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This is my first blog of the 2010/2011 winter, and so far we've had over 2 foot of snow falling. But that means nothing if Christmas is a slushy washout, right?
Well perhaps that's an exaggeration but a white Christmas really would top this month off very nicely. Of course there are three types of white christmas. There's the met office definition of a flake falling at one of their weather stations (initially it was on central London but was widened out to major cities in other parts of the UK creating a major betting market). This can be as lovely as an all day blizzard or as awful as a rainfall with a few flakes mixed in. Edinburgh and Glasgow both saw some flakes last year. The second type is what most of Scotland and northern England had last year - mostly dry, with snow cover. Arguably this is better than the first type but having rutted dirty ice on the ground is not particularly brilliant either. The third type is the one that Bing Crosby dreamt of with such mistaken nostalgia. Deep, crisp and even snow cover with some snowfall on the day also.
What we appear to be looking at for Christmas Day 2010 is generally a colder than average day for most areas.
The general pattern appears to be that high pressure will be situated to the north and east with a major low pressure system approaching from the southwest, and the affectlong range pattern looks to be dependent on the development and placement of a shortwave to the northwest of the UK.http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/Rukm1441.gif The UKMO would give rainfall to the south of England, and possibly a few showers in Eastern England. Scotland would be mostly cold and dry with a few snow showers to northeastern coasts.
With the GFS we end up in a col between cold northeasterlies and a Tropical airmass, meaning largely dry for most of the UK with surface cold. Again, a risk of rain and high ground snow in the far southwest http://www.netweathe...153/h500slp.png http://www.netweathe...138/h500slp.png
The ECM, well it spoils the party somewhat. http://www.wetterzen...cs/Recm1441.gif Low pressure blasts mild air up the core of the UK, leading to a snow to rain event in the north but a speedy thaw further south and west http://www.wetterzen...cs/Recm1441.gif .
Another thing to be considered is the ensembles, which at the moment suggest a Christmas Day breakdown for southern and central Britain, though given their volatility I wouldn't trust this either.
There's a lot of uncertainty clearly as to how things will pan out, but generally, out of 4 santas, each regions chances of a white christmas on the ground (by northern Scotland I would include areas north of Angus) :
South West England(away from the Moors)
South East England(+1/2)
Midlands
Northwest England
Wales
Northern Ireland
Eastern Scotland
Western Scotland(+1/2)
Northeast England
East Anglia(+1/2)
Northern Scotland
Yorkshire
As for snow falling, a much more volatile beast:
Southwest England(+1/2)
Southeast England
Midlands(+1/2)
Northwest England
Wales
Northern Ireland
Eastern Scotland(+1/2)
Western Scotland
Northeast England
East Anglia
Yorkshire
Northern Scotland
These are assuming your average low ground locations in these areas and are mostly conjecture at the moment!
Merry Christmas!
Well perhaps that's an exaggeration but a white Christmas really would top this month off very nicely. Of course there are three types of white christmas. There's the met office definition of a flake falling at one of their weather stations (initially it was on central London but was widened out to major cities in other parts of the UK creating a major betting market). This can be as lovely as an all day blizzard or as awful as a rainfall with a few flakes mixed in. Edinburgh and Glasgow both saw some flakes last year. The second type is what most of Scotland and northern England had last year - mostly dry, with snow cover. Arguably this is better than the first type but having rutted dirty ice on the ground is not particularly brilliant either. The third type is the one that Bing Crosby dreamt of with such mistaken nostalgia. Deep, crisp and even snow cover with some snowfall on the day also.
What we appear to be looking at for Christmas Day 2010 is generally a colder than average day for most areas.
The general pattern appears to be that high pressure will be situated to the north and east with a major low pressure system approaching from the southwest, and the affectlong range pattern looks to be dependent on the development and placement of a shortwave to the northwest of the UK.http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/Rukm1441.gif The UKMO would give rainfall to the south of England, and possibly a few showers in Eastern England. Scotland would be mostly cold and dry with a few snow showers to northeastern coasts.
With the GFS we end up in a col between cold northeasterlies and a Tropical airmass, meaning largely dry for most of the UK with surface cold. Again, a risk of rain and high ground snow in the far southwest http://www.netweathe...153/h500slp.png http://www.netweathe...138/h500slp.png
The ECM, well it spoils the party somewhat. http://www.wetterzen...cs/Recm1441.gif Low pressure blasts mild air up the core of the UK, leading to a snow to rain event in the north but a speedy thaw further south and west http://www.wetterzen...cs/Recm1441.gif .
Another thing to be considered is the ensembles, which at the moment suggest a Christmas Day breakdown for southern and central Britain, though given their volatility I wouldn't trust this either.
There's a lot of uncertainty clearly as to how things will pan out, but generally, out of 4 santas, each regions chances of a white christmas on the ground (by northern Scotland I would include areas north of Angus) :
South West England(away from the Moors)
South East England
(+1/2)Midlands
Northwest England
Wales
Northern Ireland
Eastern Scotland
Western Scotland
(+1/2)Northeast England
East Anglia
(+1/2)Northern Scotland
Yorkshire
As for snow falling, a much more volatile beast:
Southwest England
(+1/2)Southeast England
Midlands
(+1/2)Northwest England
Wales
Northern Ireland
Eastern Scotland
(+1/2)Western Scotland
Northeast England
East Anglia
Yorkshire
Northern Scotland
These are assuming your average low ground locations in these areas and are mostly conjecture at the moment!
Merry Christmas!
