Winter 2014-15 thread

[snow mad]

Talking about January. There wasn't a classical type easterly during that month.

january 2010 had a Scandinavia high of sorts at the beginning

[feb1991blizzard]

Just going on how the pressure pattern is likely to turn out, I can see this panning out like February 1993, I would prefer 1994 of course.

 

 

EDIT : Well I would prefer 1991 of course but that would take some backtrack.

Edited February 1, 2015 by feb1991blizzard

[damianslaw]

One thing this winter has lacked so far is any dry period, however, Feb looks like starting on a mostly dry note, yes there will be some sleet/snow and showers about but many central parts do look like seeing a number of dry days. Also for the first time in a long time we have high pressure building in over the country, sunshine totals should be very good.

[knocker]

Sunniest place in the UK this January......Aberdeen!

[sundog]

It was probably a shock winter for youngsters at the time, I know I was surprised by it being young and naive. Interested in weather but not in past history. Winters 1976-77 to 1986-87 would have brought ideas of guarantee cold and some snow spells during winter for schoolkids of that time

I was born in 73 and thats exactly how i felt about that winter of 87-88.I thought every winter back then that i would get a decent cold spell with snow. The following winter i thought maybe 87-88 was a blip and the cold spells woud be back . The late 80s were a wake up call to me regards to thinking i was guaranteed snow and cold spells every winter.

Edited February 3, 2015 by sundog

[dragon falls]

Same here I was born in 1973 even Cardiff had snow drifts up to to windows rember the 80s winters walking to school knee deep and they stayed open even roads flowed quite well and the easterly winds in the early 90s bitter very bitter working on the gardens

[reef]

Sunniest place in the UK this January......Aberdeen!

How sunny this winter has been for eastern areas has gone under the radar. Here we've broken the records for sunshine in both December and January. Indeed, we've had more than what would be expected in the entire winter in those two months and that's before February which is on average the sunniest of the three:

 

December: 91hrs (175%)

January:  96hrs (168%)

 

Just 61hrs are required in February to beat the record for the sunniest winter and we're already up to 11hrs in less than three days. If this upcoming high pressure is a clear one then it looks conceivable it can be done.

[Peter H]

Same here I was born in 1973 even Cardiff had snow drifts up to to windows rember the 80s winters walking to school knee deep and they stayed open even roads flowed quite well and the easterly winds in the early 90s bitter very bitter working on the gardens

I was born in 1955 and I remember weather so cold you could pour water on the pavement or driveway and it turned to ice in a matter of minutes, and that was in winters other than 62/63.

This cold spell has really been a bit of a damp squib as they say around here. Not particularly cold today although still a tiny bit of snow on the ground and that was from last Thursday. Around an inch was lying on Monday morning but it was all gone by lunchtime. Still, quite a bit up over the hills but it was very disappointing at lower levels around here.

Long range charts now look pretty benign for the next couple of weeks, by which stage we're almost be into the meteorological spring.

Roll on summer. I'm done with this winter now.

[johnholmes]

I was born in 1955 and I remember weather so cold you could pour water on the pavement or driveway and it turned to ice in a matter of minutes, and that was in winters other than 62/63.

And which winters were they Peter, I doubt many or for many prolonged spells but I will check the CET for an inkling of any?

Your memory is obviously better than mine Peter!

A surprising number of winter months when the CET suggests what you describe may have been possible at times.

1956 Feb=-0.2 but I doubt you remember that born in 1955

Jan 1956=1.6

Dec 1961=2.2

excluding 62-63 winter as you posted

Feb 1969=1.0

Dec 1976=2.0

Jan 1979=-0.2

Feb 1979=1.2

Jan 1980=2.3

Dec 1981=0.3

So a fair number that would probably have had quite marked longish cold spells?

Edited February 3, 2015 by johnholmes

[Fozfoster]

"Roll on summer", yeah this High presure over us would be great in 4months time!! But fat chance of that. ;-)

[AderynCoch]

There's something extra special about cold winters as a kid. I enjoyed the likes of 09/10 and 10/11 but as an adult they weren't quite as magical. Older people often talk about the youth of today missing out but plenty of modern children do have own memories to look back on forever. As for myself I was born in 1985 so growing up I had to endure so many fail winters - 95/96 is the only one I can look back on and call "memorable". I would have killed to have a December like 2010 in my childhood.

[Peter H]

And which winters were they Peter

I remember cold spells throughout the 60's, not just 62/63 and we nearly always got two or three snow events throughout the winter.68/69 really sticks in my memory but there were been others.

