It's snowing!

[ian]

My wife knows a Swedish cardiologist. He's in his seventies and cross-country skis 17 km there and back to his office. I'm not sure if that's related to fact that he was still impregnating his far younger wife at that age.

[spesh]

There has been a light dusting of powdery SNO in Pompey, but it hasn't settled on anything at a lower altitude than the decking in either of my neighbours' back yards.

[rafletcher]

I live opposite a grit bin, which is handy (I know, I'm stealing a small bucketful,

In our village the grit bins are filled to allow us to use them - although it's supposed to be on the road junction and canal bridge, not drives or pathways.

It's been drifting down here all mornig, but the flakes are miniscule, so accumulations are negligible. Even melting on the darker cars.

[woollypigs]

Well it just snowed in our toilet, was there minding my own business and then suddenly a gust of fluffy sno things covered me. So I think it's time to close the windows, cause I don't fancy gritting indoors.

[Mr Larrington]

I'm just going to Mr Sainsbury’s House of Toothy Comestibles.  I may be some time.

[quixoticgeek]

I've fitted the spiked tyres. I've had lunch. I suppose the only thing to do now, is put some clothes on and go play in the snow!

J

[citoyen]

Our bubble person who visits on a Sunday left here an hour and a half ago and is still trying to get off the island (Sheppey).

Blimey.
Wild country.
My Whitstable Yacht Club Web Cam shows much snow coverage.
No footprints.

I've not been down to the beach but up here on the inland side of town towards Canterbury, it's been snowing steadily (but not heavily) with a few short breaks since about 7am yesterday. It seems to have stopped now. Don't know if that's the end of it - sky still looks heavy with snow-laden clouds.

Because it has been steady rather than one big snow dump, there's a decent covering on the ground but at least the roads are clear, unlike what happened one Sunday afternoon a few years ago - there was a major power cut, so we went into town for lunch, but while we were there it started snowing very heavily and it was touch and go whether we would be able to get home because of the state of the roads. The drive was terrifying but we did make it back. We didn't get power back until some time on Monday though. Many layers were worn that night.

[Mr Larrington]

I'm just going to Mr Sainsbury’s House of Toothy Comestibles.  I may be some time.

Because temporary traffic lights.  Bah!

[Cudzoziemiec]

Our bubble person who visits on a Sunday left here an hour and a half ago and is still trying to get off the island (Sheppey).

Blimey.
Wild country.
My Whitstable Yacht Club Web Cam shows much snow coverage.
No footprints.

I've not been down to the beach but up here on the inland side of town towards Canterbury, it's been snowing steadily (but not heavily) with a few short breaks since about 7am yesterday. It seems to have stopped now. Don't know if that's the end of it - sky still looks heavy with snow-laden clouds.

Because it has been steady rather than one big snow dump, there's a decent covering on the ground but at least the roads are clear, unlike what happened one Sunday afternoon a few years ago - there was a major power cut, so we went into town for lunch, but while we were there it started snowing very heavily and it was touch and go whether we would be able to get home because of the state of the roads. The drive was terrifying but we did make it back. We didn't get power back until some time on Monday though. Many layers were worn that night.

24 hours without power? Pah! We had a week following a freak snow storm and cold snap in April 1980. Or it could have been 1981. Flooded transformer. A week of cooking on a bottle gas thing (actually I think we went to the chip shop a lot) and no.heating.what.so.ever.

[Jurek]

I've been up since 05:00ish and stuff has been falling out of the sky (albeit in v.small amounts) throughout that time.
I'm about to fit some Yaktrax to my boots and venture out.

ETA - I've had the Yaktrax for five or six years, this is the first opportunity I have had to use them.
i have to say that they are confidence-inspiring. They also leave cool footprints.

[Mr Larrington]

How do the dragons of Saarrff London cope when it gets this cold?

[Jurek]

Ski wear and Easy Start.

[citoyen]

24 hours without power? Pah!

Well, it was more like 36 hours without power, but OK, you win!

[ian]

How do the dragons of Saarrff London cope when it gets this cold?

