9HVI/AAAAAAAAEAs/YUR-3ITyiKk/s640/peca_dec_2011%252520202.jpg)


Best regards! Zvone
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on January 03, 2012, 11:09:11 PM
I think it might be what Scotland is getting at the moment? It looks terrible with huge ancient trees blown over in the wind.

Anthony as we were heading down south today we passed your old home ( Dunblane ) just after passing it by there was three lorries blown over. We never left home till the afternoon to give the winds a chance to die down. I am glad we waited.
Hopefully when I get to Cornwall tomorrow the sun will be shinning and no wind  ;D

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: annew on January 03, 2012, 11:27:02 PM
Some great photographs, Zvone.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Stephenb on January 04, 2012, 09:17:30 AM
I saw on the news here that the highest winds were around Edinburgh (known as the windy city, so not surprising). Anyone know how badly affected the botanical gardens were?
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on January 04, 2012, 12:33:37 PM
The Gardens at RBGE  are remaining closed today, Steven... so I suspect there is quite a bit of damage.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on January 04, 2012, 12:34:37 PM
Fortunately for us the storm verged south and hit Denmark and South Sweden in stead of us  :-\
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on January 04, 2012, 12:38:33 PM
We were most fortunate here in Aberdeen to escape the worst of the storm. Thank goodness!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Lina Hesseling on January 04, 2012, 02:10:09 PM
We do have a problem with the heavy rain. Today people are checking the dikes in the north east of The Netherlands. Friday will be the worst day, because the wind will change direction.

Lina.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on January 04, 2012, 02:57:36 PM
I contacted John Mitchell of RBGE , who tells me that " the Garden took a hammering - woodland garden devastated -  about 8 trees down. (I'm) not happy feel - sorry for all the staff's effort put in to make it look good and one day it is all destroyed we have about 3 to 4 weeks of work just to clear the damage then we can properly assess the damage to the plants."


A sad tale.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Peter Maguire on January 04, 2012, 03:10:58 PM
I suppose that's referring to the damage in Edinburgh, which sounds bad enough, but their other three gardens (Dawyck, Logan, and Benmore) are all in the area the storm passed through and two of them are on the west coast.

I would guess that they could be even worse off?  :(
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on January 04, 2012, 03:32:17 PM
Yes, I would expect that the damage on the south west will be ghastly, Peter.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: chasw on January 05, 2012, 07:13:52 AM
Really bad here at the moment,I think we have lost a few roof tiles
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on January 05, 2012, 08:07:47 AM
It was windy here in St Austell last night but our accomadation was right at the top of the town. Away to the Eden project today. Hopefully it will be wind free and dry  ;D
Hope there wasn't too much damage with everyone.

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on January 05, 2012, 09:15:25 AM
I went to St. Austell once but it was closed ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Stephenb on January 05, 2012, 09:46:47 AM
Another report from Edinburgh  - even worse...

http://www.cityplanter.co.uk/news/gale-force-winds-cause-major-damage-to-royal-botanic-garden-edinburgh  (http://www.cityplanter.co.uk/news/gale-force-winds-cause-major-damage-to-royal-botanic-garden-edinburgh)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on January 05, 2012, 11:12:49 AM
It was windy here in St Austell last night but our accomadation was right at the top of the town. Away to the Eden project today. Hopefully it will be wind free and dry  ;D
Hope there wasn't too much damage with everyone.

Angie :)
I'm just glad you got there safely.  :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Lina Hesseling on January 05, 2012, 11:40:38 AM
Maggi, how is your garden doing? Do you have damage? I hope not. After seeing the pictures of the fallen trees in the RBGE, I was thinking of your glasshouses.

In my region we have a problem with the water that cannot get into the northsee, because of the wrong position of the wind and the very high waterlevel. People are checking the dikes day and night. Since 1998, when we had the same problem, they made areas where they can let water in. This is used now and can give just the little extra time we need.

Lina
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on January 05, 2012, 11:54:53 AM
Lina, we have been very fortunate here in the North East to have escaped the worst damage.

The central belt and south west of Scotland have been the worst hit. Edinburgh, a windy city at the best of times was hit by the worst winds of over 100 miles per hour... so  you can see how the RBGE suffered so much damage. Seeing that and the destruction in Norway the other week, I cannot believe how lucky we have been here. The last storm in December brought down bits of houses and many trees but this week we have had few problems.

The fear of flooding must be horrible.

Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: mark smyth on January 05, 2012, 04:56:27 PM
we were hit by high winds again over night.

Another question - why do the high winds always strike at night?
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Lina Hesseling on January 05, 2012, 05:34:40 PM
Here I can show you a picture of my friends garden after it was floded.
It only lasted 1 day, so her snowdrops survieved. Now they have to work hard to restore the small stream and the paths on both sides of it again.
http://www.tuinfleur.nl

Lina.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on January 05, 2012, 06:16:40 PM
Maggi, how is your garden doing? Do you have damage? I hope not. After seeing the pictures of the fallen trees in the RBGE, I was thinking of your glasshouses.

