Maghera Snow - Oct 29th

[martinastro]

Some snaps from home of the snow. It snowed for hours.

[Paul]

Wow, amazing! It never did any more than rain in Antrim just 20 miles away from Maghera!

P.

[brianb]

Wet snow mid afternoon here, preceded & followed by sleety rain, it just about failed to settle.

[martinastro]

Yes, it was very intense here all day. That's two days in a row of significant snow fall. I have never seen laying snow like this before Halloween in my life. I heard someone say that 1935 was the last time, so quite significant.

[Big Dipper]

Those shots capture the mood of the occasion very well. Hope you wrapped up warmly!

[martinastro]

Thanks Andy. I was wrapped up but still ended up freezing. The shot with the bus and snow blowing by the tree were nasty to take. Painful red fingers, shivers, stinging eyes, and running nose...but I guess that's part of the experience. Some of the images are 'blown out, because I slowed the shutter down with the intention of capturing the motion of the snow through the air.

[jjb]

Hopefully that is the last of the white stuff until winter sets in,good shots Martin you must have been freezing!


jonathan.

[JohnC]

Great shots .Just like the old days  (for me, Lol) when I was a kid.

[Roman White]

WHAT??!!! Martin, AMAZING!!!     
Incredible weather... it was in October!...
I nearly falled on the floor when saw your shots! First is outstanding, so much dynamic! Your dogs are looking just great with the snow background. Fantastic weather you have there...

Now the sad comments.
I have now de-facto October, because outside there is +12C (warm for November), overcast 3rd day in a row, a bit of rain recently, no frosts, even no evidence of upcoming winter.
According to the forecast, there will be nighttime frosts here (down to -6C) on Wed-Fri next week, but I think there will be any piece of snow until mid-November.
Just taken this shot from my window few minutes ago. You can still see the green leaves.

[martinastro]

Hi Roman, glad you liked the images. It's been a strange year for weather in N. Ireland. Seems it's forever on the news these days. Snow like that in October is a new experience for me. Can't say I've ever seen that before. I wonder what the Winter will bring.

That's a lovely Autumn scene you captured from your window. Beautiful colours. Looks like your in for a few frosty nights in the near future. A good time for observing. Good luck and clear skies. 

[Steveo74]

Great shots Martin!!! Hard to believe it's only down the road and I had sleet/rain the whole time...   

[Tyler]

HA, you just had a thunderstorm account! I like the images with the blurred snow falling, did you stop down the aperture?

[martinastro]

Cheers Tyler. Yes, we had two days of pretty good convection considering the time of year. A level 1 followed by a general t-storm risk. I didn't get any lightning but there was sferics not far away at the time. The snow image with the tree (and others) was 1/50 sec at F/3.2 using a 28mm lens. So, not stopped down very much at all. I guess I should have looking back on it now because the images are a little burnt out in places. I was specifically after the motion of the snow rather than anything else. Took in b&w too. I'm hoping to get some captures of traffic in white-out conditions or people with umbrellas struggling in the low visibility. That would be nice. On the wildlife side I would love to catch a fox in the snow. I will have to wait until we get more...and who knows when that will be.

Thanks.

[Tyler]

I just realized that we are supposed to get t-storms tommorow and then snow the next day, (so the weather isnt as crazy as I thought.) though Ill be 500 miles away.

[martinastro]

500 miles away 

I hope you get some of the action Tyler. If you do, share a few images with us. Good luck.