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Stringy


Posts: 149
Joined: May 2009
Last Visited: 08:22
15th May 2020
Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 09.53hrs on Sun 13 Mar 16
It seems as good a time as any to get this thread up and running.

The current situation in Cumbria is looking much better than it did even a few weeks ago. We now have fairly decent accumulations in the right places throughout the lake District Fells and North Pennines and the weather is settled which hopefully should lead to further consolidation of the snow pack.

It had been a bleak prospect earlier in the winter, in fact by even well into February there was barely any snow on the hills. We had a decent amount in mid January but it all melted in the subsequent mild and wet weather. Since mid February we've had a number of decent snow falls and cooler weather which means that the snow depths have been gradually building in the prone spots.



Edited 2 times. Last edit at 21.48hrs Wed 16 Mar 16 by Stringy.

Stringy


Posts: 149
Joined: May 2009
Last Visited: 08:22
15th May 2020
Re: Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 11.19hrs on Fri 25 Mar 16
Slightly delayed report from Skiddaw last Sunday. Skiddaw is not known for it's snow holding but there are some fairly decent patches and wreaths the largest of which stretched between the southern end of the main summit area and Little Man (probably in excess of 500m long). The wreath was up to 30m wide and maybe 1.5m deep so will last a while. The snow here receives alot of sun and was very soft, unlike the patches on the northern side which were not as large but were very firm and icy.

The more interesting curiosity was a floating ice 'berg' in a pool at only 660m altitude between Little Man and Lonscale Fell. There was no other snow or ice in the area but this 'berg' measured about 1m x 0.75m x 0.3m thick and was solid ice. My dogs thought it was great and spent a happy few minutes trying to stand on it.

Attachments: Skiddaw Little Man 12-3-16.JPG (212kB)   Skiddaw Little Man 220-3-16.JPG (229kB)   Lonscale iceberg 20-3-16.JPG (309kB)   Iceberg & dogs 20-3-16.JPG (339kB)  
Stringy


Posts: 149
Joined: May 2009
Last Visited: 08:22
15th May 2020
Re: Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 11.28hrs on Fri 25 Mar 16
I have a good view of the Pennines this morning. There are numerous wreaths and patches but generally all above 700m ish. Cross Fell has a pretty good summit wreath as usual but most of the snow appears to be on the sunnier side of the hill. I have attached a rather poor zoomed in photo that gives some idea of the extent of the snow.

Attachments: Cross Fell 25-3-16.JPG (69kB)  
RBlows


Posts: 29
Joined: May 2013
Last Visited: 14:08
10th Sep 2016
Re: Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 18.54hrs on Sat 26 Mar 16
There are patches on the higher hills of the Yorkshire Dales. There haven't been many significant snowfalls this winter and therefore snow has not persisted long, at least until later in the winter. I visited Great Whernside towards the end of February as this is one of the snowiest hills in the Dales and found quite a few frozen patches on east-facing slopes at about 2000 feet, but not of great depth or extent. However, there was a major snowfall at the beginning of March off an easterly wind leading to large drifts on the western flanks. I visited on the 7 March shortly after the snow, when there was evidence of snow slips on steep slopes (see photo). Again, I visited on Good Friday (25th March) when the major drifts were still quite large after the thaw. See attached photos.

Attachments: 7MarchGreatWhernside.jpg (136kB)   25MarchGreatWhernside.jpg (232kB)   25MarchGreatWhernside2.jpg (161kB)  
firefly


Posts: 2149
Joined: May 2006
Re: Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 10.05hrs on Mon 28 Mar 16
Thanks for starting this, chaps! I think that there'll be a good amount of snow persisting well into April on the Lake District hills. I've been keeping an eye on proceedings. I've also started a FB page (search for 'snow patches england wales'), and I will report on here any notables.

Cheers!

jonathan


Posts: 79
Joined: Dec 2003
Last Visited: 12:34
7th Sep 2018
Re: Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 11.05hrs on Mon 28 Mar 16
I had a wander round the Cheviots on Good Friday and was surprised by the amount of snow still lying considering we haven't had too much snow here in Northumberland. There was the odd patch still hanging in at around the 450m contour!
Despite there being a lot of patches most are fairly thin and won't last too long, the thickest are found in the Bizzle Burn area and these will hopefully last for a few weeks yet.

