Which Winter month would you like to see a repeat of?

[BlueHedgehog074]

From the time you were born, which Winter month would you love to experience again?

For me, it would be January 2013. A month that provided a decent 2 week cold spell with some fairly cyclonic Easterly/South-Easterly winds causing a serious explosion to the Solihull Snow Shield. A good number of snowfalls, albeit mostly light to moderate, giving a total depth of 16cm. It was really like a Winter wonderland! The whole landscape covered in a big white carpet! Was so magical! And is some of the deepest snow I've seen in a while... (apart from the 20cm deep snow from a snowfall back in late December 2010 - think it occured on the 18th). January 1995 would probably come a close second perhaps drawing with December 2010.

What about you guys?  

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Jan and Mar '13, Nov '96, feb '07

[BlueHedgehog074]

2 hours ago, I remember Atlantic 252 said:

Jan and Mar '13, Nov '96, feb '07

Ah yeah! March 2013 - that was really spectacular for it's wintry and cold weather too! 

Don't really remember Nov 1996 much.

 

[Summer of 95]

Dec 2010, Feb 1991, Jan 1987 (though I lived in south Wales then). Jan 2013 I'd certainly take at the moment, though I don't rank it with those because of its odd lack of low minima (as for 2012/13 generally).

March 2013 felt a let down at the time with its vast differences in snow depths over small areas, however I would have been more kindly disposed towards it had I known it would not be exceeded until at least 2017...... 

 

 

 

[Carl46Wrexham]

December 2010 - Deep snow cover, gin clear blue skies with dazzling sunshine and temperatures below freezing all day. Was like being in the Alps. 

[cheeky_monkey]

You could pick out the obvious Feb 1978, Dec 78, Jan 79 Dec 81 etc..but lets not forget epics like Feb 1990 or 1998.and Dec 15..Dec 91 was interesting due to some very cold and severe frosts yet not a flake of snow

[Guest]

For me it would be those that were at either end of the stormy/mild - cold/snowy scale.  Jan 13, Jan 10, Dec 10, Dec 09 had a great snow event in this area, and going back a bit Feb 91, Jan 87 I can just about remember and Feb 96 was decent with snow bookending that month here.

On the other end of the scale Dec 13, Feb 14, Jan 07 for their frequent gales, Jan 98( though just the beginning) and Jan 90 for that awesome burns day storm.  For that same token autumn months can be listed but that would be off topic I guess..

So any extreme month really

[Mapantz]

I'm not sure whether it'd be January or February 2014 for me - the storms that were battering the coastline were quite a spectacle! I spent more time at the beaches down here during that period, than I do in Summer.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Mapantz

[Bobd29]

Oh yes please: January 1963, December 2010 and January 1987.....or if you like any other month with snow in it, that rules out the last 4 years down here 

[Timmytour]

The way things are shaping up this winter, we could see a repeat of 1985/86 winter.   A nondescript December.....a cooler than average January, that ended with the trigger low that ended up bringing us a rare sub zero CET return for February!

Granted it wasn't the snowiest winter we have ever experienced, but memorably cold and would certainly do for me.

[snowsummer]

Got to be January  1963. Born in it so would love  to see through my own eyes what its like to live through it . It can start a little earlier on the 10th if it wants..help  me celebrate that grand old age of 50 years and 48 months!

[damianslaw]

For snowfall, Feb 1996, a 30 hr continuous snowfall, that started roughly 10am 5 Feb and finished 4pm 6 Feb, resulting in 18 inches. Not bettered since. It didn't stick around for long a rapid thaw ensued late on the 9 Feb, however, large drifts lingered well into March, thanks to further cold weather through the month.

For cold weather, Dec 2010.

 

[hillbilly]

6 hours ago, Timmytour said:

The way things are shaping up this winter, we could see a repeat of 1985/86 winter.   A nondescript December.....a cooler than average January, that ended with the trigger low that ended up bringing us a rare sub zero CET return for February!

Granted it wasn't the snowiest winter we have ever experienced, but memorably cold and would certainly do for me.

What a month that was,plenty snow here in the pennines,strange that there was little ion lower ground but where I was at 340 metres it was constantly drifting and we had to clear the lane twice a day with the snowblower for weeks,truely amazing for constant bitter east winds and blowing snow and constant daily snowfalls .

[iand61]

February 1979 for me.

blizzard after blizzard up here and every threatened breakdown to milder conditions failed.

 

[Ravelin]

For pure amount and duration of snow, Dec 10....

Although I do remember being virtually stuck in the houses due to snow drifts for around a week when I was in my late teens, so probably Jan 87. Also sometime probably in the late 70s when as a younger kids we were all digging snow holes into drifts coming off the fields on the edge of our village.

[hillbilly]

Like iand61 says 1979 was the benchmark for snow ,with a bitterly cold January, February 1986 was also right up there along with December/jan 1981/1982.Other notable spells were jan 1987,feb 1978,december 1995 .Obviously jan/dec 2010 wasgreat but not as good as march 2013.The craziest event but shortly lived has to be the end of April 1981,the snow at that time had no right to exist,no equal in modern history .

