The weather

Sat 3 Mar 2018, 19:11

Harriet you didn't try the B4026 where you could have found some pretty good drifts!

7pm Saturday and it's snowing again here and in Chippy but it won't last.

Fri 2 Mar 2018, 11:33 (last edited on Fri 2 Mar 2018, 12:04)

Not sure what you mean by 'no ice', Harriet. The snowflakes are made up of ice crystals after all (or perhaps individual crystals) and with low ambient humidity sublimation could continue until the air adjacent to the crystal becomes saturated, or the crystal has gone. Saturation would be unlikely unless the air was stagnant.

Fri 2 Mar 2018, 11:15

Tony, I know the reason there's no ice is the ultra low dew points, but wouldn't that also mean no sublimation?

I had high hopes for 1980s style drifts up Banbury Hill with this, but there just wasn't enough.

Fri 2 Mar 2018, 10:44

Meanwhile. . .returning to Nigel's original point:
Kate is, of course right that this has been 'a different sort of snow'. In fact the situation has something in common with the famous (or infamous) 'wrong sort of snow' which caused such problems for British Rail several years ago.
I think Harriet is also right that there is a matter of perception here. True snow fell for a long period yesterday but, apart from a few brief periods, it could only be classified as 'Light' and the flakes were small. The size was characteristic of flakes falling from above into the cold and dry air and shrinking by 'evaporation' (more correctly 'sublimation') as they fell and sublimation would have continued even after they settled. Hence the apparently small accumulation, which doesn't need any 'Force Field' to explain - the answer is much more sublime (sorry, couldn't resist the pun!)

Fri 2 Mar 2018, 09:22

Apparently in very cold dry conditions it's a different sort of snow: the 'normal' snow is crystalline and can interlock - better for snowmen! - but 'dry' snow is formed of hexagonal or multi-sided plates that slide over one another, hence the fact it's drifting more than usual - courtesy of BBC news.

Fri 2 Mar 2018, 09:17

This year it's the drifts caused by the high winds that are the problem, rather than the amount of snowfall. B4026 impassable between Charlbury and Spelsbury unless you have a proper 4x4 with snow chains. I have just helped a Land Rover Defender on his way. Ordinary cars no chance!

Thu 1 Mar 2018, 21:37

Might be the fact that it's winter.

Thu 1 Mar 2018, 20:49

I think that's because your perception of heavy snow is out Nigel. It hasn't snowed as much today as it did in December, and if you were on Dartmoor right now you'd see that dry powder snow can pile up very fast if it comes down heavily enough. People are snowed in there after about 4 hours of snow.

Thu 1 Mar 2018, 20:32

In 1947 food was dropped to Charlbury by plane, so I am told.

Thu 1 Mar 2018, 19:39

No fuss Philip, just interested in the Meteorological phenomenon of ultra dry snow. If we'd had this amount of snowfall last time the drifts would up to the doors of a Range Rover.

Thu 1 Mar 2018, 18:36

What's all the fuss about? In 1963 the snow was several feet deep with drifts up to the top of tractor wheels. in 1985 and 1986 it was deep enough to make the Charlbury - Chippy road single file with passing places for a week or more. We certainly haven't had much yet in Oxfordshire, and even elsewhere in the country the TV pics are more of stranded motorists than any significant depth of snow.

Thu 1 Mar 2018, 18:22

Nigel, there's a huge difference in the amount of snow in my garden & on my paths. I live beyond The Slade - at the top of town, where it's often about a degree colder (even on the Met Office website). Snow has been blowing off surrounding rooftops in a quite impressive way - entirely eradicating my earlier attempts to clear part of my paths.

If there is a force-field, perhaps it's just around your house!

Thu 1 Mar 2018, 17:40

Are there any experts out there who might help an old townie? Its been snowing hard all day, yet there seems little difference in the amount that has settled from this morning. I know its frightfully cold and the snow is very dry, but where is it all going? Do we have some sort of forcefield around us that doesn't let it settle or is there a more likely reason?