In my region we have a problem with the water that cannot get into the northsee, because of the wrong position of the wind and the very high waterlevel. People are checking the dikes day and night. Since 1998, when we had the same problem, they made areas where they can let water in. This is used now and can give just the little extra time we need.

Lina

Yes, it is a saddening story from RBGE. But the bright side: Now they have the opportunity to plant new plants! I am hoping for some of my trees to fall or else I have to do it myself :-\

Lina, do you live in that region of Holland that actually is below the sea level? I'am glad my house is above ;)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Lina Hesseling on January 05, 2012, 06:45:00 PM
Yes I am below sealevel. :'(
About 200m from our house is a canal where the waterlevel is very high.
The problem is not the sea, but the rainwater that has to go to the sea. The high level of the water inland and wind coming from north/west makes it impossible to let water out to the sea. Latest news is, it will get beter tomorrow. Then they can let water out.

Lina.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on January 05, 2012, 08:00:46 PM
So the water is let out by low tide and the dikes are shut by high tide?
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: jomowi on January 05, 2012, 09:58:01 PM
we were hit by high winds again over night.

Another question - why do the high winds always strike at night?

Not necessarily the case, Mark.  Tuesday's gale and the one in December were worst here during the day.  On Tuesday, I watched 3 neighbours battling to stop a garage roof taking off.  It now sports 3 sand bags on top which saved it, luckily, because if they had failed it would have come my way.  I have lost count of the number of trees down on my travels locally.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on January 05, 2012, 11:35:37 PM
A friend from Linlithgow sent me a pic of a huge tree fallen across Friars Brae, round the corner from her. :o
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on January 06, 2012, 12:00:18 AM
No wind in the dome at the Eden project today  ;D and when we got to the lost gardens of Heligan it was just a bit breezy. A man said to us before we went on our walk to be careful going through the wooded area as it was really windy. I replied this is just a breeze to us we are used to really windy weather up in Scotland.
Had a great day, exhausted though. My hubby has always got to see what else lies around the cornet and by the time we had left Heligan it was really dark. I thought I might have got lost in what they call the jungle.  The man that we met said how do you manage to garden in such a cold climate and how do you manage to get around in all that snow. I replied we are a hardy bunch us Scots, he laughed. More exploring tomorrow.

Angie  :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Panu on January 08, 2012, 05:08:35 PM
Still waiting (not really) for the cold weather. The minimum temp is -11oC for this winter. Snow cover is quite normal, +30 cm. Day is still short, about 4,5 h.

Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on January 09, 2012, 07:54:46 PM

More bad news for alpine plants:

Quote
Dr Michael Gottfried, from the Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (Gloria) programme, said: "We expected to find a greater number of warm-loving plants at higher altitudes, but we did not expect to find such a significant change in such a short space of time.

"Many cold-loving species are literally running out of mountain. In some of the lower mountains in Europe we could see alpine meadows disappearing and dwarf shrubs taking over within the next few decades."
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/cold-loving-alpine-plants-risk-180649012.html
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: mark smyth on January 11, 2012, 05:34:51 PM
It's been so mild here that yesterday and today I've had no heat on in the car
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on January 11, 2012, 06:22:06 PM
Been very mild here (and wet as usual) but very low light levels with low cloud until today! Blue sky (just to prove there is a sun!) and the promise of frost by morning.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Neil on January 11, 2012, 06:26:46 PM
Have yet to have a frost here, this winter though that could change by Friday morning.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Lina Hesseling on January 12, 2012, 12:39:57 PM
Angie, I would love to hear more about your visit to Heligan Garden.
It must have been more then ten years ago, that I borrowed the book 'Lost Gardens of Heligan' in the library. It was love at first sight. When I found the dutch translation of the book, just a few years ago, I bought it of course an read it again. It is as if you are in the middle of a great adventure when you read the story of the restoration of the gardens.
When I viseted Devon and Cornwall 20 years ago, it was still a ruin and nobody was aware about the treasure hidden there. Or maybe just a few. We did visit Rosemoore Gardens, Castle Drogo and a very nice Private garden with a collection of Magnolia's. I would love to go there again and visit Heligan and more of the beautifully gardens you can find there.

Lina.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on January 12, 2012, 08:28:09 PM
Hi Lina

I enjoyed the gardens just a pity about the time of year that I visited the garden. Still it got me excited thinking of the overgrown garden and the enjoyment that would have unfolded when something new was discovered. it is a must that I go back in the summer for a visit.

It was so nice to see the garden brought back to life and there for all to see again. My husband took a few pictures, sorry about the quality  ::) but he was in charge of the picture taking on that day. My favourite picture was in the potting shed, all those lovely terracotta pots stacked so neatly, would it have been like that all those years ago when gardeners like me were using the pots. I also liked the area that they called the jungle. It was so sheltered and I had never seen so much tree ferns. Just wish I had seen the garden before they started the restoration.

You must go and see the garden there is something magical about it.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on January 12, 2012, 08:32:05 PM
some more.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on January 12, 2012, 09:02:05 PM
A few years ago there was a programme or perhaps a small series of  TV programmes about  the Lost Garden of Heligan... it may be possible to find them on DVD  :-\ 
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Lina Hesseling on January 12, 2012, 09:20:49 PM
Thank you Angie for showing us your pictures. Tomorrow I will open my book and see if I can find the pictures of the situation before the restoration.

