Winter 2014/2015 Postmortem

[Lake District Blizzards]

low of -6c

 

17 days of snow lying

 

max depth of 6cm

 

31 air frosts

 

Mean of 3.8c

 

bog standard average winter for here 5/10

[damianslaw]

Agree with above, for my locality a very average month, with no extremes, temps never too far from average and thankfully no lengthy very mild spell, though New Year was very mild.

 

Lowest min nudged -7 degrees. We had a good number of air frosts especially second half of Jan and first half of February.

 

Nearly an official ice day 28th/29th December.

 

11 days of snow falling (below average)

8 mornings of snow cover.

 

Most disappointing aspect has been the snowfall events, max depth from a single fall only 1 inch.. we never quite struck lucky being a bit too far south, came close to a decent heavy fall on 29th Jan but it was never to be. Also all snowfalls were very wet and didn't last too long. The fells have done well though -much better than last year.

 

Plenty of polar maritime airstreams and quite lively conditions. No high pressure spell unfortunately.

 

I'd rate it just about 6/10.

[March Blizzard]

Yeah. 6/10. The Boxing Day mega-flakes and the following near ice day and all day frost. The late January fall of around 4 inches and the subsequent lying snowcover through early February. The regular polar maritime wintry showers throughout the winter. They all combined to give a satisfactory winter in my neck of the woods, being realistic about what I should/can typically expect from the season. Enough "wow" moments prevent a lower ranking.

The disappointing aspect - no noteable minima yet again. Hard frosts are my favourite weather type, and I'm pining for them to return. The wonderfully cold nights of Jan and Dec 2010, and at times March 2013 seem like a million years ago now.

Obviously, it could have been miles better, but all things considered it's been decent in my book.

* Looking at the poll result, it's probably not a surprise that most of the "satisfactory" members are in the West/North, with it being a polar maritime dominated winter. Can understand the frustration from those in the east/south, though.

Edited March 1, 2015 by March Blizzard

[Wildswimmer Pete]

For me this winter has turned out  exactly as forecast: average with a cold heart.  Despite I'm a bare-skin winter swimmer I hate winter and hopefully the next couple of days signal the end of winter.  My local swimming lake, Hatchmere (Cheshire), has been ice-covered for almost all of January and much of February which is quite unusual.  Of course my view is highly subjective.  The only lying snow I encountered was around New Year, and the attached pic shows how I saw out 2014.

[sundog]

I would give winter 2014/15 a 6/10, very average overall.

 

I didnt do too badly with the number of air frosts getting just over 20 which wasnt bad at all especially considering my first air frost of the entire autmn/winter season wasnt until Dec 14th and much better then last winters grand total of 3. Had a handfull f severe frosts with some frost remaining in the shade a few times.

 

But not getting any northern blocking and any real proper cold spells was disappionting. It was as if winter 2014/15 tried to give us some kind of a decent winter due to the number of PM shots rather then TM shots, but without northern blocking and the PV being a resilient SOB it had one hand tied behind its back all the time.

 

Had a few days overall of snow falling which never amounted to more then dustings which melted after a few hrs.

 

Min temp -5.0c,3rd Feb

Lowest max 1.6c,19th Jan

Max 14.0c,9th Jan

[Cheshire Freeze]

A pretty crap winter in all honesty from my POV. Still, I saw some snow falling so better (slightly) than last year in that respect.

[Winter Cold]

Its been a massively IMBY winter this one:

 

Ive rated this winter as satisfactory. The Sheffield area has been lucky this winter with a very heavy snowfall on boxing day night, another one mid January and then a week later we got another one from a streamer which dumped nearly a foot here. All 3 spells had laying snow for a good while, but the last one end of Jan had it laying for nearly two weeks up here.

 

Despite that, only satisfactory because at my location id say 3 snowfalls is average at best and a good winter to me is one with a 'proper' cold spell which we have not managed to get this year. Frequent NWerly PM blasts are whats favoured Yorkshire, but id have loved us to get some northern blocking or a pattern condusive to cold days and very cold nights. It always seemed to be breezy this winter and so night time temps especialy have been poor. Quick regular changes betweeen PM and TM air have just not enabled most of the country to get in on any action which is a shame.

 

Who knows what next winter will bring but after a couple of years now with no proper cold ( which will be 3 years by the time we get another chance!) i really hope we get some of the USA luck next winter and we get a pattern which means we can all enjoy some cold and snow

[Peter H]

It was better than last year.

It snowed, um, once or twice.

Exactly the same here

Next year might be better.

Me too.

These last two winters have been pretty awful. The set up in March 2013 would have been great in December/January. Pity it was too late. 2011/12 Was dreadful as well.

Five years is a long time to wait for a decent winter snow event.

Here's hoping 2015/16 will deliver something more than James Madden's fantasy predictions.

[AderynCoch]

Not terrible (like last winter) but could have been so much more. Lots of "nearly" PM synoptics which would have given a decent number of snow days had it been just that bit colder, and far too many boring periods where there was no chance of frost. It was also annoying to see all that stratospheric warming and the PV taking a hit but it doing absolutely nothing for our part of the world. We have been very unlucky in that respect not to have seen northern blocking this winter.

