WINTER 2003-2004 PART 4:
SNOW TO SEA LEVEL- 25th-27th Feb 2004

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Winter returned with a vengeance at the end of February 2004. With a blocking area of high pressure running N-S up the Atlantic to the west of the UK and Low Pressure close to Norway, a classic Northerly outbreak developed, in which the winds came in from the NNW round to NE, pulling Arctic air southwards over the entire UK. If there is enough of a NW component to such an airflow this can mean snow for Wales, and that is exactly what occurred in this instance.

The northerly came in behind a cold-front on the 24th and cleared chilly, grey wet weather away to azure-blue skies and incredible clarity - the hallmark of clean polar air. By Wednesday the cold air flowing over warm seas had picked up moisture to the extent that convective showers of snow and hail began to affect Mid-Wales, with brilliant sunshine in between...

.....making it feel like a Spring day in Cwm Maethlion to the N of the Dyfi Valley, with catkins waving about in the breeze. Overnight, however, something more sinister was brewing up in the shape of a frontal disturbance to the NW of Scotland. This tracked southwards, arriving in Machynlleth on Thursday morning, just after 9am, when the snow began....
...at about 10.30 am I had a break from work and set off up the Wylfa, a 250m hill overlooking the valley and Machynlleth. Several centimetres of snow had already fallen and it was coming down heavily, bringing traffic to a crawl on the main road and burying minor roads under a blanket of white....
...on the Wylfa the land had vanished apart from odd clumps of reeds...
...while the other side of the valley was lost in the snow-haze...
Machynlleth's famous clocktower getting a coating as the snow continues and the roads get quieter and quieter....
...by lunchtime 15cm of snow lay in the valley but it was easing a little. I went for another walk, this time down to Afon Dyfi. Deep powdery snow covered the fields and everything took on a wintery greyness. Throughout the snowfall there had hardly been a breath of wind - so no drifting - as seen by the calm river waters and reflected alders...
...and as the snow stopped the sun started to burn through the thin cloud above. With blue skies visible to the north it was time to head back to town and a welcome pint of Guinness...
..but perhaps the beer garden at the White Lion was not the best venue on this occasion. Their blazing log fire was a better bet!
On Friday broken cloud, blue skies and an improvement in road conditions prompted a foray down to the coast, with its stunning backdrops. Here is Craig-Yr-Aderyn and Cadair Idris from Llanegryn...
...and here is the Dyfi estuary, with snow down to sea-level!
At Aberdyfi the blue skies and sparkling water made it look like as summer's day, except for one thing!! The snowline is at the high-water mark and the tide has been going out for an hour or two. Also note in the distance a bank of cloud which was a line of convective cumulonimbus, still giving snow but out to sea. With more of a N to NE flow on the Friday, the weather was pushed away from the coast, so that snow showers were less frequent....
Snow to sea-level is rare on the normally sea-warmed Cardigan Bay coast. Here, on the beach between Aberdyfi and Tywyn, snow coats the sand-dunes, shingle and driftwood. The sand and surf can be seen R, with the hills behind Borth in the distance. What a sight! On Friday night a further 3cm of snow fell and then clear skies and sunshine set to and evaporated it away on south-facing slopes. North-facing areas, in contrast, still had 4-10cm of lying snow early the following week. This was a significant weather event by local standards.
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