[Peter H]

1962/63 for a start.

Also, 1968/69, 1978/79, 1981/82 (and the following three winters), 2009/10. 2010/11 would have been good had it not ended on Boxing Day.

My dad went on about 1946/47 which only began late January. Mum tells me about the winter of 1939/40.

Most of the winters in the 1960's were all cold.


 

Edited January 4, 2017 by Peter H

[Kentish Man]

Bearing in mind this winter so far with its mild Dec and average looking Jan (very much like 1985/86) it would have to be Feb 1986.  A CET of minus 1.1C makes it the coldest month since 1963 beating even Dec 2010. Huge snow drifts occurred in Kent accompanied by bright blue skies at times giving the place a rare alpine feel. 

[sundog]

Would have to be dec 2010,such a great month. Jan 82,Jan 79(i dont remember much about it ,only being 5 at the time). Jan 2010 wasnt bad either.

[iand61]

On 4 January 2017 at 20:02, hillbilly said:

Like iand61 says 1979 was the benchmark for snow ,with a bitterly cold January, February 1986 was also right up there along with December/jan 1981/1982.Other notable spells were jan 1987,feb 1978,december 1995 .Obviously jan/dec 2010 wasgreat but not as good as march 2013.The craziest event but shortly lived has to be the end of April 1981,the snow at that time had no right to exist,no equal in modern history .

Remember late April 81, 36 hours of heavy snow and by the time it stopped it was almost 2 feet deep.

it was wet and heavy but still drifted against the walls and filled the lanes and then within hours of clearing through, the strong sunshine had started one of the quickest thaws I've ever seen.

winter to summer within a matter of hours.

[Methuselah]

If I recall February 1969 correctly (Beatles @ #1?) there was both a fantastic polar low that caused a raging blizzard coupled with a sudden 7C temperature drop, and a massive blizzard (LP from the south) that dumped many inches of snow on the English Midlands...And, as they often do, went on to cause days of havoc around Newcastle?

[iand61]

7 minutes ago, Ed Stone said:

If I recall February 1969 correctly (Beatles @ #1?) there was both a fantastic polar low that caused a raging blizzard coupled with a sudden 7C temperature drop, and a massive blizzard (LP from the south) that dumped many inches of snow on the English Midlands...And, as they often do, went on to cause days of havoc around Newcastle?

Why is it so damned hard to get something that even approaches a good old fashioned winter snowstorm these days.

yes we still had mild winters with little snow and and even the ones remembered as being snowy still had long periods of mild mush but in the 60's and 70's, winter storms usually meant snow and blizzards rather than the constant downgrade to a bit of sleet as is usually the case now.

[damianslaw]

53 minutes ago, iand61 said:

Why is it so damned hard to get something that even approaches a good old fashioned winter snowstorm these days.

yes we still had mild winters with little snow and and even the ones remembered as being snowy still had long periods of mild mush but in the 60's and 70's, winter storms usually meant snow and blizzards rather than the constant downgrade to a bit of sleet as is usually the case now.

Yes widespread winter blizzards have been very rare over the last 30 years or so, to get one you usually need a very southerly tracking jet, with a cold block to the north, the channel runner so to speak, and for a nationwide event it needs to track north, a very tall order, more often than not such features give glancing blows to SW England and W Wales and quickly retreat away due to the block.

Battleground snow events can give copious amounts of snow to large areas, but not blizzards, hence the stalling feature pattern is indicative of slack winds. 

Scotland can receive blizzards when the jetstream is on a NW-SE path, but southern parts escape the snow as the low pressure systems tend to move east into the N Sea.

For snowy zonal months, Jan 1984 was good here, I was slightly too young to remember (5 years) but reading reports we received alot of heavy snow thanks to a very potent long lasting polar maritime airflow.

 

[Bristawl Si]

Without any doubt it has to be January '79 - epic blizzards (i'll sneak in New Years Eve '78 to add on to the month of Jan). And...

December 81.

Snow, snow, snow down here

[hillbilly]

34 minutes ago, iand61 said:

Remember late April 81, 36 hours of heavy snow and by the time it stopped it was almost 2 feet deep.

it was wet and heavy but still drifted against the walls and filled the lanes and then within hours of clearing through, the strong sunshine had started one of the quickest thaws I've ever seen.

winter to summer within a matter of hours.

We had enormous drifts here ,almost as big as any of the big winters,lanes completely blocked level with wall tops.I don't recall it melting immediately,i seem to remember spending a day trying to dig the lane out  but after a day or so it really did melt very fast,i believe it was raining.The water here coming off the moors had nowhere to go in the snow,strange lakes appeared on top of the snow.we had to dig trenches in the snow towards culverts to get the wter away,totally crazy,i believe they had flooding in the valleys especially York .