Your Ideal Cold Spell

[Snowmadsam]

My ideal cold spell would be:

November 1st- November 15th:- Dry and bright with cold N/NW windes 12'c-15'c

November 16th-November 30th:- The altantic Brings rain and gales 10'c to 15'c

December 1st to 15th:- Light snow flurries start affecting all parts of the country 3'c to 5'c

December 16th to 31st: Cold and snowy everywhere temperatures ranging from -20'c to -5'c

Januray 1st to 20th: Widespread snowfall continues to affect the UK temperatures -10'c to -3'c

Januray 20th to Feburary 1st:- Turning milder with some sleet across all parts of the country -3'c to 5'c

Februray 1st to 15th:- Turning cooler with snow showers affecting western parts of the Uk temperatures -5'c to -1'c

Februray 15th to 28th:- Widespread heavy snow again -6'c to -3'c

Snow may return in march and april

Not an ideal forecast if this happened but I would love it

StormmadSam

[Weather-Voyager]

My ideal cold spell starting in autumn and through to mid-winter and beyond…

Early October - Strong Winds with frequent Atlantic driven storms & heavy rain.

Middle & towards the end of October and the first week or so of November - A settled period of cool days / cold nights with mist and fog especially around Halloween and Bonfire night.

Remainder of November and into the start of December a return of Atlantic driven weather but much cooler and possibly a good cold snap with sleet and snow flurries.

Middle of December, clear crisp skies and a settled period with some sharp frosts and icy conditions.

The week before Christmas – Heavy frequent snow flurries as a battle ground scenario develops between the Atlantic systems and a good Omega block!!

Over Christmas – well obviously a white one with frequent light snow flurries & temperatures around -2 to -5.

Between Christmas and New Year – Clear skies but initially cold before a slight warm up and a thaw in time for New Year’s Eve.

Into January and February at least one or two bitterly cold and snowy spells before settling down and warming up for spring!

WV

[cyclonic happiness]

Interestingly the topic breached by Weather Ship also came up on the uk.sci.weather FAQ:

Certainly, a highly disproportionate number of weather enthusiasts that I've met share this fascination with cold/snow, thunderstorms etc. As the FAQ says, a lot of it is down to the meteorology of the events- the factors required to give us snow, thunderstorms etc, the unusual effects that they create etc. In the case of snow, there is also the desire to play out in it- I've had repeated experiences of going outside to watch an approaching snow shower and ending up in a big snowball fight as a result, for example.

I do, though, find the way the Model Output Discussion operates somewhat unusual- the tendency to be interested only in one type of weather at a time, and to switch abruptly from one to another at an arbitrary point during the advancing season. Most of the snow lovers that I know in "real life" are also interested in other types of weather, just not necessarily to as large an extent.

I think it's because it's so rare in lowland Britain that, when we get it, or it's expected, it turns us all into little children again.

I think that if you asked any adult, whether they be weather enthusiasts or not, what their fondest childhood memories were, there'd be a 'snow' one there in the top few!

Back on topic, my favourite winter would be a freeze followed by a great dump of snow that lasted a couple of weeks, followed by a complete thaw for a few days and repete.

The thing that sucks about snow is when it gets old and grimey looking, I'd rather it be renewed after a full thaw rather than for it to be stuck around for weeks getting muckier and muckier like last year.

Then again, I'd also love to have snow upon snow, either would do, oh! , and to feel what minus 20 feels like at least once

[Aaron]

Uh, snow is not rare in lowland Britain.

[knocker]

I think it's because it's so rare in lowland Britain that, when we get it, or it's expected, it turns us all into little children again.

I can assure you that the winter of 62-63 turned me into a frozen adult. I would not wish that winter on anyone.

[Aaron]

I think I'll be the judge of what I want and what I don't. 62 - 63, your standard Swedish winter.

[knocker]

I think I'll be the judge of what I want and what I don't. 62 - 63, your standard Swedish winter.

Be my guest. I was just giving a personal opinion but I very strongly object to your aggresive attitude.

