Just been sitting here in Oxford watching a *very* heavy snowfall, with thunder and lightning. That's going to make it fun to get home. I live an hour's drive away.
The roads have quite a thick covering of snow already, and it is getting worse. (I had a feeling that I should have brought my Range Rover this morning). However I'm going to wait until the traffic dies down a bit before deciding what to do. If I'm lucky then the trains might still be running, although as any moodlers in the UK know, trains in the UK are not too good these days.
Anyone else got bad weather? I hear the US East Coast is pretty chilly at the moment.
Oxford Beardie
Hi Sean,
How are ya? Don't forget to throw a snowball at someone waiting for a slow train to somewhere. Thunder & lightning in a snow storm event is rare here. The convection currents, in the Atlantic, that moderate your weather are doing odd things presently so who knows what'll happen next.
Yeah, they're chillin' in the East. The Canadian prairies are pretty fresh too but the mosquitos aren't very bad right now.
Here's a link to a weathercam in Ipswich. By golly, that is snow on the ground.
Here's a link to my weathercam in southern Alberta. It's currently showing a view of my remote thermometer located in my yard. Usually the camera looks out my window at the street.
The weather's reminding humans everywhere how puny we really are. It's always fun to watch and usually quite interesting.
Weather Fact: The Canadian prairies start warming up in two weeks. After Feb 15 the mean temp begins to rise until August 15 when it begins to cool again.
Weather Fact: Currently my location gains 3 minutes of daylight per day as we move towards springtime.
I love the weather, please forgive the shameless promotion of my, Moodle based, weather site.
Thanks for the heads up on the weather, take some pictures and send them to me if you can, weather@eyrespace.com . That goes for anybody else reading this too.
Good luck on the trip home. Remember, throw snowball then duck...
John
PS. I'm posting this using a 28.8 dial-up connection, first time in a year and a half on dial-up. It's not so bad really. Just trying it out as I may switch from my very un-reliable cable provider. Speed is nice but reliability is more important. Ciao, cheerio, ta, adios, sayonora etc.
How are ya? Don't forget to throw a snowball at someone waiting for a slow train to somewhere. Thunder & lightning in a snow storm event is rare here. The convection currents, in the Atlantic, that moderate your weather are doing odd things presently so who knows what'll happen next.
Yeah, they're chillin' in the East. The Canadian prairies are pretty fresh too but the mosquitos aren't very bad right now.
Here's a link to a weathercam in Ipswich. By golly, that is snow on the ground.
Here's a link to my weathercam in southern Alberta. It's currently showing a view of my remote thermometer located in my yard. Usually the camera looks out my window at the street.
The weather's reminding humans everywhere how puny we really are. It's always fun to watch and usually quite interesting.
Weather Fact: The Canadian prairies start warming up in two weeks. After Feb 15 the mean temp begins to rise until August 15 when it begins to cool again.
Weather Fact: Currently my location gains 3 minutes of daylight per day as we move towards springtime.
I love the weather, please forgive the shameless promotion of my, Moodle based, weather site.
Thanks for the heads up on the weather, take some pictures and send them to me if you can, weather@eyrespace.com . That goes for anybody else reading this too.
Good luck on the trip home. Remember, throw snowball then duck...
John
PS. I'm posting this using a 28.8 dial-up connection, first time in a year and a half on dial-up. It's not so bad really. Just trying it out as I may switch from my very un-reliable cable provider. Speed is nice but reliability is more important. Ciao, cheerio, ta, adios, sayonora etc.
Hi John,
Well, I got home ok. It took me three hours. It actually took me over an hour simply to get out of Oxford, as all the major junctions were iced up, cars were sliding about and so on. Despite the Highways Agency's assurance that "All major roads and motorways have been salted and gritted" the main road from Oxford to Swindon was covered in ice and snow all the way home. I spent a lot of the journey trundling along at 20mph.
It's not so bad this morning. Only two hours to get in.
Sean K
Well, I got home ok. It took me three hours. It actually took me over an hour simply to get out of Oxford, as all the major junctions were iced up, cars were sliding about and so on. Despite the Highways Agency's assurance that "All major roads and motorways have been salted and gritted" the main road from Oxford to Swindon was covered in ice and snow all the way home. I spent a lot of the journey trundling along at 20mph.
It's not so bad this morning. Only two hours to get in.
Sean K
It is interesting that you are experiencing the thunder and lightning with the snow - we experienced the same thing way across the pond in northern Ohio on Tues morning, 01-27-2004.
