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The Great Blizzard


Adi F

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Posted
  • Location: Leeds/Bradford border, 185 metres above sea level, around 600 feet
  • Location: Leeds/Bradford border, 185 metres above sea level, around 600 feet

If al factors had come into place, i could of had upwards of fifty centimetres.

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Posted
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine and 15-25c
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
If my area had a perfect set-up,it would have to be a ENE wind,which is cold,it travels across a mild Noth sea and causes large laspe rates which encourages snow showers to form.southern Essex does well when the showers form in the thames Estuary due to large laspe rates with the wind being a ENE.This occured twice last year and both times it gave 5cms,off course this is a tiny amount in comprasion to past events,however if the ground was colder and al lthe showers from the previous day had settled,the total amount may well have been upwards of 20cms.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i lived in chelmsford for 13 yrs..weatherwise its a great place to be when a winter easterly kicks in 1986,87 and 91 were paricularly good.. i remember playing football for the college in a game in feb 1991 that was abandoned after 30 mins there were blizzrd like conditions the snow was fine and powerdary..trouble was the ground was frozen solid and dangerous..anyway driving back on the minibus the radio gave the temp for colchester as being -6c god knows what the windchill was on the pitch that day!!...it is the only time i have worn gloves and leggings under my kit! as did both teams that day.

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Posted
  • Location: Leeds/Bradford border, 185 metres above sea level, around 600 feet
  • Location: Leeds/Bradford border, 185 metres above sea level, around 600 feet

Where is Chelmsford, and how much snow did you get from the easterly of Feburary 1991?????????????

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Posted
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine and 15-25c
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)

chelmsford is the county town of essex it is between colchester and london, about 15 miles morth west of basildon.

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Posted
  • Location: Leeds/Bradford border, 185 metres above sea level, around 600 feet
  • Location: Leeds/Bradford border, 185 metres above sea level, around 600 feet

I would assume, living so far south you have not got much snow in recent years, exept for last Feburary.

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Guest Phil_Uk

Found this in my database.

Pressure chart, with fronts below. :)

19feb78blizzard.JPG

Was going to add a description of the event myself upon seeing this topic, but I think Mr Data has it all covered (excuse pun! :) ) quite nicely.

Phil.

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Posted
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine and 15-25c
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)

to be honest february 1991 was the last decent snow event i have seen in terms of depth and length of time it stayed around...so its nearly 15years and counting.

still feb 1978 was on another level altogther though!!

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Posted
  • Location: Leeds/Bradford border, 185 metres above sea level, around 600 feet
  • Location: Leeds/Bradford border, 185 metres above sea level, around 600 feet

How much snow did you get in Feburary 1978????????????????????????

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Posted
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine and 15-25c
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)

lets put it this way you would measure it in feet not inches..as i said b4 i lived in exeter in 1978 and i note that mr data has published an artical that exeter airport recored a level fall of 34cm on the 19th febuary 1978 which is over a foot in one day and this fell on top of existing deep snow cover.... obviously with a gale blowing drifts in my area alone must have been close to 10-15ft deep, i would also expect much heavier falls were recorded on the surrounding hills.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
  • Location: Beijing and (sometimes) Dundee
  • Location: Beijing and (sometimes) Dundee

I remember both 1977/78 and 1978/79 as being very snowy. As I was only 10 or 11 at the time, I often have trouble deciding which year a particular snowfall occurred in when thinking back.

As well as the southwest blizzard, the 'Great Highland Blizzard' definitely also occurred in early 1978 though. That was the time when a train was completely lost for several hours north of Inverness.

Did the two winters have similar synoptics, or was eastern Scotland an exception in being snowy in both '78 and '79?

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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Winter 1977-78:

The snow season began in November that year, with a varied and changeable month producing some marginal events during the second half, from the usual sources of November snow: northerly and north-westerly winds. December was then very mild and snow free.

January 1978, in a similar vein to the more famous January of 1984, was a strongly zonal, westerly month but with frequent high pressure around Greenland, resulting in very cold air being embedded in our westerlies and bringing some significant snowfalls especially to the north and west of the country.

February 1978 was an easterly month, with a notable ENE'ly incursion around midmonth bringing massive snowfalls to the northeast, while later in the month some Atlantic systems pushed against the block and brought massive snowfalls to southern and south-western Britain.

March, although mild overall, contained a marginal event midmonth in the southwest, and April was also quite snowy in the north.

Winter 1978-79

That winter followed one of the mildest Novembers ever- indeed, it could have been the mildest on record had it not been for a notable northerly spell after the 24th.

The cold weather arrived on an easterly flow in late December, then January 1979 was severely cold and snowy everywhere with the snow coming from a large variety of sources: easterlies, northerlies, north-westerlies and even westerlies on occasion. Pressure was nearly always high around Greenland, which is why it remained cold and snowy regardless of wind direction. February 1979 had a more well-defined setup with low pressure tracking to our south bringing frontal snow events, and high pressure oscillating between Greenland and Scandinavia. Most places had another very snowy month- the middle part of the month was the severest of the entire winter- although the north-west largely missed out.