Even when we had the Atlantic breaking through we still had snow preceding the rain.

I seem to remember one particularly cold spell just after Christmas (might have been 63/64) when we had persistent snow flurries but nothing substantial. It was still a case of water freezing pretty quickly in the middle of the day. It's been a while since we had an easterly like that.

This winter has again been pretty disappointing in general.

February really is a transition month between winter and spring now. I can't see anything particularly cold on the horizon. Even Simon Keeling appears to have given up.

[I remember Atlantic 252]

I remember cold spells throughout the 60's, not just 62/63 and we nearly always got two or three snow events throughout the winter.68/69 really sticks in my memory but there were been others.

Even when we had the Atlantic breaking through we still had snow preceding the rain.

I seem to remember one particularly cold spell just after Christmas (might have been 63/64) when we had persistent snow flurries but nothing substantial. It was still a case of water freezing pretty quickly in the middle of the day. It's been a while since we had an easterly like that.

This winter has again been pretty disappointing in general.

February really is a transition month between winter and spring now. I can't see anything particularly cold on the horizon. Even Simon Keeling appears to have given up.

 

Yeah, nothing is as good nowadays, easterlies rare, Atlantic moves in with a whimper, not like the good old snows of the 90's and earlier

 

even with -8 uppers this week, rain and sleet a feature, and mild sectors always seem to arrive here, rain, and as soon as uppers cold enough dry

[Peter H]

Or that wintery spell after Christmas might have been 61/62 John. I seem to remember the 1946 version of great expectations being one of the big Christmas films on TV that year.

[Summer of 95]

I was born in 1979 and the first winter I remember not having any snow was 1991/2. All of them in the 80s did, both in South Wales where I was until 1987 and in Shrewsbury thereafter. 87-88 had quite a good fall in Jan that I remember. 88-89 had that surprise on November 20th (though I admit I can't remember any in the "winter" months), even 89-90 I remember having a couple of snowfalls although they each only lasted a day or two. There was one I think in mid December that gave about 3 inches.

Then after 90-91 it went downhill, 1991/2 and 1992/3 were practically snowless, with the next decent fall in February 1994. It recovered somewhat in the mid 90s, but the nadir for snow was the late 90s. I never saw more than 2cm of snow between Jan 1997 and March 2001, with 1998/99 and particularly 1999/00 being virtually devoid of anything wintry. Someone born here about 1997 would have been around 9-10 before they saw anything resembling the snow I used to see every year.

[Peter H]

before they saw anything resembling the snow I used to see every year.

Indeed, 74/75 was the first snowless winter I remember and one of the mildest of the 20th century, from what I gather.

As I've said on other occasions, it's been over 4 years without a decent snow event and that's a long time, even for here.

This winter has been a bit better than the last one, but not by much. Overall pretty disappointing. Maybe it is something to do with global warming.

By the time we get to mid to late February the sun really is getting a bit too strong for snow to lie for any length of time

Long range charts for this evening are even worse than they were earlier.

Like the last "cold spell" a couple of weeks ago, the charts promised a lot but really didn't deliver anything significant.

[Weather of Mass Disruption]

Indeed, 74/75 was the first snowless winter I remember and one of the mildest of the 20th century, from what I gather.

As I've said on other occasions, it's been over 4 years without a decent snow event and that's a long time, even for here.

This winter has been a bit better than the last one, but not by much. Overall pretty disappointing. Maybe it is something to do with global warming.

By the time we get to mid to late February the sun really is getting a bit too strong for snow to lie for any length of time

Long range charts for this evening are even worse than they were earlier.

Like the last "cold spell" a couple of weeks ago, the charts promised a lot but really didn't deliver anything significant.

 

Have to disagree with this statement, don't you recall March 2013? Coldest in 50 years with loads of snow and ice days for weeks. Granted they are rare, but given the right synoptics, perfectly plausible. 

 

I am hoping we can get a least one 'nationwide' snow event this winter as it has felt like a long time since the last one... 

[Wynn D Woo]

Have to disagree with this statement, don't you recall March 2013? Coldest in 50 years with loads of snow and ice days for weeks. Granted they are rare, but given the right synoptics, perfectly plausible. 

 

I am hoping we can get a least one 'nationwide' snow event this winter as it has felt like a long time since the last one... 

Yes I recall March 2013, it was dull grey and lots of cold rain, no lying snow.