We get brutal winter weather here in Ohio in the winter months - not a huge amount of snow but very cold (it has been 12-15 degrees F [~ -10 C] for highs for the past several days prior to yesterday). And the temperature is made much worse by the wind chills with winds often from 15-30 mph. I have heard that the weather in England is much milder in both summer and winter than in the midwest US. Is snow an unusual occurence there?
We get brutal winter weather here in Ohio in the winter months - not a huge amount of snow but very cold (it has been 12-15 degrees F [~ -10 C] for highs for the past several days prior to yesterday). And the temperature is made much worse by the wind chills with winds often from 15-30 mph. I have heard that the weather in England is much milder in both summer and winter than in the midwest US. Is snow an unusual occurence there?
We don;t usually get much snow this far south. In northern England and in Scotland yes...and on the mountains in Wales...but in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire, (where I work and live, respectively) it is pretty rare. Traditionally the weather in the UK is quite mild...but it has been getting more extreme for a few years now.
Oxford Beardie
Oxford Beardie
I'm at the AISI conference in Edmonton Alberta Canada. -34 C last night and -28 during the day. Have not experienced this type of weather in 30 years, living in warm "Sunny" or should I say rainy Vancouver.
The conf. is very good. Neil Longevin will be doing a presentation on Moodle on friday. Looking forward to it.
http://www.learning.gov.ab.ca/k_12/special/aisi/conference.asp
The conf. is very good. Neil Longevin will be doing a presentation on Moodle on friday. Looking forward to it.
http://www.learning.gov.ab.ca/k_12/special/aisi/conference.asp
Hey Paul,
I am from Oho too, yes it is cold by the lakes. We are on a two hour delay today so I am in no rush to get too school this morning. I see your by Cleveland thats not to far from where I am.
I am from Oho too, yes it is cold by the lakes. We are on a two hour delay today so I am in no rush to get too school this morning. I see your by Cleveland thats not to far from where I am.
I live in Virginia and we have been blizted the past several days, freezing temp's as well. Washington D.C. was closed for business yesterday and Monday. We have wanted to send Mr. Bush to Mars, however, if the snow remains perhaps that will do.
Hey Bryan, I think Ohio has first dibs on sending Bush to Mars 
! I think the sign ("Send Bush to Mars") first appeared on the national news when Bush gave a speech at Owens Technical College in Toledo, Ohio. There were many protesters outside and one of them was holding that sign which, of course, made the national news.
! I think the sign ("Send Bush to Mars") first appeared on the national news when Bush gave a speech at Owens Technical College in Toledo, Ohio. There were many protesters outside and one of them was holding that sign which, of course, made the national news.
Well, ok, you guy have first dibs! Important thing is to make sure you give him a good send off. And hey, if any of his family members want to tag along, find room.
I was meant to drive to Bristol from Birmingham last night, drove optimistically out of my house to discover gridlock - I imagine the gritters were busy all day doing the motorways round here, didn't get to the major roads in town. During the day it snowed, melted, snowed again and froze solid - you can imagine the accidents which blocked the roads up. It started at 4pm, still hadn't cleared by the early hours 
according to the news.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/weather/snow.shtml
some pics...
Here in Birmingham UK its usually mild, we usually get about 2 weeks of hot weather in summer and 2 weeks of snow in winter (varies a lot) - in the other 48 weeks of the year we seem to forget how to deal with weather...
Hi Richard,
Thanks for the links to the pictures! Some great shots there. The BBC also provides access to several webcams and I'll be integrating them into the European Weathercams - UK section of International Weather. Thanks for the stories everyone. The weather's great fun eh?
John
Thanks for the links to the pictures! Some great shots there. The BBC also provides access to several webcams and I'll be integrating them into the European Weathercams - UK section of International Weather. Thanks for the stories everyone. The weather's great fun eh?
John
All the snow is gone now, in my part of England. Torrential rain washed it away, causing flood warnings in many parts of the country. And for the past cpuple of days we have been getting gale and storm force winds. What fun...
Oxford Beardie
Oxford Beardie
Hey Sean,
Glad to hear you made it home but too bad for the missed opportunity for a snowball fight.
You asked about bad weather so here's a picture of how it affects the wildlife.
The picture attempts to show some deer tracks coming to the bird feeder in my back yard to eat birdfeed that falls on the ground. There is a closeup of the tracks pasted in top. The deer get pretty desperate if it stays this cold for a few days. This deer visited my feeder last night.
The current temperature is -19oC and this is the warmest it's been in 4 days. It's been hitting -30oC every night.
John
Glad to hear you made it home but too bad for the missed opportunity for a snowball fight.
You asked about bad weather so here's a picture of how it affects the wildlife.
