Snowiest English University?

[damianslaw]

Durham is a preety snowy city, it is slightly further inland than Newcastle and at a modest height - it holds snow well, less moderation from the city urban heat island affect. Newcastle does very well in northerly and northeasterly/easterly set ups.

 

I would think York is probably one of the coldest cities, being near sea level and well inland close to the Vale of York a notorious frost hollow and a trap for freezing fog.

 

Sheffield is a high city, but being further south and inland doesn't catch the snowy northerly/northeasterly/easterly shower set ups that the cities above catch.

 

Aberdeen probably the snowiest city in the UK as a whole. Glasgow and Edinburgh also preety snowy cities, Glasgow doesn't get the snowy northerlies and easterlies but can get bucketloads from stalling atlantic fronts and NW airstreams.

 

Norwich would be a good one under a easterly/southeasterly airstream and is prone to northerly arctic snow showers, but being further south can see major mild switcharounds.

[feb1991blizzard]

Huddersfield,it is in the pennines whereas Sheffield is just to the east of the pennines !!

 

It depends where you base yourself though, if you chose Sheffield, you could potentially live up near the A57, so your elevation could be above 1000ft, don't forget S32 and S33 are in the peak district national park, although affording areas like those could be a problem if your a student I suppose.

[feb1991blizzard]

Its about weighing up the chances, you could choose somewhere that could be attacked from both east and west but then again you could have to different setups in one winter and miss out on both by 5 miles, a lot of people in NW England prefer Northerlies or NWerlies but for my location, I would rather take my chance with an Easterly and hope it is a powerhouse, the PPN always seems to just reach here but Manchester gets absolutely no snow.

[hillbilly]

It depends where you base yourself though, if you chose Sheffield, you could potentially live up near the A57, so your elevation could be above 1000ft, don't forget S32 and S33 are in the peak district national park, although affording areas like those could be a problem if your a student I suppose.

A short bus ride from Huddersfield will get you to pole moor at 1100ft or a little further out hade edge has areas up to 1400ft on the edge of Holme moss,you will have to go to high peak or the north pennines to find better snow !!!!

[feb1991blizzard]

A short bus ride from Huddersfield will get you to pole moor at 1100ft or a little further out hade edge has areas up to 1400ft on the edge of Holme moss,you will have to go to high peak or the north pennines to find better snow !!!!

 

Agree, but its best to have it piling up outside your door, there has been 10-15 foot drifts on the moors around here in spring if your prepared to walk but its nice to watch the chaos unfold from indoors I always think.

[Wynn D Woo]

Definitely avoid the University of Gloucestershire, snow in Gloucester and Cheltenham is limited at best. Even in very good set ups depths rarely exceed 4-6 inches and it usually has gone within 24hrs.

[AderynCoch]

I was at Sheffield University between 2003 and 2006. That wasn't a great era for snowfall but I certainly noticed the difference coming from Liverpool, with a number of marginal snowfalls which wouldn't have happened there (November 2004 and late February 2005 spring to mind). Ironically the most disappointing winter I had in Sheffield was probably 2005/6 even though it was colder than the other two, because there was a lack of actual snowfall (though March wasn't bad).

 

The main campus is on the edge of the city centre (somewhere in the 100-150m asl range) but the halls of residence and student areas are situated to the west at about 200-250m asl, where the land rises sharply into the Peak District. I developed thighs of steel walking home from lectures. These places must have got absolutely buried on 1st December 2010, when even the city centre managed 40cm of snow.

Edited August 31, 2014 by AderynCoch

[johnholmes]

I was at Sheffield University between 2003 and 2006. That wasn't a great era for snowfall but I certainly noticed the difference coming from Liverpool, with a number of marginal snowfalls which wouldn't have happened there (November 2004 and late February 2005 spring to mind). Ironically the most disappointing winter I had in Sheffield was probably 2005/6 even though it was colder than the other two, because there was a lack of actual snowfall (though March wasn't bad).

 

The main campus is on the edge of the city centre (somewhere in the 100-150m asl range) but the halls of residence and student areas are situated to the west at about 200-250m asl, where the land rises sharply into the Peak District. I developed thighs of steel walking home from lectures. These places must have got absolutely buried on 1st December 2010, when even the city centre managed 40cm of snow.

 

From local input I think the higher areas within the city boundary, up to 1200ft asl, got about 60cm. The heaviest band of persistent snow 30Nov-1Dec was actually just south of Sheffield. Have a word with TM for his depth, I think 60+cm, closer to Matlock than Sheffield, and even 35cm here, the heaviest in any data sets for this area.

