January 4th-6th 2010: Snow!

[cheese]

3 hours ago, summer blizzard said:

As alluded to in my 2012 post at the top of this thread this remains the single greatest frontal event I have experienced.

21cm falling over 10 hours, probably maxing out potential accumulation because it was falling into existing snow/ice.

For people my age (I was 22 at the time) it was probably the first properly cold, snowy month we ever experienced in the UK. I certainly don’t remember anything as good in the 90s or 00s.

Edited January 6, 2020 by cheese

[summer blizzard]

Duration is what set it apart, snow lay on the ground for 30 days.

[Sir Mim]

Wonderful memories of a fantastic spell of winter weather, sadly never to be repeated in this godforsaken country.

[Don]

1 hour ago, Mr TOAD said:

Wonderful memories of a fantastic spell of winter weather, sadly never to be repeated in this godforsaken country.

Yes, it does seem a million miles away to where we are now!  However, never say never.

[hillbilly]

Yes a great snowfall but disappointing the wind was only light and there was a slight dampness to the snow that stopped it blowing much,could have been epic if it was windy but unfortunately 2013 and even 2018 levelled the walltops to put it in the shade.

 

[Weather-history]

19 hours ago, summer blizzard said:

Duration is what set it apart, snow lay on the ground for 30 days.

And add in any days with lying snow late November and December 2010, 2010 was a snowy year in terms of lying days with snow

[hillbilly]

1 hour ago, Weather-history said:

And add in any days with lying snow late November and December 2010, 2010 was a snowy year in terms of lying days with snow

The problem with this is what are we comparing? We compare most winters as Dec,Jan Feb or extended seasons Nov to March or even Oct to April but when we talk about specific years such as 2010 you are actually describing two separate seasons.

[Weather-history]

16 minutes ago, hillbilly said:

The problem with this is what are we comparing? We compare most winters as Dec,Jan Feb or extended seasons Nov to March or even Oct to April but when we talk about specific years such as 2010 you are actually describing two separate seasons.

We are comparing years. Weather records contain yearly assessments such how many air frosts, how many rain days, how many days with thunder etc that year and then you compare year to year. That year was thundery, that year had a lot of days with falling sleet or snow etc

[Rob K]

On 05/01/2020 at 15:37, Don said:

That's what I've heard.  I think Basingstoke also did well for snow during the mid-March 2018 BFTE, too.  Also, bear in mind, there are a few snow 'domes' nearby (I used to live in one!)  This perhaps makes Basingstoke seem like a sweet spot by comparison!

I live quite near Basingstoke and we have done very well in this area over the past 12 years or so. After a long fairly snowless drought in the 1990s and 2000s we got very late and early snowfalls in 2008 (April and October), then we got a couple of decent falls just before Christmas 2009, then that mammoth fall in January 2010. Nov/Dec 2010 were a bit of a letdown compared to what much of the rest of the country got, but we also got a decent amount in March 2013, and again from the 2018 BTFE parts 1 and 2.

Then on Feb 1st we got about 12cm of heavy wet snow here but over in Basingstoke it was closer to 15-20cm, a proper winter wonderland. And then three weeks later I was sitting in a pub garden having lunch in a T-shirt. What a crazy month Feb 2019 was!

[summer blizzard]

5 hours ago, Weather-history said:

And add in any days with lying snow late November and December 2010, 2010 was a snowy year in terms of lying days with snow

That winter actually ranks second for me with 25 days of snow cover and my second greatest depth of 23cm with the Dec 2nd peak.

Would expect only height saved me though as only fields kept the snow cover between the first and second spell. Below 150asl I expect it all melted 

Third was funnily enough Jan 2013 with 12 days and 16cm. That really shows you that while the previous decade had snow much more often (the days of showers from a westerly or northerly seem long gone) the duration and amounts tended to be low here.

