{"id":3558,"date":"2013-11-20T10:10:03","date_gmt":"2013-11-20T10:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/?p=3558"},"modified":"2013-11-20T10:13:32","modified_gmt":"2013-11-20T10:13:32","slug":"first-real-signs-of-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/?p=3558","title":{"rendered":"First real signs of Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first half of November 2013 saw fairly typical weather patterns<\/a>. Temperatures were around average and rainfall amounts were slightly below normal. There had been no air frosts<\/a>, and few ground frosts recorded.<\/p>\n

Over the last few days, the first real signs that Winter<\/a> is on the way were noticed when a Cold Front<\/a> drifted south over the area, bringing with it much colder winds from the Arctic. As usual, the media were exaggerating the weather forecasts, promising us the worst weather since 1947, and three months of heavy snow.\u00a0Needless to say, these wildly exaggerated stories show no signs of occurring, but the weather has taken on a more wintry feel as we approach the end of the meteorological Autumn on November 30th.<\/p>\n

\"Snow<\/a>

Snow covered meadows (Photo credit: Alan Rowley Photos)<\/p><\/div>\n

The 19th of the month saw the first air frost<\/a> as the temperature<\/a> plummeted to -2.3\u00b0C at 21:49, the coldest temperature since March 31st when -2.9\u00b0C was recorded. This was short-lived however, and shortly after midnight, increasing cloud and rain saw the temperature rise above freezing.\u00a0November 19th was also a very cold day, the maximum temperature being 4.8\u00b0C\u00a0at 12:43, making it the lowest maximum temperature since April 1st.<\/p>\n

Despite the massive coverage given to the weather recently, in the papers and on television, there is nothing unusual about the weather we have experienced recently. However, one unusual weather event was picked up by the Bracken House webcam on the 18th as the Cold Front sank down across the area.<\/p>\n

This rare event saw clouds moving in two different directions, caused when warmer air rises above the colder air behind the Cold Front. \u00a0This phenomenon is known as ‘wind shear<\/a>‘ \u00a0and can be seen towards the end of \u00a0the YouTube video<\/a> below.<\/p>\n