[carinthian]

During my time at Reading University saw little snow, so that one is a real no go for snow. A surprise one was Sussex University outside Brighton on the high downs. I remember visiting my daughter on campus there in winter 2010 with lots of snow retention, but needs a Ely component to develiver.

c

[skifreak]

Shame there isn't a uni in the Highlands of Scotland!

There is, the University of the Highlands and Islands - a collegiate Uni formed through a number of North of Scotland colleges, but a new Central campus is currently being built beside the A9 at Inshes in Inverness. Shame for snow lovers that the original concept of a campus further up the A9 at Milton of Leys didn't happen as it would have been around 600-700ft above sea level, as opposed to around 100ft for the actual site.

[Polar Maritime]

Yes John, Well over 60cm here during Nov/Dec 2010, As you say T.M will have precise figures and dates. Was snowed in for days here, With white-out Blizzard conditions for days on end. Was lovely   

Edited August 31, 2014 by Polar Maritime

[Joe Bloggs]

Leeds, Sheffield, without doubt, out of the ones you mentioned.

Definitely avoid Manchester.

I wouldn't say Leeds was all that snowier than Manchester?

Manchester isn't great for snow, but like Leeds, if a rare setup occurs it can do ok (think dec 2009/jan 2010.)

Manchester can do ok when you get a WNW'ly with Arctic origin when Leeds would just stay dry.

Personally I would avoid both Leeds and Manchester and go to Sheffield.

Edited August 31, 2014 by Joe Bloggs

[Will Padz]

Prob university of derby in buxton...

[Polar Maritime]

Prob university of derby in buxton...

 

It's a College linked to Derby Uni, So does't count I'm afraid http://www.blc.ac.uk/ Just up a few miles up the road from me.

Edited August 31, 2014 by Polar Maritime

[johnholmes]

Yes John, Well over 60cm here during Nov/Dec 2010, As you say T.M will have precise figures and dates. Was snowed in for days here, With white-out Blizzard conditions for days on end. Was lovely   

 

mon apologies-I had 'forgotten' your good self!

[Thundery wintry showers]

Of the major English universities, for frequency of falling and lying snow you're probably best off with Sheffield or Durham (there isn't a lot in it between them).  For frontal snow Sheffield, for convective North Sea snow showers Durham, while Newcastle is also pretty good for those but lying snow is slightly less frequent than at Durham due to lower elevation and a larger urban settlement.  Norwich (which has the University of East Anglia) is also pretty good for North Sea snow showers although in my experience when the word "marginal" creeps in, the snow is less likely to settle in Norwich than in Newcastle/Durham because of the longer track over the North Sea.

 

Also, in my experience Leeds is, on average, snowier than Manchester but less snowy than Sheffield (due to lower elevation).  Snow showers from an easterly or north-easterly are more likely to keep a fair amount of their intensity on approaching Leeds, and although Manchester quite often picks up snow showers from an easterly, it tends mainly to be light flurries, and Manchester is also more likely to be warmed by the Irish Sea when marginality is an issue.

Edited August 31, 2014 by Thundery wintry showers

[feb1991blizzard]

^^

 

 

Is Leeds really crap then, given some altitude of well over 200m in some parts and its ability to be attacked from W or East, with no massive mountains to the east, I am surprised if its as rubbish as Manchester.

 

 

EDIT   :    Thanks TWS, question answered while I was typing.

Edited August 31, 2014 by feb1991blizzard

[feb1991blizzard]

I wouldn't say Leeds was all that snowier than Manchester?

Manchester isn't great for snow, but like Leeds, if a rare setup occurs it can do ok (think dec 2009/jan 2010.)

Manchester can do ok when you get a WNW'ly with Arctic origin when Leeds would just stay dry.

Personally I would avoid both Leeds and Manchester and go to Sheffield.

 

Yes but whats the likelihood of a WNW'ly delivering snow compared to an Easterly?, and an Easterly, be it convective or otherwise, will deliver for Leeds, as above - massive altitude problem for Manchester when comparing to to other Northern cities.

Edited August 31, 2014 by feb1991blizzard

[cheese]

I think Leeds does really well for snow. Most of the city exceeds 100m - the highest is 201m ASL in the NW suburb of Cookridge. I'd say it is better than Manchester for sure - not only does its eastern location usually help with it being more prone to North Sea showers which are usually more frequent in cold setups,  but it is generally at a higher elevation than Manchester - only the far eastern suburbs of Manchester have any decent elevation. Unless my memory does not serve me well, there have been a few instances in recent years of Leeds getting a decent fall while Manchester gets little or nothing - from frontal setups.

