Weather February 2010

[Sinchets]

We had an interesting weekend here in the Balkans. After major snow melt last week, which lead to avalanche warnings in the mountains and several fatalities there, we had more snow over the weekend. The north of the country was hit the hardest, with 65cm of snowfall reported in one area. We were luckier receiving only 20cm of fresh snow, so the Crocus are now all back under their blankets ready for the low temperatures forecast for tomorrow. At the end of the week the next system, which is currently bringing rain to Italy, will bring us milder weather and heavy rain/ sleet. Flood warnings have been issued along the major river courses.           

[Ragged Robin]

Lots of avalanches around the area here too, Simon, and several fatalities even with avalanches across maintained pistes as the temperatures fluctuate from minus to plus and the snow is either icy or slushy - one young chap survived an avalanche in Evolene for 17 hours, trapped in an unusually large air pocket under 50 cms of snow, a miracle.  More snow on the way....

[Sinchets]

I suppose that will be the snow we are forecast for next week- thankfully the weather systems from the Med are starting to move back up so we should be mild enough for it not to hang around too long! We are actually as far south as Marseilles and Cannes- but those darned mountains do get in the way of the good weather 

[Maggi Young]

Forumist Jim McKenney in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, (39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7 ) has been having an unpleasant time with the bad weather... their electricity was out for 60 hours last weekend and after the briefest of respites more snow was forecast.... so the likelhood was of more misery.
As Jim reported elsewhere, his dog, Bicuit is around nine inches ( 23cms) at the shoulder....the snow then was two foot deep ( c 60cms)...nasty shock for her when venturing outside....... Lily and Molly, respectively  11 and 9 inches ( 28 and 23 cms) at the shoulder, wish to send Biscuit their sympathy!  

...... I suppose we must extend that to the human members of the McK. household, also! 

[Sinchets]

Our main weather news on TV today was about the villages in the northeast of Bulgaria which had 65cm of fresh snow over the weekend. They had also had blizzards and sveral villages had been cut off from the outside world for the last few days with 2m snowdrifts on the roads. The local councils haven't enough funding to clear the roads, so they will have to be left to clear naturally.
Tonight we have gale force winds bringing warm air form the south. Temperatures could reach 10C tomorrow and flood warnings have been issued for all major rivers- with an expected increase of 1m in some river levels due to meltwater and rain. This kind of end to winter doesn't happen often and lets hope it stays that way.

[cohan]

see people think my winter is bad--but there hasn't been a single day that the roads were even hard to drive on (in the country, cities are another matter, but i'm not in one daily...), no power outages (very rare in winter), no frozen pipes that couldn't be dealt with in under an hour, and shouldn't be any plants dying that normally survive here...

of course the season is 6 or 7 months long..

good luck to all of you with your troublesome winters! hope its over soon..

[Luc Gilgemyn]

We've got 7 cm fresh snow this morning and we're complaining... 

[Ragged Robin]

8cm here but no complaints 'cause the sun's out and it looks gorgeous 

[David Nicholson]

No snow here but blerdy cold!

[Paul T]

Got to around 34^oC here today.  Very humid too, which is unusual for here.  It is actually raining lightly outside at this very moment, a rare occurrence (but it probably won't last for long!  )!!

Much as I don't like the warmth at times..... MUCH better than 65cm of snow!!  Seems a world away (which I guess it technically is  )

All the best everyone.

[Sinchets]

We have sunny spells, very strong winds and a shade temperature of +7C. The garden is liquid with snow melt, all of the seasonal streams are running and the pond is overflowing. A happy day with the Crocus which were flowering a few weeks ago Cc. korolkowii, danfordiae and sieberi all opening new flowers. I shall not rejoice too much though, as we have more snow forecast for the weekend.

[SAXIFRAGE at LYMINGE]

20cm of the white stuff this morning and a cold NE Wind here in SE Kent. Got a Snowdrop Day on Sunday at Goodnesston Gardens, we need a good thaw

David

[Lesley Cox]

8cm here but no complaints 'cause the sun's out and it looks gorgeous 

But when some small angels start to whisper in your ear Robin, they'll still get something of a weather shock I think.

[Lesley Cox]

What does "blerdy" mean David?

[David Nicholson]

I was just being polite and not blaspheming Lesley