We ended up getting a nice amount of snow today! 🙂 Maybe an inch or so? And it was so pretty too. Makes the cold weather worth it. 

The downside is that people did not realize that the snow was the precurser to our temperature dropping. In about two hours it went from 31F to 25F. My husband had to run an errand 2 miles from our house and on the drive there and back he passed three accidents. I couldn't quite blame people because the roads were so patchy. It'd be dry and then an icy spot and then dry and then ice. So yeah.... not a good day to be out and about. 

And now the cold begins.  

We were supposed to have snow starting overnight here, but it's morning now and so far it's a snow no-show.  Typical southern England.

EDIT: I was wrong — after I posted, I looked out the window again and realised it WAS now snowing — and now, a couple of hours after I first looked, it's getting heavier and starting to settle!  

Enjoy your snow, Courtenay!

Our snow certainly isn't going away anytime soon. The dreaded polar vortex has settled over us and we will be way below normal for the next week or two.

It's -10F/-23C at midnight and going down all night. The high yesterday (Monday) was a toasty -4F/-20C. It will be a bit warmer tomorrow before the cold is reinforced later in the week, with highs hovering around 0F for a while.

Yikes, fantasia, ice on the roads is not pleasant, no, preciousssss.

Yay @Courtenay, really glad some snow came. And settled! Is it still there now, a couple of days later?

Posted by: @stargazer

Our snow certainly isn't going away anytime soon.

Ditto, here! The white stuff that fell at the beginning of the New Year has lasted and been added to a number of times, including last night again—soft, white, fluffy stuff. The evergreens were gorgeous this morning—picture-postcard-perfect.

We are fluctuating between bitterly cold (Arctic air) and comfortably cold. The plows are out regularly and keeping the country roads nicely sanded. Those open, unprotected roads invite the biting wind and snow streamers to blast across. We can't see the snow going anywhere for quite awhile now. As long as one is dressed for this weather, it is lovely walking ... that comforting crunch-crunch-crunch of snow beneath one's footwear.  

Cool, grey, and it rained overnight, and going to continue through this morning. It's 8.00 am and I almost need lights on indoors.

It's summer here! 

At least I dont have to water the garden today.

Posted by: @jo

Yay @Courtenay, really glad some snow came. And settled! Is it still there now, a couple of days later?

Ooh yes. Even more snow than we had three years ago, the last time there was a huge amount of it!  

That is @Courtenay! Enjoy! *wishes we had a snowflake emoji*  

-23C / -9.4F last night, and then a slight windchill on top of that. The sky cleared for a small window when I was walking last evening, and, oh my, was it glorious! There is nothing that can compare to a crisply clear, sparkling night sky in mid-winter. Plus, this morning, there was just a touch of hoarfrost again. Beautiful! And what a sunrise!

There is no sign of temperatures anywhere near freezing (Celsius) for a good while now. The backyard ice rinks in our village are being used a-plenty!  

It is properly cold out now. It hasn't been above freezing for several days and every morning we have a fresh dusting of snowflakes swirling around in the air. But the bulk of the lower midwest is about to be just crushed by a record breaking cold front (because it's not cold enough already). Every time I check the extended forecast, Monday's low keeps getting lower and lower. Now they're down to an actual temperature of -16F/-26C. And somewhere I saw a projection that the feel's like temp will be -39F/-39C. Lots of snow too apparently. Possibly up to a foot of the white stuff. 

All I know is that I'm not going anywhere.....  

Well, we're improving--it's gone up to -17C here this morning.  Not as good as some of you are having (brrrr!) but quite enough for me. And of course, this would be the time when the furnace decides to sulk.  Bring on the sweaters!

This weekend will likely be the coldest for us as well, with highs around -5F/-21C, lows around -20F/-29C, and wind chills around -55F/-48C.

At least the snow that falls at this temperature is the light fluffy stuff. But I won't be out too much, except maybe to run the car on occasion to make sure it will still start.

Somebody come get this weather. Us Texans didn't order it. It got lost. They are talking about SINGLE DIGITS and below ZERO wind chills. Oh and up to a 1/2in of ice.

Uhhhh....

We are not insulated for that. We don't know how to drive in that. Our power grid is not weatherized for this.

Last time it hit the low 20s, we got to watch cars go up one side and down the same side. 90-95% if not more of our freeways are elevated.

Send hot chocolate! 

Last time this happened was 39 YEARS ago. I was 8. All the burst pipes... All the houses water damaged... Aiii... I'll take another Harvey over this. 

Pray for us.

Posted by: @starkat

They are talking about SINGLE DIGITS and below ZERO wind chills.

You mean zero Fahrenheit, right?? Gosh, that's about -18°C, which is colder than anything I've ever experienced in my life...

Seriously, I hope it doesn't turn out nearly as bad as you remember from when you were 8 and that the weather gets better very soon. Sending you warmth and virtual hot chocolate!! Take care.

Keep warm and safe, starkat and other Texans! Our usual weather seems to have gone too far south.

Courtenay, you could come here to experience chilly weather. 😉 We won't get as warm as 0F/-18C for a few days yet. Tomorrow may be the coldest Valentine's Day on record (current record low is -25F/-32C and the lowest high for the date is -5F/-21C). We may not reach that record low but that record low high may be in the bag.

We're known for cold, but this rather long stretch of about 96 hours below 0F is being compared to the historic cold stretch of February 1996 (yup, I remember that one. It was really cold!)

Courtnaey, correct. 0F. I've experienced these before in Colorado, but the construction there actually factors in all the cold. It's been 32 years since we've had this kind of cold and with the second storm coming through on Wednesday, it's going to be iffy if we get to keep power that whole time.  My math was off on the 39. That's how old I actually am. Lol. 

We need better insulation. If by some absolute miracle I ever have the money to build my own place, I'm building it up for flooding and INSULATED for this mess. 

Posted by: @stargazer

Courtenay, you could come here to experience chilly weather. 

Where's "here" for you, Stargazer? I am in fact planning to move to the US in the future — the timing isn't clear yet, but hopefully by the end of this year — as I've accepted a job offer in Columbus, Ohio. Which "deals with a variety of weather every year", according to Wikipedia, which could mean anything...  

Meanwhile in south-east England, we're just having our first day of consistently-above-freezing temperatures for about a week and the snow on the ground is starting to melt noticeably. It should be all gone within a few days, especially as there's rain forecast.