 

2012/2013 was pretty good - close to a foot of settled snow on the night of 25th of January after some of the heaviest snow I have seen (must have had 15cm within 4 hours). February had a 12cm fall around the 12th/13th, and March delivered almost blizzard conditions with drifting snow. In fact, I have a great picture of some JCBs removing deep snow drifts from a road in a suburb of Leeds - I'll try and find it.

 

Edit; here it is: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stripeyanne/8589910108/

 

And here is an image from a suburban garden in Leeds on 23 March:

 

And here is Leeds city centre on the same day (doesn't as well obviously due to UHI + lower elevation, but that's typical of any large city):

 

It'd be unusual for Manchester to get snow and Leeds get nothing, given both have precipitation falling, but the opposite is not unusual.

 

ANyway, I've rambled a bit, lol.

Edited August 31, 2014 by cheese

[feb1991blizzard]

In the winter of 2012-2013, my location, which is only 11 miles East of Manchester, had in total between 1 and 2 feet of level snow (and drifts many feet deep) between the months of  Nov and April, my mate, who lives in Castlefield (Manchester City Centre), says they had virtually zero, and that's only 11 miles East and a bit further North, Leeds is Much further North and East.

 

[Thundery wintry showers]

The other thing is that in a cyclonic westerly/north-westerly type which is cold enough to bring snow showers, the showers quite often penetrate as far east as Leeds.  For instance, January 1984 (a notoriously wintry westerly month) generally had more days of lying snow to the east of the Pennines than Manchester's six days.

 

 I would be surprised if many "easterly" months generally had more days of lying snow in Manchester than the east side of the Pennines, bar eastern coastal fringes.

 

However, on the other side of the coin, Manchester is on average significantly snowier than Liverpool, London, Swansea or Exeter, and perhaps slightly ahead of Lancaster for lying snow (I went to Lancaster University for my undergraduate degree, and during winter snow events it was normal to see rain or sleet at Morecambe, wet snow at Lancaster that failed to settle, and significant lying snow confined to the east of the M6).  It may well be slightly ahead of places like Reading as well.

Edited August 31, 2014 by Thundery wintry showers

[feb1991blizzard]

Where does Birmingham come out in all this?, its supposed to be far snowier than Manchester and London, and during the mid 80s, nearly every year there was a crippling snow event that brought it to a standstill but between 1997 and 2007, the most I encountered was 2 inches, was that just desperate bad luck?, was it down to Global warming / climate change?, but as soon as I left, sods law, I was in Salford on Feb 1st 2009 and got bugger all and B'ham got battered for 2 weeks and has had decent falls since as well.

[feb1991blizzard]

If your talking City Centre's then I actually wouldn't of thought Manchester was SIGNIFICANTLY snowier than London but maybe im wrong.

[cheese]

In the winter of 2012-2013, my location, which is only 11 miles East of Manchester, had in total between 1 and 2 feet of level snow (and drifts many feet deep) between the months of  Nov and April, my mate, who lives in Castlefield (Manchester City Centre), says they had virtually zero, and that's only 11 miles East and a bit further North, Leeds is Much further North and East.

My snow depth measurements are not extremely accurate but the total snow accumulation in this part of Leeds (85m ASL), using my super scientific ruler, was 37cm in January (since the temp often hovered slightly above 0, there was melt between snowfalls), 12cm in February and in excess of a foot in March, at least - but measurements were tricky to get because drifting was pretty bad. There were at least three snowfalls in March before the 'big one' on the 23rd that all delivered more than an inch of the white stuff. What a snowy month indeed. 2013 proves that it doesn't need to be very cold in order for lots of snow to fall. January 2013 was barely below average (but March was obviously very, very cold with two ice days - March 2013 actually beat February 2010 locally as the third coldest month since 1990 (after Dec 2010 and Jan 2010 - Dec 1995 in fourth, Dec 2009 in fifth)).

Edited September 1, 2014 by cheese

[Interitus]

If you are willing to change your university course, there are actually Sheffield University facilities based in Buxton such as the Buxton Climate Change Impacts Laboratory - http://bccil.group.shef.ac.uk/

The Electronic and Electrical Engineering department Communications Research Group also conduct wireless experiments there - http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/eee/research/cr/buxton

This is to the south of the town near Harpur Hill on the Health and Safety Laboratory site at an elevation over 400 metres, map - http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=406073&y=369989&z=115&sv=406073,369989&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=613&ax=406073&ay=369989&lm=0

 

The HSL has a webcam of the site which is often linked to showing snowy conditions during winter - http://xnet.hsl.gov.uk/siteweather/