The last picture of the sleeping lady looks like the one I saw at Chelsea Flower Show a few years ago. I loved it. I 'll try to find a picture of her and post it.

This program on tv must have been great, Maggi.

Lina.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on January 12, 2012, 09:25:24 PM
Hmm... thought the Gardens might have a shop... they do... thought they might sell the DVDs... they do!
http://www.heliganshop.com/search.asp?types=yes&type=LIBRARY+%3E
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Lina Hesseling on January 12, 2012, 09:29:32 PM
Found it.

Lina.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on January 12, 2012, 09:44:39 PM
Lina that's brilliant. Now as for Chelsea Flower Show, I must go. Ever year I say I am going but I never get there. There are so many places I would like to see.

Maggi by the time I got back the shop was closed. But we did manage a nice lunch before we walked around the garden. The toilets were a bit basic though  ;D and our accommodation could have done with a it of updating  ;D

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on January 14, 2012, 05:02:23 PM
Angie, I have seen cozier but I have seen worse toilets too!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on January 14, 2012, 05:46:10 PM
Today the weather has been nice. Although the sun still is weak there were no wind and the fjord was absolutely calm. I cut down a few trees but got in in time to take pictures of the beautiful sunset.

PS. The white spot in the foreground is the bird feeder.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on January 15, 2012, 12:09:31 AM
Ist that so beautiful   8). We had a red sky the other night but nothing like that.

Angie  :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: zvone on January 16, 2012, 09:48:44 PM
Hi!

Strange weather…

We have spring instead of winter and snow: blooms first flowers. I am sending pictures from my garden:


(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-fEmVutweM0k/TxSRdfk7B2I/AAAAAAAAEGI/fzwaOQIEZCY/s512/trl-jan-12.jpg)

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-sVyiLLo5NKE/TxSRgcqrl3I/AAAAAAAAEGU/1lCPGSPuM1s/s512/mar-jan-12.jpg)

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-FETC8hbHln0/TxSReQKitSI/AAAAAAAAEGM/PURU7MnQFdg/s512/tro-jan-12.jpg)

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-AYf_oj2OVZc/TxSRfU8IdqI/AAAAAAAAEGQ/5Ym9KeIUac8/s640/vre-jan-12.jpg)

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wGR8qqWA0YI/TxSRhGMyITI/AAAAAAAAEGY/IbVGzSZF9s4/s640/nep-jan-12.jpg)

Best regards1  Zvone

Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on January 16, 2012, 10:05:36 PM
Flowers AND blue skies, Zvone, nothing could be nicer.  :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on January 16, 2012, 10:05:42 PM
Ist that so beautiful   8). We had a red sky the other night but nothing like that.

Angie  :)
Thanks, Angie. Can't boast of those clours every day ;)

Hi!

Strange weather…

We have spring instead of winter and snow: blooms first flowers. I am sending pictures from my garden:

Best regards1  Zvone


You are two days ahead of me, Zvone, but now the forecast says winter from Thusday and at least a week onwards :-\
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: zvone on January 16, 2012, 10:21:46 PM


Hi!

Strange weather…

We have spring instead of winter and snow: blooms first flowers. I am sending pictures from my garden:

Best regards1  Zvone


You are two days ahead of me, Zvone, but now the forecast says winter from Thusday and at least a week onwards :-\
[/quote]

Hi Hoy!

Thanks!

That prediction is bad.  ;)    But it must be winter!  :)

Best regards!   Zvone
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: zvone on January 16, 2012, 10:28:07 PM
Flowers AND blue skies, Zvone, nothing could be nicer.  :)

Thanks Maggi!

Also I like this combination the most!

Best regards! Zvone
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Roma on January 17, 2012, 08:06:25 PM
The frosty weather has been good for vapour trails.  The first was on Sunday morning and the second on Monday afternoon.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Roma on January 17, 2012, 08:08:24 PM
Some frosty pictures from Sunday morning.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on January 17, 2012, 08:41:12 PM
Nice pictures Roma. I like the first one with the sun so low  8)

Angie :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on January 17, 2012, 09:42:55 PM
Looks cosy but cold!
Still mild here, +5oC today and the roads were dry for once.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on January 18, 2012, 05:16:05 PM
Last year's weather in a garden in 30 seconds!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYgOwxT_Ylo&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: mark smyth on January 28, 2012, 07:39:29 PM
last night we had our first hard frost of the winter. Snow is forecast  :'( Please let it fall somewhere else
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on January 29, 2012, 09:36:14 PM
last night we had our first hard frost of the winter. Snow is forecast  :'( Please let it fall somewhere else
Well, I would love to get some snow now. The forecast says very cold weather the coming week and frost without snowcover isn't my favorite weather  >:(
We had our first day today with 24 hours below 0oC and more to come >:( :(
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on January 29, 2012, 09:54:58 PM
Just seen our forecast for the coming week, looks as if we are in for a cold spell. Still whatever we get now won't be anything like we had last year.
Roll on spring.