The picture attempts to show some deer tracks coming to the bird feeder in my back yard to eat birdfeed that falls on the ground. There is a closeup of the tracks pasted in top. The deer get pretty desperate if it stays this cold for a few days. This deer visited my feeder last night.
The current temperature is -19oC and this is the warmest it's been in 4 days. It's been hitting -30oC every night.
John
deerfeeder.jpg
Hi John
You did not get me a nice warm welcome in your province. -38 in Edmonton last night. And yes you are right, some of the teacher tell me that they have 38 students in a class.
.
The conference is very good.
You did not get me a nice warm welcome in your province. -38 in Edmonton last night. And yes you are right, some of the teacher tell me that they have 38 students in a class.
. The conference is very good.
Sorry man, I tried, I really did. Ouch, -34oC is a little fresh for a west coaster, even a transplanted one.
It's shameful to see 38 kids in a class built for 24. I believe we'll pay dearly for that in the future. Unfortunately the kids will really pay.
When's the conference over? It's supposed to warm up in a week or so. Hey, at least it's not raining.
Have a great time at the conference and stay warm.
John
It's shameful to see 38 kids in a class built for 24. I believe we'll pay dearly for that in the future. Unfortunately the kids will really pay.
When's the conference over? It's supposed to warm up in a week or so. Hey, at least it's not raining.
Have a great time at the conference and stay warm.
John
I love snow, pity it never gets cold enough in Western Australia.
Last time I saw it was in Harbin, China when we visited the Ice Festival.
Last time I saw it was in Harbin, China when we visited the Ice Festival.
Hi Martin,
You've never gotten a chance to go to the Australian slopes, Mt. Buller for example? How far away is that from you? The only reason I even know about Buller is I saw a ski-jumping competition on tv recently.
I'd love to go the Ice Festival. Now those folks know how to celebrate winter. Some awesome sculptures in those images. It sounds like they have a climate very similar to ours.
I remember your pictures of the snowman in China.
All of our really big snowfalls come in the late spring. These were taken May 7 '02. This poor Robin in front of me on the sidewalk got fed up and came into the garage with me and had a smoke and stayed for awhile, she slept in the garage and was still there the next morning. She was waiting for spring I guess...
You've never gotten a chance to go to the Australian slopes, Mt. Buller for example? How far away is that from you? The only reason I even know about Buller is I saw a ski-jumping competition on tv recently.
I'd love to go the Ice Festival. Now those folks know how to celebrate winter. Some awesome sculptures in those images. It sounds like they have a climate very similar to ours.
I remember your pictures of the snowman in China.
All of our really big snowfalls come in the late spring. These were taken May 7 '02. This poor Robin in front of me on the sidewalk got fed up and came into the garage with me and had a smoke and stayed for awhile, she slept in the garage and was still there the next morning. She was waiting for spring I guess...
Sometimes I think I'd rather live in the desert...
Nah, the mountains with snow are right on the opposite side of the continent. 
Thanks for the virtual visit to your snowy part of the world!
Thanks for the virtual visit to your snowy part of the world!
Hi,
In Sweden we're used to snow and ice. That's the normal situation for us from November to April. You have to make the best of it John. Every first Sunday in March 15 000 skiers arrive at Mora, Sweden after having skied 90 kilometers. Some are so exhausted they don't know where they are 
.
How about collecting to a starting fee for Martin in the Vasa Ski Race 
? Don't you think he might need some exercise?
We are skating as well, Skating on the Siljan Lake
When do I get to see 15 000 Moodlers getting together in Dalecarlia Winter Wonder Land? Just joking...
Brrrrrr... Anders
I learned to make the best of it some time ago, I've worked outdoors my whole life. The coldest temperature recorded while I was working outside was -45oC and I worked an 8 hour shift. That was the winter of '97, I was in the central interior of B.C. at the time.
The best thing about snow: http://www.panlogic.net/yellowsnow/peeindex.html
And it's refreshing when it's really cold weather
- Janne -
Very funny...
Anders
This is a picture sent to me today by a relative in Ontario, Canada.
It's been so cold there, for so long, that they've used all of their
firewood and they've started to burn the furniture.
(edited to reflect the correct image location)
In reply to John Gone
Re: How cold is it? They're burning the furniture in Canada!
by D.I. von Briesen -
Here in Charlotte we just got 15 inches in 15 hours- closed the school at 1pm and kicked us all out into gridlock. Now the sun is out and shining - there were 4000 car accidents and 4 fatalaties (in cars). Kids have made snow cream, and heard stories about how when I was little we had contests to see who could go the farthest barefoot ... (you'd get farther if you forgot you had to get back...).
d.i.