in case you haven't heard...

[stuck]

...there's more than just a little bit of in this part of the world
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/york/hi/peo ... 388401.stm

Ken

[HansV]

A sculpture of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great can be seen in front of the grassy area.

Grassy area?

(We've had an inch or two of snow on Monday, and since it's freezing it's still there, very unusual so early in the winter - usually the snow melts away within an hour or so. Is this going to be the second severe winter in a row?)

[StuartR]

I had to go round to my Dad's house this morning, to dig his car out of the snow so he could go out.

[Leif]

From the same page, is the BBC Radio York bus webcam for real? The date-stamp on the image appears to be the 17th of June, 1981....

[HansV]

I guess the clock battery ran out...

The cars in that picture don't look like they're from 1981 (apart from the fact that there were no webcams in 1981...)

[HansV]

The one from Swaledale looks spectacular, by the way:

swaledale.jpg

[Leif]

I guess the clock battery ran out...

Nah, I think it's just Yorkshire. Thirty years behind the rest of the country....

[StuartR]

...Nah, I think it's just Yorkshire. Thirty years behind the rest of the country....

AND proud of it!

[stuck]

I typed a reply to Hans first message, along the lines of ~10cm has fallen this morning alone, plus it's snowed everyday since Saturday and that I was leaving work so I could get home in daylight but it seems to have been lost in a snow drift

Anyway... once I cleared the snow off the car it wasn't too bad. My normal 10 min drive home only took about 20 mins. the road was wet & slushy so the tyres were more or less in contact with Tarmac. Unlike Saturday evening...

That was scary. I stupidly took the back road home from the city centre at about 7;30pm. It was already -8degC and the road was like glass. Even at 15 mph the steering was a light as a feather. That normally 20 min trip took me nearly an hour.

Ken

[Leif]

Talking of driving, I am quite surprised and dismayed at how difficult it is to get winter tyres in this country. They don't 'alf make a difference....

[Bowlie]

The view from my kitchen window this morning, about 20cms overnight, at least another 10 during the day ...

[HansV]

Bowlie, nice picture. Is that much snow at this time of the year normal for your part of Switzerland?

[Bowlie]

Late Nov/Early Dec is very early for any snow in/around Geneva. Maybe the tops of the Jura, and definitely the Alps will have snow, but not down here! We are quite low here around 380m (1250 ft). I usually shovel 3 or 4 times a year, last year it was 6 times so this is part of a trend. I shoveled the drive 4 times today, it just wouldn't stop.

I don't even have my snow tyres/tires on yet. Have an appointment for Friday, hope there is less snow so I can get to the place to have my snows put on

Geneva airport closed at 20h30 last night, and won't reopen until 06h00 tomorrow, if ever! Only the third time in history that it's closed for more than 24h.

[PaulB]

Beautiful picture, Bowlie. It would make a great Christmas card to send to family and friends.

While you Europeans have my sympathy for all the snow you've been getting, what appears to have fallen in front of York Minster would only qualify as a 'light dusting' of snow here... if we ever get any. Nothing but miserable rain today. I might have to go out and mow the lawn again. Very unusual for December.

[Bowlie]

Beautiful picture, Bowlie. It would make a great Christmas card to send to family and friends.

While you Europeans have my sympathy for all the snow you've been getting, what appears to have fallen in front of York Minster would only qualify as a 'light dusting' of snow here... if we ever get any. Nothing but miserable rain today. I might have to go out and mow the lawn again. Very unusual for December.

And I thought Ottawa was the coldest capital city on the planet ... (and I've been there in February!)

Problem here is that such snowfalls are very unusual, even in Jan/Feb, so they just don't have the fancy machines to deal with it. The biggest problem is what to do with all the snow that is shoveled! It needs to go somewhere. Apparently the reason why Geneva airport is still closed is that they don't have anywhere to dump the snow cleared from the runways / ramps. Environment laws forbid dumping it just anywhere.

[Goshute]

We are also having good snow in the Rockies. For the first time in years, I have been skiing twice, in good to great conditions, before the end of November. Here are some experts at my resort of choice taken about November 29, showing how good the snow is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RaYOGqdfVw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(What they don't show is that to get to the first area shown is a quarter mile hike, and to get from there to the second area under the lift you have to negotiate some short cliff bands. Which is why I don't go to this particular area. If those cliffs weren't there you couldn't keep me away.)

[jonwallace]

Just a wee bit here...

back.jpg

Since this was taken the street has been ploughed and the wheels are no longer visible...

car.jpg

I had actually cleaned the car off on Sunday when I tackled the hellish journey of taking my grandson home. I think the problem is we're just not used to weather like this here.

[wasbit]

Don't know what you are all worried about.

Shiver - 05 Found yet more cars.jpg

Shiver - 09 Scraping the windscreen.jpg

Who left the window open?

[PaulB]

And I thought Ottawa was the coldest capital city on the planet ... (and I've been there in February!)

Moscow and Ottawa usually fight over that honour every year, each hoping the other will win. Cold and rain is the problem. If all this rain turns to freezing rain and ice we're in deep trouble. Snow is not nice at the best of times but is much easier to navigate than glaring ice or black ice. Even snow tires don't help very much under those conditions. Enjoy your nice weather!

[DaveA]

We are also having good snow in the Rockies. For the first time in years, I have been skiing twice, in good to great conditions, before the end of November. Here are some experts at my resort of choice taken about November 29, showing how good the snow is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RaYOGqdfVw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(What they don't show is that to get to the first area shown is a quarter mile hike, and to get from there to the second area under the lift you have to negotiate some short cliff bands. Which is why I don't go to this particular area. If those cliffs weren't there you couldn't keep me away.)

Yes, the storm you are having is the one we in the Greater Seattle area had a few days before. It brought Seattle to a stand still. Some people did not get home from work until the next day. Most of the traffic problems involved the Metro buses, and several of the stalled ones had a "We will get you there" ad on the side of the bus. For this area, when it gets below the "20's", thing just do not move much. This all happened on Monday before Thanksgiving, but things cleared up enough that all was able to the stores and then on Thursday were able to get with their family for the Holiday.

Some of the flights were grounded at SeaTac, as the crews and staff we not able to get to the airport.