Edited October 17, 2011 by weather ship

[greybing]

Interestingly the topic breached by Weather Ship also came up on the uk.sci.weather FAQ:

Certainly, a highly disproportionate number of weather enthusiasts that I've met share this fascination with cold/snow, thunderstorms etc. As the FAQ says, a lot of it is down to the meteorology of the events- the factors required to give us snow, thunderstorms etc, the unusual effects that they create etc. In the case of snow, there is also the desire to play out in it- I've had repeated experiences of going outside to watch an approaching snow shower and ending up in a big snowball fight as a result, for example.

I do, though, find the way the Model Output Discussion operates somewhat unusual- the tendency to be interested only in one type of weather at a time, and to switch abruptly from one to another at an arbitrary point during the advancing season. Most of the snow lovers that I know in "real life" are also interested in other types of weather, just not necessarily to as large an extent.

I would agree to that statement to a certain degre but I do think some peoples fascination witht hese extreme weather events is not meteorological. I beleive people simply like spectacle and also I feel peoplel know and feel there is a connection to nature not present in most of our lives but accessable through weather..This phonomenal none and or meteorologal obsession with stereotypical winter weather[snow esp] seems present more.I think maybe this could be to do with the fact that the spectacle of a winter wonderland is one of the extreme ones .Personally my 'obsession' started with the spectacle of weather as a child and has progressed as to the why's of the weather but still that spectacle of weather ,aethstically or generally sensorally is very much stil present .This ultimately drove my curiosity as to why weather happens and ultimatley /physics/astro physics.

Edited October 18, 2011 by greybing

[Thundery wintry showers]

I would agree to that statement to a certain degre but I do think some peoples fascination witht hese extreme weather events is not meteorological. I beleive people simply like spectacle and also I feel peoplel know and feel there is a connection to nature not present in most of our lives but accessable through weather..This phonomenal none and or meteorologal obsession with stereotypical winter weather[snow esp] seems present more.I think maybe this could be to do with the fact that the spectacle of a winter wonderland is one of the extreme ones .Personally my 'obsession' started with the spectacle of weather as a child and has progressed as to the why's of the weather but still that spectacle of weather ,aethstically or generally sensorally is very much stil present .This ultimately drove my curiosity as to why weather happens and ultimatley /physics/astro physics.

Some sound points here- I rather glossed over that "connection with nature" aspect of it, but I agree with you. There's also quite a bit of overlap between the "nature" and "meteorological" aspects- hence the admiration of the spectacle of the events helping to trigger an interest in meteorology for many of us (I believe my interest in meteorology partly arose this way).

As for the winter of 1962/63, I imagine that I would have enjoyed it until the point when the snow turned icy/grimy (whenever that was). I find that my enthusiasm for cold snowy weather remains remarkably resilient when we've got the soft fluffy stuff on the ground, but I found myself hoping for temporary thaws on a few occasions during Winter 2009/10 when we had ice on the ground following rain/sleet and refreezes.

Regarding the original topic, "ideal cold spell" is a tricky question to answer. An ideal cold spell for me would have a strong emphasis on sunshine and snow showers and no instances of the dew point creeping above zero (thus preventing much freeze-thaw action). However, in an ideal winter I would have several cold spells lasting a few days to a week, perhaps one 10-14 day one starting Christmas and continuing through the first week of January, and somewhat milder interludes in between.

[knocker]

I would agree to that statement to a certain degre but I do think some peoples fascination witht hese extreme weather events is not meteorological. I beleive people simply like spectacle and also I feel peoplel know and feel there is a connection to nature not present in most of our lives but accessable through weather..

I wonder about that. I agree with your sentiment because I think the study of snow flake and ice structure is completely fascinating. To illustrate what I mean a photo "Studies among the Snow Crystals ... " by Wilson Bentley, "The Snowflake Man." From Annual Summary of the "Monthly Weather Review" for 1902. Bentley was a bachelor farmer whose hobby was photographing snow flakes. Also Rime on nylon line of USCG icebreaker HEALY. I won't go on because I've already been told that people can make up their own minds what they like so obviously my opinion in this thread is supurfluous.. The study of snow crystals is just a small example.

But this should not muddy the waters when the elderly are are dying of hypothermia.

Edited October 18, 2011 by weather ship