Angie  :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: arisaema on January 29, 2012, 09:58:18 PM
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I hate snow >:(
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on January 29, 2012, 10:06:53 PM
I like snow, thats from my living room window of course  ;D ;D ;D

Angie  :).
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Stephenb on January 30, 2012, 09:05:25 AM
Snow: Probably the main reason I stayed up here in the North and have now been here for 30 years! I love the ability to just put on skis and go off on a long back country trip seeing parts I would never get to see in summer as it's too far or too inaccesible in summer (bogs are frozen in winter). Love the stuff!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Panu on January 30, 2012, 01:01:05 PM
-22 now, which is quite cold, but normal. Swimming trips are getting a bit chilly :).
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: SueStephens on January 30, 2012, 03:29:21 PM
Snowing here in West Wales  :(
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on February 01, 2012, 09:27:04 PM
Shocking to hear of the depths of the freezing temperatures being felt in the Ukraine, Poland and places in Eastern Europe.... so many dying. Poor souls.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: RichardW on February 03, 2012, 07:12:22 PM
Red kite and two "cronking" Ravens flew over first thing this morning, the female Teal is still hanging around despite the freeze but having to make do with a tiny strip of water from a spring that hasn't frozen.

edit sorry wrong thread  :-[
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Rob Potterton on February 03, 2012, 07:17:13 PM
Hard frost overnight with bad forecast tomorrow so snow poles erected in all poly tunnels this afternoon, already fleeced over less hardy plants. Ready for anything this time.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on February 03, 2012, 07:27:34 PM
Fingers crossed that it is not as bad as the forecast threatens, Rob.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Neil on February 03, 2012, 08:20:49 PM
First night below zero this winter, -4°C and hardly any frost,it is very dry down on the South Coast, keep getting static shocks off of everything.  Saying that only tomorrow is cold then we are back to above freezing temperatures.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: karel_t on February 03, 2012, 08:47:45 PM
You are lucky man Neil. In Czech we have from last week -12°C during day and -19°C to -35°C during night. Last night I had -2°C in my pleione house :(.
K.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Neil on February 04, 2012, 09:51:13 AM
ouch (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v167/neil4768/smileys/frozen.gif) hope the pleiones come through it ok.

Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hans J on February 04, 2012, 09:59:32 AM
the coldest place in Germany is in this time a little lake called FUNTENSEE in a high valley ...
they had - 37° this morning .brrrrrr... :-[

Hans
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: mark smyth on February 04, 2012, 10:17:15 AM
-37  :o :o

N Ireland has missed out on the latest freezing temps. Frost on cars went very quickly. Yes the air temp was cold and the ground hard but the roads and paths had no ice
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: WimB on February 04, 2012, 10:26:06 AM
Hans, that's extreme (http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww173/prestonjjrtr/Winter/frozen-frozen-freeze-winter-smiley-.gif). Last night temperatures here dropped to -12°C.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hans J on February 04, 2012, 10:37:25 AM
Mark & Wim ,

yes - this is really a cold place !
They also had temperatures until - 50°  :o :o :o

a interesting point is that there grows Gentiana lutea and there lives also marmots

This place is only reachable by feet ...you have to walk from 600 m to 1600 m ( around 4 hours )

maybe in next years I will make a walk ( but only in summer )

Hans
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: WimB on February 04, 2012, 05:32:37 PM
Mark & Wim ,

yes - this is really a cold place !
They also had temperatures until - 50°  :o :o :o

a interesting point is that there grows Gentiana lutea and there lives also marmots

This place is only reachable by feet ...you have to walk from 600 m to 1600 m ( around 4 hours )

maybe in next years I will make a walk ( but only in summer )

Hans

Looking forward to some pics of the place....in summer  ;) ;)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Stephenb on February 04, 2012, 06:22:56 PM
It dropped under -40C in SE Norway yesterday, but -13C was the worst we had...much worse last winter...
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Stephenb on February 04, 2012, 06:40:57 PM
To put this cold weather in perspective, a remarkable weather record has gone unnoticed. In the Svalbard settlement of Ny Ålesund which is close to 79 deg N, the previous 24 hour precipitation record was smashed the other day by a factor of 4 (four) and it all came as rain!

http://www.yr.no/nyheter/1.7975736 (http://www.yr.no/nyheter/1.7975736)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Rob Potterton on February 04, 2012, 08:32:46 PM
Has been snowing here in Lincolnshire for about 3 hours, very fine snow and an accumulation of only a couple of centimetres. Snow shovels and brushes on stand-by though and staff ready for an early start.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Palustris on February 04, 2012, 09:13:48 PM
No more Tunnel collapses one hopes then Rob.
2mm of slush here and now it is raining rather than snow. We have had temperatures low enough to trigger our outside boiler into firing. Usually that means lower than -8c.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on February 04, 2012, 09:53:03 PM
Having rained here all day, as night fell it seems to have stopped raining and now it is very cold. Frost swirls on glasshouse roof are very pretty. Remains to be seen whether we get any snow or not.