There were further northerly and north-easterly incursions during Spring 1979 which would appear to have been one of the snowiest of recent times.

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Posted
  • Location: Swansea (West)
  • Weather Preferences: Snow, Thunderstorms, Hot Summer days
  • Location: Swansea (West)
to be honest february 1991 was the last decent snow event i have seen in terms of depth and length of time it stayed around...so its nearly 15years and counting.

still feb 1978 was on another level altogther though!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Same here, the 1978 event being discussed affected these parts, and I can faintly remember that 1987 and 1991 give good spells of snow.

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Posted
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District. 290 mts a.s.l.
  • Weather Preferences: Anything extreme
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District. 290 mts a.s.l.

I well remember the great SW blizzard of 1978. I also remember the forecasts a few days before, suggesting that the front responsible would eventually move into the midlands. As time went on it became more and more obvious (despite my prayers) that this would not happen.

We also missed out on the heavy snowfalls which affected north eastern counties in that month, the largest single fall here in Feb' 1978 was 6 cm on the 10th.

T.M

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
  • Location: London
  • Location: London

I remember the blizzard effecting the west country in Feb 1978, other parts were effected including the east coast too, mainly from showery conditions. The south west had drifting upto 10 feet or so from a slow moving occlusion with strong winds infront of the front and a strong ridge stretching from a Greenland high, parts of Devon and Somerset were worst effected.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Posted
  • Location: Steeton, W Yorks, 270m ASL
  • Location: Steeton, W Yorks, 270m ASL
I well remember the great SW blizzard of 1978. I also remember the forecasts a few days before, suggesting that the front responsible would eventually move into the midlands. As time went on it became more and more obvious (despite my prayers) that this would not happen.

We also missed out on the heavy snowfalls which affected north eastern counties in that month, the largest single fall here in Feb' 1978 was 6 cm on the 10th.

T.M

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

TM,

You were unlucky indeed. I haven't pulled my records out, but I do recall that in Leeds we had snow on the weekend before the February half-term, and a cold week followed with at least one, if not two freezing days I think on the Sunday / Monday. Around 15cm snow fell, from a cold front off the E as cP air arrived.

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Posted
  • Location: Steeton, W Yorks, 270m ASL
  • Location: Steeton, W Yorks, 270m ASL
Winter 1977-78:

The snow season began in November that year, with a varied and changeable month producing some marginal events during the second half, from the usual sources of November snow: northerly and north-westerly winds.  December was then very mild and snow free.

January 1978, in a similar vein to the more famous January of 1984, was a strongly zonal, westerly month but with frequent high pressure around Greenland, resulting in very cold air being embedded in our westerlies and bringing some significant snowfalls especially to the north and west of the country.

February 1978 was an easterly month, with a notable ENE'ly incursion around midmonth bringing massive snowfalls to the northeast, while later in the month some Atlantic systems pushed against the block and brought massive snowfalls to southern and south-western Britain.

March, although mild overall, contained a marginal event midmonth in the southwest, and April was also quite snowy in the north.

Winter 1978-79

That winter followed one of the mildest Novembers ever- indeed, it could have been the mildest on record had it not been for a notable northerly spell after the 24th.

The cold weather arrived on an easterly flow in late December, then January 1979 was severely cold and snowy everywhere with the snow coming from a large variety of sources: easterlies, northerlies, north-westerlies and even westerlies on occasion.  Pressure was nearly always high around Greenland, which is why it remained cold and snowy regardless of wind direction.  February 1979 had a more well-defined setup with low pressure tracking to our south bringing frontal snow events, and high pressure oscillating between Greenland and Scandinavia.  Most places had another very snowy month- the middle part of the month was the severest of the entire winter- although the north-west largely missed out.

There were further northerly and north-easterly incursions during Spring 1979 which would appear to have been one of the snowiest of recent times.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In Yorkshire we had snow on four consecutive Thursdays in January. The jet was running SW-NE across the country, with depressions taking a similar track so that as they crossed the N polar air was pulled in. As you say, the overall set-up in January was zonal, though we had a week of continental weather in February (the first sustained really cold spell for around three winters). In 1979 the set up was completely different, with the UK sitting right on the boundary between zonal flow to the S and a blocked polar or continental feed to the north. The winter produced a veritable smorgasbord of snow synoptics with pretty much every configuration represented at some time, though often heavy snow turned to rain, or fell only as rain, in the far S. When I look back at 1979 is is staggering to see how much snow fell despite temperatures which, though cold, were rarely severe. As often, marginal events (with very humid tropical air nearby) produce the most prodigous single snowfalls. in 1979, certainly in the north, there were several instances where the warm sector was repelled by the cold air so that, uniquely in my lengthening experience, events that in other winters might have been passing (i.e. snow turned to rain) became sustained and heavy falls. One such blizzard (and I don't use the word carelessly) continued unabated for 48 hours, depositing over 45cm of level snow!

