Earliest Possible Snow Date

[I remember Atlantic 252]

always wondered when the earliest date possible for snow is? say for 100m asl in the south (where I am) say around 20th 0ct?

must be a day where snow isnt possible, then the next day it is?

earliest date I have had snow is 28th 0ct, wonder when cut off point is, snow not possible in September, but is in 0ct, for 100m asl in south

[Isolated Frost]

always wondered when the earliest date possible for snow is? say for 100m asl in the south (where I am) say around 20th 0ct?

must be a day where snow isnt possible, then the next day it is?

earliest date I have had snow is 28th 0ct, wonder when cut off point is, snow not possible in September, but is in 0ct, for 100m asl in south

I'd say if you get the right cold buildup in the arctic, and perfect synoptics, probably early october. latest possible in my opinion late may/early june.

[Bolton67]

It snowed at a cricket match in june 1976 @ Buxton.

I remember it snowing hard on the 10th of November in 1985 in Bolton.

[stewfox]

always wondered when the earliest date possible for snow is? say for 100m asl in the south (where I am) say around 20th 0ct?

must be a day where snow isnt possible, then the next day it is?

earliest date I have had snow is 28th 0ct, wonder when cut off point is, snow not possible in September, but is in 0ct, for 100m asl in south

It snowed 25th September 1885 London , I dont think its settled.

There was a thread about this about a year ago with alot of interesting dates

[Terminal Moraine]

It snowed at a cricket match in june 1976 @ Buxton.

It was actually June 1975.

There are a few well documented cases of snow in the London area during early October if you go back far enough into history.

There was sleet and snow on October 1st 1740 and heavy snow on Oct' 25th 1784.

A remarkable early snowfall gave depths of 6-12" in the London area on October 29th 1836 and there were snow showers reported on Oct' 13th 1838.

Bearing this in mind I suppose the earliest possible date for snow falling in your area would be during the first week in October.

There was a remarkably early snowfall at quite modest elevations in Scotland, much of northern England and even as far south as Dartmoor on Sept 19th and 20th 1919 so perhaps over a long enough period of time even late September is a possibility.

[stewfox]

It was actually June 1975.

There are a few well documented cases of snow in the London area during early October if you go back far enough into history.

There was sleet and snow on October 1st 1740 and heavy snow on Oct' 25th 1784.

A remarkable early snowfall gave depths of 6-12" in the London area on October 29th 1836 and there were snow showers reported on Oct' 13th 1838.

Bearing this in mind I suppose the earliest possible date for snow falling in your area would be during the first week in October.

There was a remarkably early snowfall at quite modest elevations in Scotland, much of northern England and even as far south as Dartmoor on Sept 19th and 20th 1919 so perhaps over a long enough period of time even late September is a possibility.

Some interesting dates

http://www.drrichardwild.co.uk/index.php?page=Summer_Autumn

It was me who did last years thead lol

Snowshttp://forum.netweat...ow-in-the-past/

see also

http://forum.netweather.tv/topic/49572-earliest-london-snowfall/

Edited October 11, 2011 by stewfox

[Bolton67]

It was actually June 1975.

yep, my mistake.

Only in buxton, eh.

[Walsall Wood Snow]

It may however unlikely be possible for snow to fall any time of year even at 100m asl in southern England. I don't know of any, but if you go back far enough I wouldn't be surprised if there were reports of such incidences even in the middle of July, August or September. Of course I could be way off, but I doubt its as simple as there being one set calendar date where snow isn't possible and then the next day it is.

[wimblettben]

Going by the models currently and if they verify I would imagine that there will be some snow as early as next week for some northern areas!

[I remember Atlantic 252]

It may however unlikely be possible for snow to fall any time of year even at 100m asl in southern England. I don't know of any, but if you go back far enough I wouldn't be surprised if there were reports of such incidences even in the middle of July, August or September. Of course I could be way off, but I doubt its as simple as there being one set calendar date where snow isn't possible and then the next day it is.

I wouldnt think so, not for our areas, where as 500m+ asl in Scotland snow may be possible every day of the year, -3 or lower uppers I wouldnt think possible in southern UK from Jun to end sep

[stewfox]

I wouldnt think so, not for our areas, where as 500m+ asl in Scotland snow may be possible every day of the year, -3 or lower uppers I wouldnt think possible in southern UK from Jun to end sep

22,000BC looks like a good bet for summer snow of the ice sheets ?? Although even then I think temps in summer were 7 to 12c ? or more

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_icesheet_hg.png

[Aaron]

Earliest possible snow date? Well that excludes June as June would be the latest possible snow date..

For low level Britain I'd say September.

[Terminal Moraine]

It may however unlikely be possible for snow to fall any time of year even at 100m asl in southern England. I don't know of any, but if you go back far enough I wouldn't be surprised if there were reports of such incidences even in the middle of July, August or September. Of course I could be way off, but I doubt its as simple as there being one set calendar date where snow isn't possible and then the next day it is.

According to Manley there have been no substantiated reports of snow in August at inhabited levels in Britain over the last 350 years. Some of the claims made in earlier years, ie by Daniel Defoe regarding a snowfall on the moors between Halifax and Rochdale in late August 1725, are thought to have been hail rather than snow although there was a report of sleet at Gordon Castle in Scotland on 17th August 1784 which is thought to be accurate.

The failure of observers to distinguish between soft hail and snow is also thought to be responsible for the number of snow reports across the country on July 11th 1888 although it does seem likely that some of these, particularly on higher ground were genuinely snow.

In more recent years there have been a few reports of sleet in July and August but on closer inspection these have turned out to be a mixture of rain and partially melted hail during heavy downpours, rather than the mix of rain and partially melted snow which is required for genuine sleet.

Edited October 12, 2011 by Terminal Moraine

[Weather-history]

Reports of very early season snowfalls at low levels in the south have become rarer since WWII as October has become a warmer month. There were quite a few early snowfalls of varying intensities reported in the 19th century., for instance there were reports of snowfalls during the October of 1880, September 1885, October 1887, October 1888 and October 1890, that I can recall just off the top of my head within a short period of time.

Edited October 12, 2011 by Mr_Data

[firefly]

Try this out for size...

James Stuart, resident near Braemar, wrote to Lord Fife on the 16th September 1807, saying the following...

"I was very uneasy on Friday the 11^th, knowing your Lordship was on the road and as it was very bad....I fear you would be much fatigued....It was a dreadful night in this place....I am told there are about 30 black cattle in Glenavin buried under snow....A great many sheep are also missing....Luckily mine were drove down the woods of Glenquoich and back the day before and are all safe in Glenquoich....They are digging the sheep from under the snow which is blown in some parts more than 10 feet deep....The potatoes are hurt by frost and I fear the green oats will not be seed....The weather is now settled and I hope will continue. "

Edited October 13, 2011 by firefly