Curl up inside a bantha and wait for it to pass.

[quixoticgeek]

Went out on the bike with the studded tyres. Even with the proper kit, I fell once. I got my rear tyre caught on some sastrugi and over it went. Slow speed thankfully, but still not ideal. Speed was very low, there were a few areas where the path had been cleared, but then you'd get a bit where the clearing vehicle had turned off and there'd be a bank of ice to try and get across if you wanted to carry on. Other areas the drifts are quite deep. I had to just push the bike a couple of times.

I am very glad of my nanospikes on my shoes.

J

[Wowbagger]

Very gentle snow falling here since first thing, adding to what fell overnight, which wasn't much. I don't think we've had as much as 10cm, and anything that fell on roads or concrete before sunset yesterday just melted. It's a different story today and everything outside seems to be covered in ice. I've decided not to venture out.

The maximum temperature so far today has been -0.8°C. It's currently -1.2°C. There is a daffodil in flower though.

[Jurek]

Just been briefly outside to the bins.
Very crunchy underfoot.
Mercury is dropping like the proverbial stone.

[Mr Larrington]

About the depth of my index fingernail on top of the BIIINNNSSS at lunchtime.  Pathetic.

[Cudzoziemiec]

The potentially scariest fall on ice I've ever had left me totally uninjured, not even a bruise, but with a ground-level view of a car wheel just stopping centimetres from my leg.

[ian]

Thought I'd go out and throw another couple of shovels on the hill – a fair amount of grit has disappeared, I assume the people on the private street beyond ours tending to their drives, paths and parking spaces, someone came out to tell they'd someone had been filling a wheelbarrow.

I'm not sure how they figure on getting in-and-out if there's no grit for the hill, there's no other exit.

[Mrs Pingu]

This from a local FB page. I guess it could also have gone on the People Who Park Like Fuds thread. That's the snow gates at the bottom of the Cairn O'Mount.
2021-02-08_06-58-46 by The Pingus, on Flickr

[cycleman]

Dandruff most of the day and the lightest of dustings on bins cars and grass. Roads and paths totally clear. A little cold 🥶

[Mr Larrington]

This from a local FB page. I guess it could also have gone on the People Who Park Like Fuds thread. That's the snow gates at the bottom of the Cairn O'Mount.
2021-02-08_06-58-46 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Shouldn’t think that wagon would have much difficulty pulling the wankpanzer out of the road.  Or even better, pushing it into the ditch

[Feanor]

This from a local FB page. I guess it could also have gone on the People Who Park Like Fuds thread. That's the snow gates at the bottom of the Cairn O'Mount.
2021-02-08_06-58-46 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Shouldn’t think that wagon would have much difficulty pulling the wankpanzer out of the road.  Or even better, pushing it into the ditch

Yes, that made the local Parking Like Fuds domain.
And yes, shoving it into the ditch was a popular option!

The place I was skiing from at the weekend is about 500m before those snow gates.
These photos are of the CoM summit, a few k beyond those gates.
Yes, there's a road beneath all that snow. Somewhere.


CoM_Feb_2021_1 by Ron Lowe, on Flickr


CoM_2021_Feb_2 by Ron Lowe, on Flickr

(These are also the snow gates I almost wrapped myself round at 80 kph on a bike at some point in the past, when this was my commuting route!)

But that truck is not going to be making inroads into 2 or 3 meters of snow further up the hill.
That's going to need snow blowers, or a slower option, JCBs with Shuvvels.
I don't think to cooncil have snow blowers, so JCBs with shuvvels it is.

AFAIK, the only blowers around here are owned by the Lecht ski centre, and are used to keep the access roads to the ski centre open beyond the snow gates at both Cockbridge and Tomintoul, beyond which the cooncil regard as not-our-problem, mate.

[Wowbagger]

We seem to have had some more snow overnight, judging by the view from my bedroom window, but I don’t think it amounts to as much as another inch, giving about 4nches in total, I think.

I shall stay in bed until about 9am and then go and make a good sustains bowl of porridge.