Good luck to polytunnels everywhere!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Rob Potterton on February 05, 2012, 12:11:04 AM
Midnight. Have been sat in the house waiting for the snow to stop which it has now although the strong winds keep whipping up mini whirlwinds of snow around the house. Ventured out to survey the nursery, RELIEF, tunnels virtually clear. The snow was so fine and dry it has blown off them. It has also resulted in it blowing through the netted sides and covered the plants with a thin dusting which should give them additional protection from the cold.

We can sleep easier now.  :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Gerry Webster on February 05, 2012, 09:42:46 AM
Good to hear that all is well Rob. I hope it continues that way.

Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Rob Potterton on February 05, 2012, 01:23:43 PM
Thanks for all kindly remarks.  ;D

Below is Ellie's snowgirl .... i made the mistake of calling it a snowman, to which she sharply replied "Its a girl, daddy".

Now have my two daughters and their grandma building an igloo in the back garden ....... if successful, photo to follow
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Leiomerus on February 05, 2012, 01:46:01 PM
Hi,

A winter picture of my rock garden covered with some snow.
 8)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on February 05, 2012, 02:55:35 PM
Midnight. Have been sat in the house waiting for the snow to stop which it has now although the strong winds keep whipping up mini whirlwinds of snow around the house. Ventured out to survey the nursery, RELIEF, tunnels virtually clear. The snow was so fine and dry it has blown off them. It has also resulted in it blowing through the netted sides and covered the plants with a thin dusting which should give them additional protection from the cold.

We can sleep easier now.  :)
Me too. Assume "my plants" are safe ;)

Thanks for all kindly remarks.  ;D

Below is Ellie's snowgirl .... i made the mistake of calling it a snowman, to which she sharply replied "Its a girl, daddy".

Now have my two daughters and their grandma building an igloo in the back garden ....... if successful, photo to follow

I remember my daughters did the same every time we got some snow although the igloos never lasted long before they melted :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on February 05, 2012, 03:00:07 PM
No snow here. Last few days it rarely got above 3C during the day but 9C today.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on February 05, 2012, 03:14:15 PM
Must be 8 or 9 degrees here today. Lovely sunny  day really. Got down to minus 7 or so last night but although ground is still frozen the frost was gone early.

Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Ulla Hansson on February 05, 2012, 03:22:22 PM
Here it is winter and quite cold. We have some snow, luckily, it protects a lot. The last few nights have been colder than 20 degrees below zero. Today it is snowing slightly and only -10 degrees.  I am are worried about, my plants who are on the way from Japan.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Jean-Patrick AGIER on February 05, 2012, 06:30:33 PM
Hello,
Here in France we have a severe cold spell. Quite unusual with strong northen winds on some days. And temperatures are not to go ( a ittle ) up till the end of next week. It happened so quickly..In LYON we've drowned into the cold within a few days ( t° at night - 4°C, - 8°C, and -12°C since yesterday and for the week to come . -4°C to - 8°C during the day ). And it's probably worse in some places...
Protections have been added around my favourite ones ( hoping to maintain a minimum 0°C) but some plants are probably dead in my containers ( osteospermum, Narcissus with frozen flower heads, hybrid alstroemerias,  ipheion?? ) which haven't been protected.
February is really a "polar" month...
JP
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: mark smyth on February 05, 2012, 06:55:22 PM
David it's good to read there is no snow in Devon just now. I go on Wednesday so I suppose there is still time for it to fall
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on February 05, 2012, 07:01:01 PM
Hearing of snow falls up to five metres in Europe.... it makes me feel guilty to complain of our weather.  :-[
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on February 05, 2012, 07:13:24 PM
David it's good to read there is no snow in Devon just now. I go on Wednesday so I suppose there is still time for it to fall

None forecast.

Thursday sunny High 3 Low -1
Friday part cloud High 3 Low -2
Saturday sunny High 2 Low -2
Sunday part cloud High 4 Low 1

Of course it could be anything but and North Devon could be something else! ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Rob Potterton on February 05, 2012, 08:37:44 PM
Must be really bad on the Wednesday that you travel though Mark, as David has not given us the forecast for that day.  ;)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: ArnoldT on February 05, 2012, 10:03:40 PM
Watching some of the EPL in England  and Serie A in Italy it looks like a deep freeze.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Casalima on February 06, 2012, 12:03:59 PM
The temperature here went down to -3.5 ºC a couple of nights ago, thought there wasn't that much visible frost because it has been so dry, but now the clouds are back, it drizzled yesterday and the minimum temperature last night was 10 ºC!!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on February 06, 2012, 07:47:23 PM
Got 25cm snow in the weekend, now it is 15cm wet slush :-\ The temperature went above 0C today and it started raining. Seems to be above zero the rest of the week too - even at night.
The warmest place in Norway today had +6C and the coldest had -42C. Some difference!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on February 06, 2012, 09:38:25 PM
It seems that we have to scope with minus 12 degrees this night again ...
The Acantholimons have the benefit from the snow ... 
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Tim Ingram on February 06, 2012, 11:35:24 PM
Plenty of snow in Kent, though not so cold. Really brings some beauty to the garden though!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Pauli on February 07, 2012, 05:44:49 AM
Hello,

