On Weather & Climate Through the Eyes of Mark Vogan
TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS: The low at my house stopped at a new all-time low of 3 degrees (-16.1C). My high topped 20 degrees (-6C) which makes for the coldest high of season and second coldest high on record, 2nd only to a 19-degree high on January 8th, 2010.
Whilst at Douglas, South Lanarkshire this morning, my truck was reading -16C, Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway was reading -14C, Edinburgh -14C, Glasgow (officially) -13C but in George Square, Glasgow city centre readings were apparently reading -15.9C. There was reports of areas in South Lanarkshire which were reading -18C whilst diesel was starting to freeze up in buses in Jedburgh in the Borders, Strathallan, Perthshire officially was reading -18C. At just after 10.30am this morning, at home, it was still 7 degrees and at noon, Bishopton, Renfrewshire was still at 14 degrees (-10C). According to BBC Scotland, a trucker had stopped and lit a fire under his fueltank in order to keep the diesel from freezing, I believe this was on the A80 this morning!
DRIVING & WALKING WARNING!
Don't be fooled, though milder air returns, this poses more ice danger!
ALSO: MARK VOGAN LOOKS AT THE CIRCUMSTANCES BEHIND SUCH AN EXTREME EVENT
Having spoken with folks in work and outwith, many of you are of course excited about the thought of temperatures above freezing, perhaps even some rain. Yes, though milder air will arrive on the heels of another frigid night that will be just as cold, if not even colder than last night... REMEMBER, ground temperatures, that includes roads as well as pavements are super cold and ice that's lying "thick and as hard as concrete" on road surfaces won't be going anywhere fast. Therefore I can't warn folks reading this enough, TAKE IT REAL EASY on those roads as warmer air can in fact pose even more danger as moisture that lands on these extremely cold surfaces will easily freeze and at the very best, simply lie on ice and frozen ground, deeming it hazerdous for both driving and walking on.
MAY BE SLOWER THAN YOU THINK TO WARM UP!
Due to the fact that we've upwards of 12 inches of snow lying on the ground as well as this snow not only well compacted through walking and driving on, but it's frozen solid with recent nights that have saw temperatures surpass 30-degrees below normal for early December and therefore not only would we need a tropical downpour to really erode the majority of the snow covering our land but it would also need to be a heatwave.
Many portray this warm up as if we're home and dry, however, we MUST pay attention to the reality of this rather "extreme" situation. That "extreme" situation that laid to the traffic chaos which will are still enduring tonight that started all the way back to Monday morning.
I thought the roads were bad this morning with sheets of ice that had formed from compacted and driven-on snow was nasty enough as traffic heading south early this morning (around 5am) was bad enough, then it came to driving the same stretch of M74 back into Glasgow this afternoon where the temperature at Happendon services where I joined the northbound carriageway was reading -9C, that was at 2.20pm only to find an even worse ice situation on the motorway with real thick "sheets of ice" that lay chunky on both lanes, making my truck not only slip and slide despite crawling at under 30 miles per hour but the vibrations shuddering through the truck made me think, this can't be good for the actual vehicle.
The lack of heat in the air and the savage cold which set in straight after sunset by has, sure enough deemed this entire weather situation "the perfect storm" because this was'nt normal by any stretch of the British imagination. We normally see snow come and go, or at least a melting process afterwards by day. Nights even during last winter's cold, dropped to perhaps -10C in Glasgow and Edinburgh, whilst last night it was likely on-average around -14 to -16C over this increasingly compact snowcover on already extremely cold road surfaces, thus no melting, just constant freezing, freezing freezing.. Traffic persistently driving on this snowcover which ploughs and gritters were unable to clear because of jammed up roads as the snow hit, meant, they had no chance of getting rid or aiding in making this situation less severe.
Straight after the snow came, a deep push of Arctic air followed on the backside of this snowstorm, thus locking in severe cold... During more typical snowfalls, temps, would have slowly dropped and also ploughs and gritters would have had a chance in getting roads clear. The timing was esentially the killer in all this!
Weather Talk
By Mark Vogan
This morning's 3 degree low was an incredible 34 below normal!