[Weather-history]

Manchester Winter Index

1978-79: 262

2009-10: 197

1985-86: 159

1981-82: 149

1976-77: 141

1984-85: 140

1995-96: 135

1990-91: 126

2010-11: 119

2008-09: 105

2012-13: 102

1986-87: 100

1977-78: 90

1989-81: 90

1982-83: 85

1983-84: 82

1993-94: 78

2000-01: 77

1996-97: 72

2014-15: 69 (up to 3rd February)

1979-80: 66

2005-06: 59

2001-02: 50

2003-04: 50

1998-99: 47

2004-05: 47

2011-12: 47

1994-95: 45

2002-03: 44

1992-93: 43

1975-76: 41

1991-92: 40

1987-88: 37

2007-08: 37

1973-74: 30

1974-75: 26

1989-90: 26

1997-98: 25

2006-07: 21

1988-89: 20

2013-14: 7

Edited February 4, 2015 by Weather-history

[knocker]

A wet and sunny January, but very average for temperature

https://metofficenews.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/a-wet-and-sunny-january-but-very-average-for-temperature/

[Richard2901]

Yes I recall March 2013, it was dull grey and lots of cold rain, no lying snow.

 

 

Yes it was an awful month. Horrible grey and cold with snow falling almost every day but seldom lying for more than a couple of hours.

 

The only Marches I recall as having at least a week of deep lying snow were 2001 and 2006. In both cases the snow began in February so there are zero instances in my lifetime of a fresh snowfall in March lasting a week.

 

This basically means this winter has three weeks to produce something decent and half of that period looks a write-off at the moment.

[March Blizzard]

Still some snow about on sheltered grass here from the fall last Thursday, that's 9 consecutive days. Not bad at all...could just do with a top up now!

[Ravendane]

I am curious about the Netweather five day and snow possibility forecasts. I fully understand weather forecasting can never be an exact science and weather by its nature is chaotic.  But recently there have been high percentage forecasts for snow that have been changed within a couple of hours to zero. Last night  way into the late night, my postcode was given a record 95 percent chance of snow, but about 2am it became a zero chance...how can this be with modern technology and radar?

[damianslaw]

I was born in 1979 and the first winter I remember not having any snow was 1991/2. All of them in the 80s did, both in South Wales where I was until 1987 and in Shrewsbury thereafter. 87-88 had quite a good fall in Jan that I remember. 88-89 had that surprise on November 20th (though I admit I can't remember any in the "winter" months), even 89-90 I remember having a couple of snowfalls although they each only lasted a day or two. There was one I think in mid December that gave about 3 inches.

Then after 90-91 it went downhill, 1991/2 and 1992/3 were practically snowless, with the next decent fall in February 1994. It recovered somewhat in the mid 90s, but the nadir for snow was the late 90s. I never saw more than 2cm of snow between Jan 1997 and March 2001, with 1998/99 and particularly 1999/00 being virtually devoid of anything wintry. Someone born here about 1997 would have been around 9-10 before they saw anything resembling the snow I used to see every year.

 

 

Yes the period 87/88 - 92/93 wasn't great snowfall wise in stark comparison to the 10 winters before. We managed a decent fall in late Jan 88. As you say Nov 88 delivered a little but the winter thereafter wad snowless here. Winter 89/90 had a couple of snowfalls one mid Dec, one in late Feb and a patchy fall from the Burns Day Storm but in the main was very mild and wet. Winter 90/91 was average, snow on the 8th Dec, a bit of snow early and late Jan, and we managed a couple of inches on the 8th Feb.

 

Winter 91/92 -snowless, a terrible one. Winter 92/93 marginally better, a patchy cover mid Dec, and late snowfall last day of Feb.

 

Thank goodness for the next 4 winters which each delivered numerous snowfalls. Mid-late Feb 94 very snowy with a foot of snow from one fall. Early March 95 numerous snowfalls, Early Feb 96 - 18 inches! Dec 96 a number of snowy days, early Jan 97 also snowy but then it went downfall..

 

Then we went back to 3 woeful winters for snow between 97/98 - 99/00. Winter 00/01 made up for it with a decent fall in late December. Winter 01/02 started well with a couple of falls in Dec but nothing in Jan or Feb.

[RBW1962]

Since I have been watching the weather (from mid 70s) I have not had a single snowless winter. Last year was one of the two closest as I only saw a few flakes in February and this year counts as poorest as well with three snow events producing a maximum depth of 5mm. There have been several winters that have been snowless until April, the classic being 1980/1 when I had to wait until something like 26th April and then I got what was probably my second best ever snow event. The best was Jan 82 when I got about 14 inches.