the last week the temperatures did not rise above -7C, with night lows of around -14C. Everything is solid frozen and even the Danube starts to freeze. No snow blanket until today.
Because of strong winds there is not much to enjoy outside.
This night ca 5cm of snow and -10C, so chaos on the streets, because salt does not work at these temperatures.
And that all after a very mild December and January, with Crocuses, Snowdrops, Colchicum hungaricum and Cyclamen coum already flowering.
Will see how the plants cope with that winter.....
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on February 07, 2012, 06:39:41 PM
And that all after a very mild December and January, with Crocuses, Snowdrops, Colchicum hungaricum and Cyclamen coum already flowering.
Will see how the plants cope with that winter.....

Aprox the same situation here Herbert .
Some of the buds are getting brown here  >:(
I already see this happen with some Colchicums .....e.g. Colchicum luteum 'Vahsh' , luteum x kesselringii . Cyclamen coum no problem at all , they could cope with such situations ...
I have some doubts about some of the Narcissus too ... ::)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: ArnoldT on February 07, 2012, 08:55:57 PM
Sent by a friend in Rome.

Piazza del Popolo
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: annew on February 08, 2012, 07:12:51 PM
-10.5C here last night, supposedly the coldest in the UK. BBRRRR.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: ronm on February 09, 2012, 06:41:14 PM
Heavy snow falling here now. Very large flakes causing rapid coverage, although the temperature isnt too bad, about 1'c. Watching polytunnels carefully!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on February 09, 2012, 07:02:25 PM
Heavy snow falling here now. Very large flakes causing rapid coverage, although the temperature isnt too bad, about 1'c. Watching polytunnels carefully!

Where is here, are you in the UK. Hope your polytunnels will be alright. Last year I was out quite a few times brushing the snow off.

Angie  :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on February 09, 2012, 07:03:03 PM
Someone finally turned the heating on here yesterday with 28oC at 4.30 p.m. 8)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on February 09, 2012, 07:09:33 PM
Someone finally turned the heating on here yesterday with 28oC at 4.30 p.m. 8)

You should be so lucky ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: ronm on February 09, 2012, 07:10:29 PM
Hi Angie, East Yorkshire here. Thanks for your kind thoughts. Thought we'ed got away with it this year . . but no! Never mind, lessons have been learned I hope from last year. Hopefully especially regarding the Roscoeas.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on February 09, 2012, 07:18:40 PM
Someone finally turned the heating on here yesterday with 28oC at 4.30 p.m. 8)
Anthony stop it I am jealous  ;)  its 26c here, thats in my living room off course.

Hi Angie, East Yorkshire here. Thanks for your kind thoughts. Thought we'ed got away with it this year . . but no! Never mind, lessons have been learned I hope from last year. Hopefully especially regarding the Roscoeas.
East Yorkshire is a beautiful place even with the snow.

Angie  :)

Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: ronm on February 09, 2012, 07:57:41 PM
Its true Angie, it can be a wonderful place. Big skies! If you ever get down here come and say hello.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on February 09, 2012, 08:35:02 PM
Hi Angie, East Yorkshire here. Thanks for your kind thoughts. Thought we'ed got away with it this year . . but no! Never mind, lessons have been learned I hope from last year. Hopefully especially regarding the Roscoeas.
East Yorkshire is a beautiful place even with the snow.

[/quote]

Correction: ALL Yorkshire is a beautiful place even with snow and, grudgingly, that goes for Leeds as well ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: zvone on February 10, 2012, 06:59:10 PM
Hi!

Also winter can be beautiful:


(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gm7DYkLwWYI/TzMS2f3S3hI/AAAAAAAAEsg/LQ4eSsvMGPA/s800/IMG_8380-all.jpg)
 
It is such in my garden:            http://zvonem.blogspot.si/

Best regards!   Zvone
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: razvan chisu on February 11, 2012, 07:29:26 AM
romania under snow and siberian winds
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on February 11, 2012, 07:02:05 PM
Could have been in the mountains here - not anything that I combine with Romania!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: razvan chisu on February 12, 2012, 08:20:54 AM
I live inside the Carpathian range so mostly get about 30 cm of snow. The south and east of the country is open ground so in some winters the easterly winds can even burry entire houses under snow
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Pauli on February 13, 2012, 06:29:44 AM
Hello,

After 13 days with subzero temperatures his morning greeted us with -18°C.

I am not afraid for real European or asia minor alpines, but:

Daphne calcicola
Sternbergias
lowland crocuses (niveus, carthwrihtianus.......)

I also will miss the fresh figs this year!

