BBC Weather: Early May 1997; A Return To Winter

[Weather-history 18,869]

After a beautiful start to May 1997 with glorious warm sunshine, it went belly-up during Bank Holiday Monday and wintry weather returns

[Timmytour 4,183]

I was on my honeymoon during this time so missed it, but heard about it.

Simply astonishing to see a chart which shows a temp of 17 for London show snow over it for less than 12 hours later!

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Many places saw virtually no wintry preciptation let alone snow between early January 1997 and this event. I think some locations could even go as far to say that May 1997 was the third snowiest month of 1997.

[MP-R 3,719]

Funny how snow was readily shown over the country with temps between 9-12C yet in this most recent spell they couldn't make their minds up with the temps between -1-2C.

[Thundery wintry showers 5,221]

It is mainly about the airmass stability and temperatures at upper levels. During the recent spell we've had Atlantic systems bring wintry precipitation associated with an inversion, thus even with temperatures close to or below freezing at ground level, some places saw rain, freezing rain and/or ice pellets due to temperatures well above freezing several hundred metres up.

On the 6th May 1997 850hPa temperatures were between -6 and -9C across the country and the reason for the maxima of 9-12C was the strong May sun which generated a very strong thermal contrast between the surface and a few hundred metres up. As a result the snowflakes only had to pass through a very thin layer of the atmosphere with temperatures well in excess of freezing, and temperatures tended to drop rapidly once any showers got underway. Dew points were mostly a little below freezing which also helped.

Of course, trust the May Day Bank Holiday to be the dull wet day during the transition from the heatwave to the snow showers... :lol:

[slaphead 7]

Remember this vividly. After Blair got in it seemed initially like New Labour had laid on an early summer. I was staying at friends on the south coast and we had a picnic on the beach and went swimming in the channel on the 2nd and 3rd. I was back in Leicester by the 5th and walking across Victoria Park that evening to Uni it snowed quite heavily, although it didn't settle. Certainly a turn-around!

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The evolution of the crash....

[Eugene 1,320]

Have to say i have no recollection of this event, was busy doing other things back then i guess.

Mr data just wondering but do you know the coldest first week of June since records began that you could show us?

I'm guessing that the first week of June has the potential to be the coldest week of the summer season(June 1st to August 31st) due to cool ish seas still and some polar air still to our north

[AderynCoch 1,284]

Interesting to see Boulmer recording its highest ever May temperature with 23C. Hard to believe it had never been hotter than that.

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May 1997 was IMO, one of the most interesting Mays of the century. It had early summer warmth, late winter cold, thunderstorms, funnel clouds, large hail, it was a month of great diversity.

6th May 1997

7th May 1997

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8th May 1997

9th May 1997

Edited October 20, 2012 by Weather-history

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10th May 1997

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11th May 1997

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13th May 1997

14th May 1997

Edited October 21, 2012 by Weather-history

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15th May 1997

16th May 1997

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17th May 1997

An area of thunderstorms moved up through the western Midlands, Bill Giles said it gave cricket ball sized hail for parts of Oxfordshire!

[I remember Atlantic 252 7,634]

I remember the wet snow I had, the only snow in May, around the time Ken Doherty won the title! great player

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17th May 1997: the thunderstorm passed over my area during the early hours with frequent lightning flashes and heavy rain. A really good night storm and just as it moved away, the daylight was coming

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18th May 1997

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19th May 1997

20th May 1997: the dreaded term "mini tornado" is used in the graphics

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21st May 1997

22nd May 1997

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23rd May 1997

24th May 1997

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25th May 1997

26th May 1997

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27th May 1997

28th May 1997

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29th May 1997

30th May 1997

31st May 1997