Snow

[Campbell Ritchie]

Yes, we do get it occasionally. Ruth said two chaps were building an igloo in the little park which my daughter lives opposite.

[Liutauras Vilda]

Oh, this polysterene looks like a snow. Nice one.

[Randy Maddocks]

It does kind of look like polystyrene, I think just because of the way it reflects in the light. But nonetheless looks like it would have taken a lot of patience to build, especially given how thick the walls are. Very cool pic Campbell!

[Campbell Ritchie]

Such a shame the doorway has partially collapsed. That was last night; since then somebody, maybe whoever built it, has repaired the doorway. There were about a dozen children playing round it when I went past.

[Randy Maddocks]

And architecturally these guys seemed to have understood the basic concept of an igloo - entrance is smaller than rest of structure to minimize exposure to the elements. Not bad for a couple of guys who I am guessing have never seen igloos in regions of the world where people actually live in them.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Randy Maddocks wrote:. . . minimize exposure to the elements.

They did manage to build it facing east, into the wind, however.

Not bad . . .

[Randy Maddocks]

Ok, so good architecturally, not so good on their sense of direction with respect to prevailing winds in that area.  

[Campbell Ritchie]

No, the prevailing winds are westerly round here, but this week all the cold has come from the east. Northern Europe is flat, so winds can blow unimpeded from the Urals to Britain.

[Randy Maddocks]

And speaking of cold (and snow): UK Snow and Ice

[Campbell Ritchie]

It is easing off. The temperature is at least 2°C above freezing. All the larger roads around here are clear. The smaller roads still have quite a bit of compacted snow, however, and people are sliding around. At least partially because they insist on trying to pull off in bottom gear with lots of throttle as they would on dry roads.
I also found out about twenty minutes ago that I have a micro‑climate in our garden, which I hadn't noticed before. We have tall hedges to keep the weather in or out, and the street is largely free from ice and snow except a little on the pavements (sidewalks to people in USA). The garden is covered by a 4″ layer of snow except where I cleared the paths, and it feels distinctly colder in the garden than on the street. So the garden isn't quite 2° above freezing. If we had any wind, the micro‑climate would probably dissipate.

[Randy Maddocks]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:At least partially because they insist on trying to pull off in bottom gear with lots of throttle as they would on dry roads

Driving in wintry conditions can be tricky even at the best of times. If you're not used to it, or you presume you can just drive the same as you would in Summer, you can end up in a ditch...or worse. Every year we see that where I live (Canada), especially after the first snow fall.

Some of the most dangerous conditions are when the ground is wet, then you get colder air coming in, causing the surface of the road to freeze. And probably the most deceiving, and scary, is black ice. Unseen until your vehicle actually drives over it, it can send you into a tailspin or sliding into who knows what in front of you. I have hit it before. Nothing feels quite as helpless as when your vehicle is completely out of control, and you can only hope it corrects itself and you don't hit something...or someone.

All that aside, I actually like winter.  

[Campbell Ritchie]

They were threatening what they call freezing rain yesterday. There is a cold layer of air high up, over a warmer layer, but the air near the ground is cold. Snow forming high up melts into rain as it falls into the warm air, and it is supercooled in the colder air. They said on the radio that the water, without nucleation stimuli, can get as cold as −12°C without freezing … until it hits the ground when it turns into sheets of black ice .
It is different on a bicycle. It is easier to ride through fresh snow, but snow which packs down into ice is dangerous. If I venture onto black ice, I can rely on falling off. The sides of the streets are full of snow churned up by wheels; if that freezes it becomes dangerous, rutted hard ice. So that narrows the road considerably. And people round here are much less used to wintry conditions, so they either drive as they would in Summer, or, nearly as bad, insist on doing 5mph on a road which would be safe at 15mph.

[Paul Clapham]

Freezing rain... yeah, we had that about a year ago. We had some snow and then some freezing rain on top of it, and then it stayed cold so that nothing thawed out for over a week. You couldn't ride a bike on it, you couldn't even walk on it. I had to put on crampons just to take the garbage bins out for collection.

[Randy Maddocks]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:... until it hits the ground when it turns into sheets of black ice

Paul Clapham wrote:We had some snow and then some freezing rain on top of it, and then it stayed cold so that nothing thawed out for over a week. You couldn't ride a bike on it, you couldn't even walk on it. I had to put on crampons just to take the garbage bins out for collection.

Freezing rain - one of man's (or woman's) worst fears. Give me a winter of steady -10°C to -20°C temperatures and I can handle that (I am sure some would argue with me on that), with none of that freezing rain/drizzle crap.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Back in January 7 years ago, we had something similar: alternating rain and snow and clear skies, so the wet streets froze really quickly. It was just about possible to walk around, but I couldn't cycle most of the way.

[Randy Maddocks]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:alternating rain and snow and clear skies, so the wet streets froze really quickly

I think that's what takes people by surprise. When it turns bad like that and freezes so quickly we think in our minds it is just wet pavement. It's deceiving, until you go out and try to walk (or cycle, as in your case). Although I give our local media here credit - they are usually pretty good at warning about things like "flash freezes".

[Campbell Ritchie]

I have been around long enough to be suspicious about the combination of wet and clear skies; I expected ice. I still fell over, but was going so slowly I wasn't hurt.

[Randy Maddocks]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:I have been around long enough to be suspicious about the combination of wet and clear skies; I expected ice

That comes with age. Let's fact it, in our youth the word "safety" was not in our dictionary. Slippery pavement was a chance to take a run at it and see how far we could slide...

[Randall Twede]

it reminds me of this last winter. my tent looked like that for a while. totally covered in ice.