Snow 1981

[soggy wales]

Does anyone remember when we had blizzards in early January 1981 and many cars etc got caught out on the M4 etc, power cuts and food could not get to the shops.

Would love to hear how other people were affected in different parts of the country, and what synoptics caused it to happen.

[cheeky_monkey]

dont you mean january 1982? dont remember any in jan 1981.

dec 1981 and the first 3weeks of jan 1982 were very cold and snowy.

[Thundery wintry showers]

You are probably remembering January 1982, when a large high extending from Greenland over to Scandinavia moved southwards, introducing very cold east/north-easterly air to the British Isles.

I'm not entirely sure on the specifics, but it sounds like a lot of frontal snowfall affected southern areas, while snow showers affected the east, and many north-western parts missed out.

January 1981 did have a few northerly incursions during the first half, including a returning polar maritime NW'ly around the middle of the month that brought big falls to western areas, allegedly particularly around Glasgow.

[summer blizzard]

It sounds like there was a classic easterly setup, would anybody be able to post some attachments of these snow events as i do not have enougth global space left to post attachments.

[drgl]

I'm sure we had loads of snow in Shropshire in January '82?? I remember it still being on the side of the roads in March.

[summer blizzard]

I believe the winter of 1982 was classed as severe with a overall winter CET of 2.6C.

[J10]

I just about remember this, 1 foot level snow, with 2-3 foot drifts and it didn't thaw for a fortnight.

[summer blizzard]

Hopefully there will be conditions like that this winter, i would of thought that you would of got more snow living in your location due to stalling fronts.

[Pennine Ten Foot Drifts]

I remember that vividly as probably the best snow event I've ever been in. Grew up in a little village in mid-Wales (Ysbytty Ystwyth - about twelve miles up in the hills behind Aberystwyth). It blew a blizzard for about 36 hours, and by the time it had finished every road was full to the tops of the (high) hedges so naturally we were cut off. Not much actually settled on the fields as it was all blown off. I seem to remember it took about five days to actually clear a path through wide enough to allow traffic, using a JCB ! It was quite strange then being driven along what felt like a snow tunnel, with passing places dug out every so often. Didn't get back to school in Aberystwyth for two whole marvellous weeks as the school bus just never came ! It stayed for a while as well, but I do remember that the huge piles of cleared snow took many weeks to finally melt away.

[summer blizzard]

What was the depth of the snow on the road??????????????????????

[drgl]

around here i would say the lying snow depths were about 40cm,drifts were huge though!

[Cakie]

I remember around 1981/82 there being loads of snow and lots of people not getting to school just before xmas.

I got my mum to take me to deliver a present to one person and the snow was higher than the car at the side of the road by a good few feet It was a bit scary wondering if it was going to come down on us

[Anti-Mild]

I was only 6/7 in the winter of 1981/82 but I do remember it being very very very cold. In Perth there were ice floes almost blocking the river between Perth Bridge and Queens Bridge, although that will mean nothing to everyone except the Murphymoos and anyone who has been there !

There were also ice floes in late December 1995 but thats another story.

[soggy wales]

dont you mean january 1982? dont remember any in jan 1981.

dec 1981 and the first 3weeks of jan 1982 were very cold and snowy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes you are quite right- I'm old and lose or gain years LOL

[TEITS]

I remember Dec 1981/Jan 1982 vividly even though I was only 10 yrs old.

The feature of the cold spell that I remember wasn't just the snowfall but the very low temps. Dec 14th 1981 the Max never reached any higher than around -14C in some area of England aswell as Scotland and the following Min temp dropped to -26C in Shawbury Shropshire!

I remember going outside in the freezing fog and my hair used to turn white

[Stuart]

I can I rember that I was not born then

[J10]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southwest/sites...w_jenkins.shtml -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/sites...ow_harris.shtml

Wales Snow 1982 Link

[snow raven]

I can I rember that I was not born then

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was born, but only 4 or 5, so I dont remember it! Although I do like reading the stories of winters years ago... last time we had some decent amounts of snow was 1991.... much too long to have to wait for some more! Fingers crossed this winter!

Edited August 2, 2005 by snow raven

[drgl]

I remember Dec 1981/Jan 1982 vividly even though I was only 10 yrs old.

The feature of the cold spell that I remember wasn't just the snowfall but the very low temps. Dec 14th 1981 the Max never reached any higher than around -14C in some area of England aswell as Scotland and the following Min temp dropped to -26C in Shawbury Shropshire!

I remember going outside in the freezing fog and my hair used to turn white

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep-Shawbury is just down the road from me(RAF Base) We had central heating installed at home that winter! They just finished testing it and the snow had just started!! Hate to think what it would have been like if we didn't have it!!!!

[soggy wales]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southwest/sites...w_jenkins.shtml -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/sites...ow_harris.shtml

Wales Snow 1982 Link

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for those links Jackone, they bring back great memories of yesteryear- my kids 8 & 6 at the time thought it was wonderful LOL

[drgl]

When i searched the 'net for infor on this event there doesn't seem to be much on it? The metoffice website doesn't seem to mention it either?? I know for sure it was bad where we were-was it very localised or something?

[TEITS]

Yep-Shawbury is just down the road from me(RAF Base) We had central heating installed at home that winter! They just finished testing it and the snow had just started!! Hate to think what it would have been like if we didn't have it!!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Your lucky we never had any Central Heating!! my parents tell me we use to sleep in our coats at the time :lol:

Here is a link for some info on Dec 1981, note the tornado outbreak in E Anglia in November (105!!)

http://www.personal.dundee.ac.uk/~taharley/1981_weather.htm

Edited August 3, 2005 by THE EYE IN THE SKY

[Michael Fishermans Friend]

I can remember it well, the spell was particularly severe between December 8th - 15th with three 'heavy' snowfalls giving accumulations to near a foot here in these parts with severe drifting. 8th had about 4/5" of wet snowfall which stuck to everything whilst overnight saw temps as low as -10C. The next snowfall was on the 11th which added another 3 inches or so although southern coastal parts saw rain. The 13th saw a blizzard develop in the late hours which turned more to sleet/rain for a time. Up to Xmas the cold conditions continued largely with sunny/foggy spells and severe frosts which lasted til about the 28th - a month to be remembered!

Synopotics: A large pool of cold air close to Iceland/Greenland diverted the depression on the 8th on a far more southerly path with very cold air originating from North of Scandanavia in it's wake, there after a Greenland HP was significant with further LP's running on a southerly track ESE wards across the south of the country.

Edited August 3, 2005 by Timmy H

[The Enforcer]

As you will know, I constantly bemoan the lack of snow around here. I think this is aggravated by the fact that, whilst never being an ideal location, there used to be a decent snowcover on average every couple of years. It's now a struggle to get a fraction of what's shown on these pics:

Edited August 8, 2005 by The Enforcer

[The Enforcer]

In fact, this place is kind of like the 'cellar' of the net-weather house. Maybe I should lurk in here during the winter months, safe from the inevitable hype and the consequential letdowns.