This morning produced a low here at my house that I never thought would ever be achieved. Conditions were about as perfect as it ever will be here for an interior community tucked at the foot of the Campsie Fells and within the heart of the Central Lowlands of Scotland.
After a very cold start yesterday morning of 8 degrees which in itself broke last year's coldest reading by an easy 4 degrees, the potential for just how low temperatures can go in this air mass was displayed. Yesterday saw a slow warm-up with my little icy thermometer still reading a numbing 14 degrees as late as 11.30am and only warmed to 21 degrees by mid-afternoon. However it was just prior to sunset when I realised the potential; was there for what could be a rare night for not only here in Lennoxtown but across Central Scotland as it appeared the stage was set with crystal clear skies, a cold base set during the day with minimal warming and with deep snowcover and a bitter air mass firmly established, I believed low single digits or perhaps a zero was possible... Indeed by sunset, the mercury plunged from the upper teens to low teens in a matter of an hour and a half, then the cooling process slowed down as the air grew ever colder. By mid evening, fog, began showing on the southern horizon, however this fog came and went and always stayed south of here, despite literally circling the house off and on all night.
Whilst sleeping, the temperature slowly fell, making for an Arctic look outside as iccicles hung down over my bedroom window and puffs of steam blew out of house vents every so often, creating a bitter look outside. By the time I rose and got up in what was a "stone cold" house, I checked the temperature and it was reading 5.4 degrees, ouch. That sure is cold for our part of the world. Once dressed appropriatly, I stepped outside. Few times do I ever really feel pain when stepping out into the cold and for the first in a long time, did I step out this morning and it hurt as I breathed in and felt the hairs inside my nose tingle, hands sting instantly, face feel like it's burning slightly and the cold penetrate through my trousers. Whilst opening my car door, it stuck a little in the severe frost that incrusted my little vauxhall corsa. Luckily, he started, albeit, it took a little extra effort, but he did start. I ran the engine and heat full blast for a solid 15 to 20 minutes before venturing onto the frozen, snowcovered streets and between my house and all the way into Glasgow, it had taken all that time for my windscreen to clear of frost!
The city of Glasgow just looked like a city in the Arctic, shrouded in steam, it was an amazing sight and one which simply looked COLD!
I'VE NEVER SEEN SUCH HORRENDOUS ROAD CONDITIONS TO WHAT I SAW ON THE M74 THIS AFTERNOON, IT WAS LIKE AN ICE RINK!
It was basically the same on all central Scotland roads this afternoon with reports regularly coming in of jackkniffed lorries as even at very low speed, I felt the truck slip as well as in my car on the way home. My car got stuck breifly as I had stopped in a crevas in the ice. I also saw a lorry overturned on the M74 and lorries slidding about as they came onto the motorway.
The Extremes of the Day
Today's US Extremes
Courtesy of AccuWeather
High: 83 degrees at Rialto, CA
Low: -18 degrees at Orr, MN
Today's UK Extremes
Courtesy of the Met Office
High: 44 degrees (6.6C) at Isles of Scilly
Cold High: 18 degrees (-7.9C) at Carlisle (Cumbria)
Low: -1 degree (-18.3C) at Tyndrum (Stirlingshire)
Today's Extremes here at my house
High: 20 degrees
Low: 3 degrees
TODAY'S CONDITIONS
Snowcover: 8 inches
A TRULY FRIGID START AND SOME 34 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL! DESPITE A PERFECT SUNNY DAY, HOAR FROIST LAY THICK ON TREES AND THERE WAS MINAL HEATING THROUGHOUT THE DAY ACROSS THE CENTRAL REGION WITH A 10.30AM READING OF ONLY 7 DEGREES STILL AT THE HOUSE, A 14 DEGREE READING REPORTED AT BISHOPTON AND EVEN AT 2.20PM, MY TRUCK WAS READING 15 DEGREES AT HAPPENDON SERVICES IN S. LANARKSHIRE. ANOTHER BRUTALLY COLD NIGHT IS IN STORE TONIGHT BEFORE MILDER ATLANTIC AIR MOVES IN TOMORROW!
Thanks for reading.
-Mark
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