irishguy28

it's not just the quantity of snow (40cm at Dublin airport; 1 metre in South Dublin; this was delivered on top of snow levels of up to 30cm delivered in "normal" conditions over the preceding days) but the fact that the snow was delivered by a storm; Storm Emma crashed into "The Beast From The East" over Ireland and brought blizzard conditions not seen in the country since 1982. The entire country was subject to a Red Alert weather warning from yesterday afternoon; in Munster and Leinster the Red Alert remains in force until 1900CET today.

johan rebel

Must have been drifting snow, then.

Dublin airport recorded 1.9 mm of precipitation (in melted form) on the 1st, and 6.1 mm on the 28th, for a grand total of 8 mm.

Ireland has a maritime climate, and therefore gets "warm" snow storms. As a very rough rule of thumb (the so-called "fluff factor"), under such conditions 1 mm of melted snow equals 1.2 - 1.4 cm of snow, so 8 mm = 9.6 - 11.2 cm of snow. [Continental climates have "cold" snow storms. Depending on humidity and temperature, the fluff factor is somewhere between 2 and 6.]

Until this morning, I had 42 hours of nonstop snowfall at home. The 36 hours before that it snowed almost continuously, and the easterly wind howled the whole time. In other words, a raging blizzard for four days straight, with a fluff factor of about 2.5. Big deal. No local disruption whatsoever, and only minor on a regional level. Two flights canceled yesterday at the local domestic airport, school bus services curtailed, a few vehicles slid off the road here and there. Biggest challenge was that I had to shovel snow as soon as I opened the door. Apart from that, I love it. Just beautiful!

Johan

Lewis42

Well it doesn't matter how big or how strong it is, it matters how often it happens and how capable the country is of dealing with it. For UK and Ireland, severe snow is very rare therefore we are ill-equipped to deal with such events as it is more of an IF rather than a WHEN.

Please don't compare apples and oranges.

johan rebel

But I do, all the time.

Amongst others, that has led me to conclude that I would only move to Ireland or the UK if somebody put a gun to my head. The climate just sucks. No proper winters, and the occasional snow flurry that comes along causes chaos and disruption instead of providing an opportunity for wholesome winter fun.

Same goes for Holland, by the way, even though I'm sort of Dutch. To experience a Dutch winter anywhere, just pull a sopping wet black woollen sock over your head and go stand in a gale force wind, with your feet in a bucket of cold gravel. 30 seconds will suffice.

Right, time to get back on topic: Friday was another great day at AMS, with 54 canceled KL departures, and plenty of delays.

Johan

ticino

pjhartog

Slightly off topic - GVA closed down on Thursday morning and on Fridaymorning for about 4 hours since they had some snow showers.

A comment in the local newspaper quoted : "Mais 5 cm de neige fraiche aujourd'hui et 15 hier sont ridicules. Je voyage beaucoup,mais n'ai jamais vu cela aux US/Canada, c'est ridicule pour un aéroport au pied des alpes".

That 15 and 5 cm of snow can close down an airport at the bottom of the Alps seems ridiculous.

We are not the only ones complaining about the ill preparedness of 'our' home airports.

Andrew_G

More cancellations tomorrow. I have a "Light" fare ticket and I've been rebooked on Brussels Airlines. I'm checking a bag (which would have been free on KL based on Flying Blue status) but I guess I'll have to pay for it at check-in on Brussels Airlines and try to claim the fee back from KL afterwards. Is that right? Or any other tips?

AlicorporateUK

Solevita

Ouch, that's a lot of cancelled flights looking at AMS departures tomorrow morning! Of course, only KL cancelling...

Fabo.sk

My flight still seems to be on. Hopefully won't find out otherwise in the morning

tezzer

Yup, Humberside and Leeds fights up the spout, just for a change.

Mcflyneo

My KL flight was delayed, due to the mess at Schiphol today. We had a better gate inbound though.

Billyfergus

Was treated very well by KLM these last few days. I had a segment run on Wednesday to Marseille from Aberdeen and then a return back on Saturday on a separate booking meaning I would be home each night. However on Wednesday, once I got to Schiphol the flight to Marseille got cancelled. This meant I could not use the first leg of my flight from Marseille to Aberdeen. I explained the situation to the KLM lady and she understood my problems straight away. She not only got me on a return flight to Aberdeen on Wednesday, she also made sure I could use my remaining legs of my two separate bookings on Saturday.

Now up at 49 segments since Jan 1st and off to Chicago via Detroit on Tuesday. By the time 1st April comes round I should have 60 segments to be converted to XP’s.

Andrew_G

It turned out that KL rebooked me to SN's "Flex&Fast" ticket, which comes with fast lane, priority check-in and boarding (not that it was enforced) etc, as well as a seat near the front of the plane and a snack/drink. All good. But the ticket still showed 0 luggage and they made me pay up.

This was my third involuntary rebooking in the last couple of months, and they've all been handled well by KL; it's one of the best benefits of Platinum status. It's also given me the opportunity to sample life outside SkyTeam, including QR, LH, EK and now SN.

Mirk

Nice job! That's going to be a really good safety mattress of XP to roll over! I also slightly increased my travel over the last 3 months but only managed to squeeze 27 segments. I should have considered some segment runs like you did!


I'm almost sure you can claim the expense of the luggage back to KLM. Also, don't forget to claim the miles of your original routing to flying blue, they do that really well.