Winter 2012-13 Thread (accurate, coast, Spain, snow)

[dunno what to put here]

Piss doesn't have to freeze - but, let's be serious, if snow is as rare as hens teeth, winter barely exists. It's more like an extended autumn.

[Weatherfan2]

Winter here can hardly be a thing for cold fans to look forward to in England because far from getting much snow all you really get is overcast and drizzle all day every day. Clear blue sky frosty weather and any real snow is the stuff of dreams in this place.

[dunno what to put here]

Snow is something we get every year without fail however in this area, the same cannot be said for thunderstorms, so even though winter here is substandard for me, it's the superior season from an interest point of view, even if the summer averages are closer to my ideal (temperatures only). That short period of snow, and occasional frosty weather, offsets the summer season with little interest. Give me a summer like 2005 and my opinion will probably change.

[Weatherfan2]

Fuxton's where you really want to be for snow in England, I certainly see it plenty every winter but can't stand the stuff so I'm stuffed when it comes to weather interest here. Fuxton never gets thunderstorms, that's for sure.

[theunbrainwashed]

Originally Posted by Weatherfan2

Fuxton's where you really want to be for snow in England, I certainly see it plenty every winter but can't stand the stuff so I'm stuffed when it comes to weather interest here. Fuxton never gets thunderstorms, that's for sure.

Trade places with me this coming spring every time there's storm clouds here we get a severe thunderstorm watch or tornado watch

[Patricius Maximus]

Originally Posted by Flight Simmer

Yeah, cold and snow don't cut the mustard? then what is winter?

When a snowpack persists through the 3-month season. The cold and snow have to be dominant over the season in order for it to be a winter season. That's the essence of the basic meaning of the word. One instance of 30F and wet snow that melts the next day is only one storm, not a winter, and this is the pattern over most of the U.S. Cold and snow are the exception, not the rule.

Would one's piss have to freeze solid in mid-flight to be considered winter?

No, it just needs to freeze on the ground and stay frozen day and night. I would submit, however, that I would test that with water, not urine.

In alot of places, at least at temperate latitudes, winter is nothing but cold, overcast slate-grey stratocrapulous bullcrap. Compare that to summer with sunshine, thunderstorms, different cloud formations besides the usual stratus crap, convection, heavy cloudbursts and the list goes on.

I do not pretend and have not pretended to speak for Australia or anywhere else other than the United States. In most parts of the United States steady temperatures, cloud, and drizzle do not dominate the winter months. If that was the case I wouldn't have made that post to begin with because it would have been inaccurate.

So to qualify as a weather enthusiast, one must embrace winter and snow? Why is that?

To qualify as a weather enthusiast one must embrace interesting weather. In the eastern U.S. at least, there aren't many big synoptic storms outside of winter and outside of winter and the cool season it's the same routine day in and day out.

Ideally, snow would be included in the mix for a weather enthusiasts' interest just by virtue of it being another category of weather, but it isn't necessary for "interest", and certainly not the only kind of interesting weather around.

It should be noted that all of the big thunderstorm outbreaks and the strongest thunderstorms occur in springtime. In many parts in many years strong thunderstorms are rather rare in summer compared to spring. You'll never see anything like the Super Outbreak in summertime.

Originally Posted by owenc

It depends what you consider a blizzard.

Well, the definition I find most applicable is the American NOAA's definition, which is, converted into metric for your convenience:

1. Falling and/or blowing snow
2. Visibility of 400 meters or less
3. Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 56 kph or greater
4. The preceding conditions persisting for 3 hours or longer

How often does that happen where you live? In parts of England they experienced one just last April, so I don't imagine they're that rare in the British Isles. Uncommon may be the applicable word.

Originally Posted by wavehunter007

I do agree – and I think you put that very well: In most locations in the USA (esp from 40 latitude southward), winter really is a “variable season", where anything can happen - rather than a solid 3 or 4 months time of intense cold and snow. Still, there are areas in the far northern USA that often do have severe winter weather (Mt West, Upper Midwest, northern Plains, northern high elevation New England…etc).

I was speaking generally. There are areas that do have true winters as opposed to "variable seasons" but they make up only a minority of the Eastern U.S.'s total area.

Also, to be fair, weather drama (if that is the right word) comes in other forms in our country compared to yours (Canada I think). On the eastern side of the mainland tropical cyclones are a threat to the Gulf and Atlantic states and are interesting to watch (and even experience first hand if not too severe)

True, but tropical storms and hurricanes across most of the East Coast are far less common than synoptic storms, and if they hit the effects are not as widespread (think of a typical hurricane vs. a typical nor'easter; the nor'easter covers a larger area, though the maximum winds are a lot less intense). The Gulf Coast is different but even they don't get all that much hurricane activity (a tropical storm, however, is typical, but again, "hard to get" and localized).

as well as late fall/winter/and spring ocean storms ...in the interior, thunderstorms/tornadoes are often what create the most drama...and along the West Coast (eslp the NW coast) seasonal ocean storms bring high winds, heavy rain, flooding, and deep snows to the Mts in Washington, Oregon, and California.

Aside from the tornadoes, the drama you listed usually comes in wintertime (or near wintertime). As for the severe thunderstorms, they are the primary exception, but in most years severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are intermittent islands in a sea of warmth and sun, and the effects are localized. If you take a series of 5 outbreaks in the Plains the chances that any random locality will actually experience severe thunderstorm conditions are rather low. That said, thunderstorms of less extreme types are common.

There are exceptions, though, such as April 2011, which featured tornado outbreaks every few days and widespread severe thunderstorms in the areas that were affected.

[Mac15]

Becoming chilly, perhaps local ground frost in sheltered valleys. Minimum temperature 5 °C.

This might mean an air frost for somewhere as the met office always predict higher minimum temps.

[Cambium]

Originally Posted by owenc

Becoming chilly, perhaps local ground frost in sheltered valleys. Minimum temperature 5 °C.

This might mean an air frost for somewhere as the met office always predict higher minimum temps.

Hey folks, if you're posting current conditions, please post in the correct thread. //www.city-data.com/forum/weath...ovember-2.html

This thread is for Winter (Dec-March). Thanks.

[Hiromant]

So who has ice roads near their location in the winter? Here the sea usually starts freezing over in mid-January and ice roads are open in February and March between the islands and mainland. It's a very convenient and fast way of transport for islanders as ferries can get stuck and need icebreakers to clear the way.

[dunno what to put here]

I wish.. driving from Liverpool to Dublin would be a cool experience.