Attachments: East side March 2016.JPG (131kB)   Bellyside main patches March 2016.JPG (141kB)   Bizzle Burn main patches March 2016.JPG (170kB)  
jonathan


Posts: 79
Joined: Dec 2003
Last Visited: 12:34
7th Sep 2018
Re: Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 11.08hrs on Mon 28 Mar 16
firefly


Posts: 2149
Joined: May 2006
Re: Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 06.53hrs on Tue 29 Mar 16
Bizzle Crag area looks to be the biggest by some margin, jonathan? Looks to be a crevasse forming!

Stringy


Posts: 149
Joined: May 2009
Last Visited: 08:22
15th May 2020
Re: Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 16.41hrs on Sun 3 Apr 16
In an effort to report on snow patches in other parts of the Lake District, I have been out today to look at a large patch on Hindscarth in the Newlands Valley area of the Lakes. The patch is very conspicuous from Keswick and is surprisingly large considering the relatively low altitude (680m) and that these hills do not catch much snow. It lies on the north aspect of the hill in a natural scoop. The fairly large summit area couple with wind/snow from the south west has built up a very sizeable drift and facing north catches little sun. The patch measures approx 150m x 40m and maybe 2m(?) deep. The snow was very firm with only a few cm on the surface softening. Whilst it won't outlast some of the higher patches I was impressed how extensive it was and it was emphasized by how little snow there is on the nearby hills.



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 16.46hrs Sun 3 Apr 16 by Stringy.

Attachments: 1 Hindscarth snow.JPG (162kB)   2 Hindscarth snow.JPG (189kB)   3 Hindscarth snow.JPG (111kB)   4 Hinscarth snow.JPG (89kB)  
smick


Posts: 82
Joined: May 2012
Last Visited: 20:22
3rd May 2018
Re: Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 18.16hrs on Tue 5 Apr 16
Good Cheviot pictures from last week. Great Dodd checked out today and a very big patch on Luregill Head but visibility was poor. On the way home a good view of Gavel Pike and St Sunday Crag with plenty still! Despite another weird winter with very little snow at Dale floor level we have a few weeks left in the Lakes still, with more to come tomorrow!

Attachments: Luregill Head.jpg (186kB)   St Sunday.jpg (57kB)  
smick


Posts: 82
Joined: May 2012
Last Visited: 20:22
3rd May 2018
Re: Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 15.20hrs on Wed 6 Apr 16
High Street, carrying on with the effort to report on snow patches in other parts of the Lake District. The depression above Blea Water Crag held snow well into May last year and there are several large patches there today. Most are at about 750m. On the north slopes of Harter Fell there are patches down to about 500m.

Attachments: Above Blea Tarn Crags.jpg (366kB)   Harter Fell.png (307kB)  
firefly


Posts: 2149
Joined: May 2006
Re: Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 18.34hrs on Wed 6 Apr 16
Excellent work, smick. Lurgegill Head a fine location. I camped there a couple of years ago and had magnificent views over to Cross Fell.

smick


Posts: 82
Joined: May 2012
Last Visited: 20:22
3rd May 2018
Re: Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 15.11hrs on Thu 7 Apr 16
Fresh snow but going fast. The corries of Helvellyn range have had a top up. Very poor visibility on tops but began to clear by midday.

Attachments: Helvellyn.jpg (182kB)   Fairfield.jpg (291kB)  
RBlows


Posts: 29
Joined: May 2013
Last Visited: 14:08
10th Sep 2016
Re: Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 19.37hrs on Fri 8 Apr 16
The snow patches in the Dales have reduced greatly since I last reported in late March. Great Whernside has a scattering of patches, many of which are quite small in extent. The remaining ones are facing in a northwest to southwest direction, with a couple of the largest ones on the path up from the high level Kettlewell-Coverdale road (see photos). I will check in a week to 10 days time to see whether there is any remaining.

Attachments: GreatWhernside7April.1.jpg (142kB)   GreatWhersnide7April.2.jpg (143kB)  
PeterS


Posts: 980
Joined: Feb 2003
Last Visited: 12:21
13th Mar 2021
What's this?What's this?What's this?
Re: Snow patches in England and Wales 2016
Date Posted: 21.30hrs on Fri 8 Apr 16
Patches of snow on great Shunner visible from catterick moor this mornng.

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