We will see in a few weeks what really happened
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: cohan on February 14, 2012, 07:45:18 AM
We have been seeing some of your extreme European weather on tv! Hope it settles down soon, the loss of life is very shocking to us, where we usually hear very little about life lost during cold weather.. Certainly the kind of snow Razvan shows must be very hard to deal with, unless it is a region that is used to it!
Our normal this time of year is daytime high -2C/ nighttime low -16C, and our forecast is for days ranging from -2 to +4 and nights from -12 to -18C, so for us it is still very mild- we expect some days usually to be a lot colder than 'normal'- -30 or -40 would not be shocking for some days in February, and we have not had any! We just got 8-10cm of snow today, so it will refresh our whiteness!
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Olga Bondareva on February 14, 2012, 10:26:44 AM
After 13 days with subzero temperatures his morning greeted us with -18°C.

How much snow do you have?
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: mark smyth on February 21, 2012, 04:54:46 PM
14C here today  :o

I was potting snowdrops and weeding in a polo shirt. No need for heat in the house or in the car
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: chasw on February 22, 2012, 05:32:47 PM
Strong winds and rain here at the moment,and avery dull day ::)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Casalima on February 22, 2012, 05:39:46 PM
Temperature forecast for today was 0-19 ºC. For tomorrow it's 0-22 ºC = the rain hasn't arrived yet :(
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Hoy on February 22, 2012, 06:07:53 PM
Today was not bad here in the mountains +2C and some bleak sunshine but a steady wind from west made it cold to cross the open areas. Did a short cross country ski trip - the first in 2012 actually. Less snow than normal up here.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on February 22, 2012, 06:38:16 PM
Typical Devon day here-dreich. Heavy grey skies, heavy drizzle and around 10C. More of the same promised tomorrow.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: ronm on February 22, 2012, 06:52:41 PM
Same here David, :(. Spent yesterday in a t-shirt pruning fruit bushes. Was hoping to continue today. Nasty, ::) ::)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Stephenb on February 23, 2012, 08:15:37 AM
Today was not bad here in the mountains +2C and some bleak sunshine but a steady wind from west made it cold to cross the open areas. Did a short cross country ski trip - the first in 2012 actually. Less snow than normal up here.

A weather station in my area reported the deepest snow measurement for 70 years this week at 1.8m! Avalanche danger is currently very high. Down here near the fjord it's raining one day, snow the next and it isn't accumulating.. The cross-country skiing just a couple of km inland is excellent though with deep snow cover which will probably last into May this year...

Pictures: View from the house
              Cross-country ski on Sunday in heavy snow showers


Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Martinr on February 23, 2012, 09:30:42 AM
Typical Devon day here-dreich. Heavy grey skies, heavy drizzle and around 10C. More of the same promised tomorrow.

Glad to see your use of a Scottish based forum has improved your knowledge of the Scot's language ;D

Cheers from an equally dreich Derby
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on February 23, 2012, 10:36:15 AM
Typical Devon day here-dreich. Heavy grey skies, heavy drizzle and around 10C. More of the same promised tomorrow.

Glad to see your use of a Scottish based forum has improved your knowledge of the Scot's language ;D

Cheers from an equally dreich Derby

It's in the genes mate, watered down by centuries but it's there ;D

By the way, you having sleeping problems? :P
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Martinr on February 23, 2012, 11:09:31 AM
Sleeping problems??????????????? It was 9.30 am I posted, I've usually been at work for two hours by then! I'm only here because I've been laid low by a bug - now that has caused sleeping problems :P
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Anthony Darby on February 23, 2012, 11:12:00 AM
Typical Devon day here-dreich. Heavy grey skies, heavy drizzle and around 10C. More of the same promised tomorrow.

Glad to see your use of a Scottish based forum has improved your knowledge of the Scot's language ;D

Cheers from an equally dreich Derby

It's in the genes mate, watered down by centuries but it's there ;D

By the way, you having sleeping problems? :P

Early riser David? Insomnia? I wouldn't lose any sleep over it!

Dreich here today. Lesley asked for rain, so I sent her some. Trouble is it stayed here too. Mind you, it's so warm and humid that I melted this afternoon.

Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: cohan on February 24, 2012, 12:15:16 AM
Its been a mild winter most of the time, that doesn't mean it will be over early! Tuesday was +6C/-7C, today 0C, -17C tomorrow morning, and a high of -10C on Sunday..  some more snow recently, and more to come over the next few days...
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Philippe on February 25, 2012, 01:19:26 PM
We made it through the winter, which I could resume in NE France lowland to approximatively 2 whole weeks in first half of February ( during the coldwave that struck most parts of Europe)
December was 4°C above normal mean temperature, January was 3°C above once again.
However, snow was extremely rare, poor, and only for a few days.
Forecasts are saying up to 15°C and possibly a bit more next week.
Let's see now what kind of spring we're gonna have, hoping it's not running much too dry/warm this year again.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: ronm on February 26, 2012, 08:28:37 PM
I just heard that Aberdeen is going to have its hottest February day, since 1896, on Tuesday!!  8)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: David Nicholson on February 26, 2012, 08:30:14 PM
I just heard that Aberdeen is going to have its hottest February day, since 1896, on Tuesday!!  8)

What, it's going to get to 7C ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: ronm on February 26, 2012, 08:31:11 PM
 ;D Glad you said that!, ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on February 26, 2012, 08:42:30 PM
I just heard that Aberdeen is going to have its hottest February day, since 1896, on Tuesday!!  8)

