Snow West Moors/East Dorset 17-18MAR2018

[Martin Rowley [West Moors/East Dorset]]

... Just for once, the " 1:10 " ratio worked this morning - with the 'right' kind of snow :-)

Average snow depth around the gauge was = 5 cm [varying between 4 and 6 cm, isolated 8 cm on surfaces that had no heat store component, e.g., tops of outside storage boxes].

After the usual problematic 'melting snow by adding measured amounts of tepid water' method, managed to get a total of 5 mm of equivalent rain in gauge!

Hate these occasions when it's actually snowing at 09Z, but fortunately although we had had 90 minutes or so of moderate snow beforehand, whilst I was tramping about outside it had eased considerably.

Very few flakes now (1040Z), and looks a picture outside. No particular impact on roads/paving as the stored heat is leaching through and we've actually got a very slight melt going on!

Martin.

[Martin Rowley [West Moors/East Dorset]]

... (1800Z): considerable melting after midday due mainly to heat working on the cover from that stored in the soil. Now <half-cover/patchy and generally 1 to 2 cm at most where remaining. Looks like we might get a bit more in a few hours time though as another finger of snow works westward.

Martin.