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  • 3 weeks later...
Posted
  • Location: sheffield
  • Location: sheffield
Wow, I dont think I have ever seen snow like that in my life time!

Thanks for sharing the photos, I had forgotten what great fashion we had back in the 70's :)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

oh i have i saw a ft of snow a couple of miles up the road from me on the moor at around 350m asl there was snow drifts of about 7ft and blowing snow was blocking alll the main routes from sheffield to the peak district.

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Posted
  • Location: Brixton, South London
  • Location: Brixton, South London

I was at school in Wellington in the west of Somerset. We rarely had much snow at all most years (from 1973 onwards). Most of early Feb 78 was cold dry and anticyconig with unusually hard frosts and freezing fog. On what I would guess was Monday 14th Feb we had sleet in the early evening. Within an hour this had turned to snow and was settling readily. By morning we had about 5" with clear cold skies. From Tuesday to Friday that week the atlantic fronts tried to break through the block but almost uniquely failed: fronts approached and dumped more snow before retreating once again. By Saturday 19.2 we must have had about 9" or so although there had been little drifting and most main roads were clear (for those in the hills nearby however the snow was heavier with some drifying and they were marooned).

I was taken away to Surrey on the afternoon of 19.2 so missed the great blizzard at its worst: I was told that by Sunday am there was nearly 2' of level snow but with extensive drifting up to 10' or more. All roads in the county were impassable including the M5. All rail services were cancelled (the steam railway from Bishops' Lydeard to the north coast was able to operate carrying supplies to some villages).

Travelling back on the following Wednesday there were the most enormous dritfs on parts of the M4/M5 of 20-30' and dense advection fog.

regards

ACB

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Posted
  • Location: Steeton, W Yorks, 270m ASL
  • Location: Steeton, W Yorks, 270m ASL
If the drifts were five foot, how much lying snow was there and also, how did the north east do from these depressions, did they even reach the north east???????

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That particular front stalled around the S Midlands, though the N generally fared far better than the S for snow that winter. In Yorkshire we had four very significant snow events, and snow lay on the ground continuously from Dec 29th through to Feb 28th, and then again for around 10 days in March. On January 19th the snow reached a LEVEL measured depth of 19". There were four major events in Yorkshire that winter each of which was bigger than anything we've had in the last 10 years! Dec 29-30th as the more or less consistently mild autumn gave way to the cold (this was not forecast until very close to the event). Jan 19-20th when snow fell from 0800 through to 1630h the following day. Feb 12-13 when snow fell from 0700h through to mid afternoon the following day (thought turning to rain intermittently), and March 15-17th (22h-22h: a staggering 48h of snowfall yielding 13" level. That winter (from Jan 1) the nos of days of snow / frost each month were:

Jan 15/30

Feb 10/27

Mar 14/20

April 5/7 (snow lay for 2 days in April!)

May 5/7 (partial snow lying on two days)

It is striking to note that May 1979, in terms of snow and frost occurrence, would probably rate better than either Jan or Feb (and sometimes both) in most of the winters since 1997.

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Posted
  • Location: New Zealand
  • Location: New Zealand

1978 - that must have been there year my father meant when he told me of how, as a young man, he was walking accross the top of an articulated lorry, with his mate and they didn't even realise it untill his mate fell through the snow between the trailer and the cab! :blink:

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  • 7 months later...
Posted
  • Location: Leeds/Bradford border, 185 metres above sea level, around 600 feet
  • Location: Leeds/Bradford border, 185 metres above sea level, around 600 feet
Found this in my database.

Pressure chart, with fronts below. :D

19feb78blizzard.JPG

Was going to add a description of the event myself upon seeing this topic, but I think Mr Data has it all covered (excuse pun! :D ) quite nicely.

Phil.

That chart really shows the sccale of the event as the mass of precipitation between the occlusion and the wam front would have produced endless hours of precipitation.

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  • 3 years later...
Posted
  • Location: Yeovil Somerset
  • Location: Yeovil Somerset

I remember this event really well. At the time i was living at Higher odcombe near Yeovil. It had been cold since the 9th of Feburary. Snow had laid for over a week. Then on Saturday 18th Feburary in the evening the main blizzard began. It continued until Monday morning the 20th. Level snow

was about 18 inches deep with drifts 20-25 feet! We were cut off from Saturday night till wednesday. i have some photos of the snow. Last year

I bought a book about this blizzard in Dorset which was the worst for about a century. On Sunday, i spent most of the day shovelling snow out

of the loft.cold.gif

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