Pretty good update from JH given the range.
I saw a post about high SSTs at the moment from someone. It was about ten minutes ago so about 15 pages back now. Question - if cold air is flooding down, does that not increase the chance of convective / 'lake effect' snow? I'm hoping for that holy grail, the Thames streamer, but even 'lows in the flow' that come with a good northerly would be good.
Originally Posted by: eddied
Hi. That would have been me, Ive copied my post in the previous MO thread as it got lost amid post 12z FI cold run euphoria, I believe it does answer your question:
I'm seeing charts that although good, and are eye candy compared to what winter season charts have preceded them since March 2013, what will need to be factored in are the sea temperatures. Around the SE coast these stand at around 11c or a good 3-4 c above where they should be following the 2nd mildest November and the mildest December on record. Should we actually get proper cold uppers (say -10 or below) then windward coasts should be on the safe side, but almost all the output shows uppers in the range -4 to -9. For many lowland and coastal districts the air simply would not be cold enough. It will be ok for those at altitude and well inland or in areas in the northern UK with an off shore wind.
There is, to my sceptical eye, a lack of deep cold at present. The flipside is that should we actually get some deep cold then the convection potential will be extreme and some very localised heavy snowfalls would be possible under those circumstances. Personally I will be looking for any trends that bring in North Easterlies, the ECM 240 is good but a world away.
Good as the charts are, I am keeping my feet firmly on the ground, though on a personal level I will welcome any weather that stops the flooding and uber-mild damp crappiness we've had to endure.
WI
Dover, 5m asl. Half a mile from the south coast.