[Don]

Here are some photos taken on the morning of 6th January 2010.  Needless to say I had a snow day and couldn't work from home back then!  Given the winter we are experiencing 10 years on, I'm not sure if these photos make me happy or sad.  Probably a bit of both!  These were taken where I used to live in Ash Surrey.

Edited January 7, 2020 by Don

[damianslaw]

January 2013 despite not being especially cold, did produce a lengthy spell of snow cover lasting about 2 weeks, though it was quite patchy in nature as we only managed an inch or so from some light snow on the 13th, there was a hefty fall late on 25th which gave 8 inches here, but it quickly thawed.

The last time there was a month or more of snow cover was Dec 09/Jan 10. Dec 10 brought a thaw around the 10th, something often not mentioned, and because we hadn't much of a snow cover, low ground was spare of snow for about a week, before the snow came back on the 17th. Dec 10 was not a good month for snow here, we were in a poor position generally.

Feb 96 saw huge snow drifts from the snow of the 5/6 lasting through much of March, with further top ups.

[Frosty hollows]

This night 10 years ago recorded our lowest ever temperature at -17.7c. Couldn't be a sharper contrast to tonight! 

[damianslaw]

2 minutes ago, Frosty hollows said:

This night 10 years ago recorded our lowest ever temperature at -17.7c. Couldn't be a sharper contrast to tonight! 

Yes we had a run of ice days from the 3rd until the 9th. Minima got down to about -10 only, maxima on the 6th-9th hovered around -2 and -3 degree mark. Great spell of mid winter weather.

[Don]

12 hours ago, Rob K said:

I live quite near Basingstoke and we have done very well in this area over the past 12 years or so. After a long fairly snowless drought in the 1990s and 2000s we got very late and early snowfalls in 2008 (April and October), then we got a couple of decent falls just before Christmas 2009, then that mammoth fall in January 2010. Nov/Dec 2010 were a bit of a letdown compared to what much of the rest of the country got, but we also got a decent amount in March 2013, and again from the 2018 BTFE parts 1 and 2.

Then on Feb 1st we got about 12cm of heavy wet snow here but over in Basingstoke it was closer to 15-20cm, a proper winter wonderland. And then three weeks later I was sitting in a pub garden having lunch in a T-shirt. What a crazy month Feb 2019 was!

I remember on a number of occasions around the mid-90's, areas around Camberley, (i.e. where you live) always did well for snow compared to where I was at the time, near Woking.  There would be nothing where I lived (hence snow dome) and yet around your area there was 2-3 inches of snow!  We are only talking of a distance of 10 miles!

Edited January 7, 2020 by Don

[Frosty hollows]

3 minutes ago, damianslaw said:

Yes we had a run of ice days from the 3rd until the 9th. Minima got down to about -10 only, maxima on the 6th-9th hovered around -2 and -3 degree mark. Great spell of mid winter weather.

We spent a long while with the day time maxima not exceeding 0c. The ground was rock solid for the best part of 6 weeks!

[Don]

1 minute ago, Frosty hollows said:

We spent a long while with the day time maxima not exceeding 0c. The ground was rock solid for the best part of 6 weeks!

I remember all the pot holes in the roads, following that spell!

[Frosty hollows]

5 minutes ago, Don said:

I remember all the pot holes in the roads, following that spell!

Ours still haven't been repaired properly and now they're a mess again because of all the rain

[Don]

Just now, Frosty hollows said:

Ours still haven't been repaired properly and now they're a mess again because of all the rain

Same here!

[damianslaw]

10 years to the day last time a number of lakes froze over solid here in January. The 9th was an excellent day I remember following a hard frost blue skies and sunshine another ice day. Went walking near keswick and saw derwent water frozen complete.. Memories of proper wintry days.. dec 10 also saw lakes freeze over again. Nearly every weekend from second weekend of dec through until mid March brought superb winter walking conditions. Deep snow often light winds and blue skies. The lakes became an alpine ski resort!

Edited January 9, 2020 by damianslaw