I don't know what it's like where you are...

[jonwallace]

...but it's snowing here. 20 minutes ago there wasn't a cloud in the sky and last week the temperatures reached a record high for March in the UK. Now it's snowing.

Actually, it takes me back to one Easter as a kid. On this occasion, my family (2 parents, me and my brother) piled in the family car and joined a convoy of my mum's two sisters and their family to go for an Easter picnic and find someplace to roll our Easter eggs. After what seemed like hours, we all pulled up at the side of a loch with a flat bit and a wee hill.

Parents dug the rugs and primus stoves out of the cars, aunties retired behind a convenient tree for whatever they do there Kids ran about like maniacs. The kettles were on and the picnic stuff spread out along the roadside (the 60's were different times). One of my aunties glanced up the glen to the top of the loch and screamed.

There rushing towards us, like a hollywood special effect, was a wall of cloud. Everything was hastily gathered up (not easy for a primus stove) and everybody dived into cars just as the blizzard swept over us. I think it took twice as long to get home as it did to get there, but at least we didn't have to make the tea when we got in, we just unpacked the sandwiches and ate them.

Back in 2021, the sun's just come out again...

[HansV]

More or less the same here. Last Wednesday, it was 24°C, and today it has been snowing on and off, with the odd ray of sunshine in between. Temperature drops to around 0°C while it's snowing.

[BobH]

We shipped a bit of Texas weather to you guys for your enjoyment.

[jstevens]

More or less the same here... Temperature drops to around 0°C while it's snowing.

Then I won't mention what it is here.

[ChrisGreaves]

We shipped a bit of Texas weather to you guys for your enjoyment.

Bob, if only you'd shipped it surface instead of by air, we could have enjoyed it as it swooshed by us.
(signed) "Grumpy" of Bonavista.

[Argus]

...but it's snowing here. 20 minutes ago there wasn't a cloud in the sky and last week the temperatures reached a record high for March in the UK. Now it's snowing.
[...]
Back in 2021, the sun's just come out again...

Great story.
It's called "April weather" here. Last month was rather warm here, as well, spring was early. This morning: 20 cm snow in the middle of the country; some lorries and cars piled up; very minor amount of snow at my place though.

SVT 20210405.PNG

[StuartR]

A few snowflakes here in North East London too

[BobH]

Beautiful here today. It will be about 10 degrees (F) warmer by the weekend with higher humidity.

weather 5 apr (465 x 385).jpg

[GeoffW]

A few snowflakes here in North East London too

I thought political discussions weren't allowed?

[StuartR]

And you can't get much more political than the weather Geoff

[Argus]

We shipped a bit of Texas weather to you guys for your enjoyment.

BTW, I don't know; a high pressure system is parked in the Atlantic and a low pressure in Northern Scandinavia = open gates from the Arctic. If anything your high pressure didn't reach us.

(I can understand the contrast on the continent (Germany & Northwest Europe); but we didn't have above 25°C a week ago, perhaps 18-19°C some day, in some place in the south. If anything I think 25+ late March is way too early for northern Europe.*)

* Is this a political statement?

[GeoffW]

And you can't get much more political than the weather Geoff

It's a feature of an evolving language that words (like snowflake) get co-opted into an entirely different usage from that originally intended - and that the mere mention of a word in the original context brings a reminder of the word in the new context.

There has been debate recently about products and place names which once had an innocent meaning, but which now have unfortunate overtones.

[StuartR]

Which brings us to Douglas Adams "The meaning of Liff"

[HansV]

Not quite what we expect in April:

April.jpg

[Doc.AElstein]

We have a couple of sayings in Germany, which translate to something along the lines of,
April, April , it does what it likes,
or ,
April, April , it doesn’t know what it wants to do

The Weather this Winter was generally nice and traditional, nice and cold and pretty snow for Winter, and April is doing like the sayings suggest:
We went of at the start of Easter for the seasons first tour in the Sun with our VW Bus. It broke down Friday so we came home early and so luckily did not freeze to death Sunday and Monday night in it , as we likely would have done due to the sudden plummeting in temperature.
This morning I was up early and was very proud to be the first to hurriedly clear our path and all the neighbours paths and drives of the sudden snow fall … but by the time they all work up it had all melted away after a short sharp bit of dazzling Sun, so I had wasted my time… … well it was nice exercise.

[HansV]

In Dutch, we have

"April doet wat hij wil" - April does what it likes

and

"Aprilletje zoet geeft wel eens een witte hoed" - Sweet April sometimes give you a white hat

[StuartR]

In proper English we have

Whan that aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye
(so priketh hem nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende
Of engelond to caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.

[BobH]

Thank you for that, Stuart!

It takes me back to an English literature class when I was 19 years old in Bingham Hall at UNC. Shakespeare and Milton followed Chaucer that sweet Spring 60 years ago.

[ChrisGreaves]

In proper English we have

Whan that aprill with his shoures soote...

Still using Word2003 spiel-cheker are we?
Cheers
Chris

[BobH]

Today . . .

Screenshot 2021-04-07 160700 weather bug.png