 

On the other hand, I was lucky to get in on the Boxing Day snowfall, as it didn't affect that big an area (places just north of here got nothing), and bits of it were still around when I left for London on the 30th. If not for that this winter would be firmly in the "poor" category.

[cheeky_monkey]

From my point of view a pretty much nothingness of a winter..wasn't cold at all, wasn't really mild either..did not rain as much as I expected..wasn't particularly windy either..only had a bit of sleet for about 10 mins one Saturday morning and that was about it. I found it very gloomy with the lack of sunshine so very surprised it was one of the sunniest winters on record?

[Jason M]

Very dissapointing winter. No surprises really given my location. Although some colder spells, it was really just rather cold than genuinely cold. Saw some falling snow and some slush on the ground at times but sledge remained firmly locked away.

Pm air generally brings the wrong kind of snow for many aka rain!

Most dissapointing thing for me was that in terms of potential the winter was over by the first week of Feb. Half the fun is the chase, but it was obvious that it was game over.

Hopefully we will now move quickly into a warm spring. Slush at easter is good for nothing.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Jason M

[Polar Maritime]

With my location doing very well out of Pm air, This Winter has been average with plenty of days with lying Snow. 

[knocker]

Pretty good in these parts with Atlantic storms kept to a minimum. Sunshine up last month 20%.

[MP-R]

As far as winters go, it could have been a lot worse, but considering the synoptics on offer, it came off rather poorly. A brief breakdown from me.

 

Good points:

- Plenty of sunshine

- Plenty of frosts

- Emphasis on Pm Atlantic weather

- Minimal mildness after New Year

- Minimal gales

 

Bad points:

- No impressive minima despite number of frosts

- Three missed snow events despite favourable synoptics

- No ice days

- No northerlies

- No easterlies

 

The good and the bad equal in my book so a satisfactory winter but should have been a lot better considering pre-winter signals and synoptics throughout the winter.

[Lettucing Gutted]

Lots of "nearly" PM synoptics which would have given a decent number of snow days had it been just that bit colder, and far too many boring periods where there was no chance of frost.

I think "nearly PM synoptics" was a very good description (failing "Normal Zonality") of the sort of Zonality we had this winter.  Whilst it seldom carried the ridiculous warmth of many all too common post 1987 Maritime Tropical winter Zonalities, the upper air (850 HPA) temperatures were still too mild (-5C and higher) to allow for the classic Cold Zonality of February 1968, January 1978, January 1984 and March 1995.  If August 2014s PM synoptics had occurred in the winter I am 100% certain they would have delivered the goods.

 

The north-south temperature contrast, the frequent and powerful Atlantic storms, the common rapid changeovers of PM<>TM airmasses, the lack of proper air frosts and the lack of nationwide and decent wintry showers all speak volume of this type of "nearly PM synoptics/Normal Zonality".

 

"nearly PM synoptics" should be a new one for the netweather urban dictionary! 

Edited March 2, 2015 by Craig Evans

[MP-R]

I think "nearly PM synoptics" was a very good description (failing "Normal Zonality") of the sort of Zonality we had this winter.  Whilst it seldom carried the ridiculous warmth of many all too common post 1987 Maritime Tropical winter Zonalities, the upper air (850 HPA) temperatures were still too mild (-5C and higher) to allow for the classic Cold Zonality of February 1968, January 1978, January 1984 and March 1995.  If August 2014s PM synoptics had occurred in the winter I am 100% certain they would have delivered the goods.

 

The north-south temperature contrast, the frequent and powerful Atlantic storms, the common rapid changeovers of PM<>TM airmasses, the lack of proper air frosts and the lack of nationwide and decent wintry showers all speak volume of this type of "nearly PM synoptics/Normal Zonality".

 

"nearly PM synoptics" should be a new one for the netweather urban dictionary! 

 

I was thinking that very same thing, especially around the 18th-21st. Just imagine temperatures 7-8C below the seasonal average lol. A few days of wintry showers 18th-20th, a more organised area of snow on the 21st, resumption of wintry showers on the 22nd, then a frosty spell 23rd-24th. Not a bad wintry spell if not in August!

[Lauren]

Was at least colder than last year, but with only one evening of average snow that didn't really lay, I'm not going to count that as a 'snow day'. So 2 winters in a row without any real snow. Not impressed, but it could be worse. 2/10. The only thing that could have made it worse was no snowfall at all and no 'bitter' days that can actually be nice when you're inside.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Lauren

[Catacol]

Dreadful for SW England. Didnt see a snow flake (did manage 2 bursts of sleet), and temps so relatively mild that even the local pond remained ice free most of the winter. A reasonable number of frosts, but none that can be described as severe. Last year got 0/10. This one I'd give 2/10 but only because there were some marginal frosts. Otherwise awful.

 

Admittedly SW England is hardly the top spot for "proper" winter, but I've lived here a fair while now and the combined lack of any snow and any proper cold definitely ranks it down at the bottom of the table. Roll on Winter 2015/16 - surely it cant be any worse for the south than the combined disappointment of the last 2?

Edited March 2, 2015 by Catacol_Highlander