What, it's going to get to 7C ;D

 :o ;D ;D ;D ;D

Angie  :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on February 26, 2012, 08:59:11 PM
We heard that too..... we'll not hold our breath, I  don't think!
Happy to be proved wrong, though......... 8)
Tuesday evening is our local group meeting.....  wonder if everyone will be in shirt sleeve order?
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on February 26, 2012, 09:26:18 PM
On Thursday in Aberdeen it was 32c, in my polytunnel  ::) ;D

Angie  :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on February 26, 2012, 10:13:37 PM
On Thursday in Aberdeen it was 32c, in my polytunnel  ::) ;D

Angie  :)
Good grief!  That would be too hot for me.....
  [attach=1]
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on February 27, 2012, 08:50:22 AM
On Thursday in Aberdeen it was 32c, in my polytunnel  ::) ;D

Angie  :)
Good grief!  That would be too hot for me.....
  (Attachment Link)

Me to Maggi. I need to remember to open the doors  ::)

Angie  :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: mark smyth on February 28, 2012, 11:15:50 AM
it's 15c here and only 11am.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: mark smyth on February 28, 2012, 11:39:24 AM
16c now and it's like a summer day. Narcissus out, last snowdrops, Anemone blandas, Primulas, Tulips, Ranunculus and  ......

 :'( I have to go to work now  :'( but to do over time to spend next Saturday  ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on February 28, 2012, 04:25:07 PM
I just heard that Aberdeen is going to have its hottest February day, since 1896, on Tuesday!!  8)

 But we didn't! Been a mild day, but 'only' got to 14  degrees ( which is in itself pretty darn  good!) Very still air earlier, though it got a wee bit breezy a while ago. Now around 11 or 12.
 Not sunny earlier, but the warmth opened a few flowers... the scent was nice. No need for a rush to shorts and sandals though.  (That was a relief! :-X)  
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: ronm on February 28, 2012, 04:28:10 PM
Fell well short in the end then Maggi, :(. Still it has been a lovely day for this time of year hasn't it? :)
Always next February,  ;)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Maggi Young on February 28, 2012, 04:33:03 PM
We had some amazing days in April the other year, Ron... the excitment of that lingers on!  :D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: ronm on February 28, 2012, 04:43:43 PM
 ;D
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: jomowi on March 03, 2012, 10:30:18 AM
W. Lothian is still suffering the after effects of the January gales.  No boating will be possible until this tree is removed from the Grand Union canal in Linlithgow.  Logistically quite a task I expect.

[attachthumb=1]


[attachthumb=2]

Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Rogan on March 03, 2012, 12:50:41 PM
We have a tropical storm / cyclone headed our way! First one since 1987 (?)! Luckily we live quite far inland and south of its projected landfall, so its effects should be minimal - perhaps a little rain, which would be very welcome indeed.  :P
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: alpines on March 03, 2012, 01:07:42 PM
The USA has just been hit with the worst tornado in March history. Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Alabama the worst hit. 29 dead....14 in Kentucky. Southern Indiana was the hardest hit with entire communities wiped out. We were very fortunate. A tornado touched down 18 miles north of us. The worst we had here was hail. One town, West Liberty, KY. had been hit on Wednesday by a previous tornado and took another direct hit again last night. Our prayers go out to our fellow Kentuckians and especially to our neighbors in Southern Indiana.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Lina Hesseling on March 03, 2012, 01:45:44 PM
It must be terrible to know the tornado is coming and you never know where it will touchdown. I heard the news and I think it is even not tornado season.
Happy, you are o.k.

Lina.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: alpines on March 03, 2012, 02:02:42 PM
Thanks Lina. Tornado season is early this year because we haven't had a normal winter. Too many warm fronts meeting up with cold fronts.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: Lina Hesseling on March 03, 2012, 02:35:06 PM
My oldest son and his family are living in Cincinnati, Ohio. They spend hours in their basement sometimes, waiting for the tornado to pass.
This one was very early, indeed.

Lina.
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: angie on March 03, 2012, 03:41:33 PM
The USA has just been hit with the worst tornado in March history. Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Alabama the worst hit. 29 dead....14 in Kentucky. Southern Indiana was the hardest hit with entire communities wiped out. We were very fortunate. A tornado touched down 18 miles north of us. The worst we had here was hail. One town, West Liberty, KY. had been hit on Wednesday by a previous tornado and took another direct hit again last night. Our prayers go out to our fellow Kentuckians and especially to our neighbors in Southern Indiana.

I can't imagine how terrifying it must be. When I see those tornadoes they just put a chill down my spine. My American friends parents live in Oklahoma and they lost their barn a few years ago. I was amazed to see their basement and how organised they were. I suppose living with the threat of a Tornado hitting would make sure you were organised at all times.

So sad to see the pictures on our television. Glad to hear that you both are safe. My heart goes out to all those poor folks that have lost family and homes.

Angie  :)
Title: Re: Weather winter 2011-12
Post by: alpines on March 03, 2012, 04:12:40 PM
Many thanks Angie...appreciate your kindness
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