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Mild v cold winter weather


Sunny76

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Posted
  • Location: London
  • Location: London

I was having this discussion with a co worker earlier this week. I told her I much prefer the winter weather, when it’s either cold and sunny( my favourite), or cold and cloudy. Both provide fresh crisp air, and although I like snow, I still prefer cold, dry and sunny. 

My co worker disagreed and said she likes mild and sunny. Not for me thanks, during the December to Feb period, as it feels unseasonal. 

Mild and sunny is worse than mild and cloudy for some reason. What’s does everyone else think? 

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Posted
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
  • Weather Preferences: Winter: Cold & Snowy, Summer: Just not hot
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire

The main problem with mild in winter is that it's usually associated with gloomy weather, take today for example. Give me cold, clear and frosty any day.

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Posted
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine and 15-25c
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)

anything that's sunny whether its cold or mild it matters not

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Posted
  • Location: Walsall Wood, Walsall, West Midlands 145m ASL
  • Location: Walsall Wood, Walsall, West Midlands 145m ASL

Don't think I've got a preference between mild and cloudy or mild and sunny in Winter. Both seem equally uninspiring to me. Though I can see why most people would prefer the later. But most people only like the weather when it's warm and sunny anyway, which is why most people prefer Summer to any other season.

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Posted
  • Location: London
  • Location: London

I just remember one Christmas from my childhood being sunny and very mild, and at the time it felt strange. My family made a big deal about it though. Think it was Christmas 87 or 83. 

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Posted
  • Location: London
  • Location: London
4 minutes ago, Nick L said:

The main problem with mild in winter is that it's usually associated with gloomy weather, take today for example. Give me cold, clear and frosty any day.

That’s true. Mild weather is almost always accompanied by cloudy dank weather.

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Posted
  • Location: Walsall Wood, Walsall, West Midlands 145m ASL
  • Location: Walsall Wood, Walsall, West Midlands 145m ASL
Just now, Sunny76 said:

I just remember one Christmas from my childhood being sunny and very mild, and at the time it felt strange. My family made a big deal about it though. Think it was Christmas 87 or 83. 

Christmas 86 maybe? I was too young to remember but I've heard it was a fairly mild Christmas Day. But then came Jan 87 and we all know what a legendary cold spell that was.

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Posted
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine and 15-25c
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
14 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

I just remember one Christmas from my childhood being sunny and very mild, and at the time it felt strange. My family made a big deal about it though. Think it was Christmas 87 or 83. 

pretty much every Christmas of the 1980's was mild with the exception of 1981 so take your pick.

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Posted
  • Location: London
  • Location: London
19 minutes ago, cheeky_monkey said:

pretty much every Christmas of the 1980's was mild with the exception of 1981 so take your pick.

I often thought 82, 84 and 85 were cold ones for some reason. 

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Posted
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl

Not a fan of mild sunny weather in December or January, but by late February it is very welcome after months of drab dull weather, the increasing light levels and higher stronger sun by then gives you a hopeful feeling and a sense of spring just being around the corner. A sunny mild day in December isn't much use really, going dark at 4pm, what is the point..

If it has to be mild in Dec and Jan I would rather it be wet with it, giving things a more seasonal although gloomy feel. The dark days before christmas can be quite evocative, especially if the mild produces lots of misty foggy conditions, and we have the christmas lights to brighten things up.

Don't like mild sunny and windy days either - warm winds feel odd in the depth of winter. I remember mid Dec 2015 producing a balmy sunny very windy day, maxes of 15-16 degrees yet it was blowing a gale nearly, all very odd.

My preference is for cold, doesn't have to be snowy, just cold with a lingering frost, bright skies are welcomed in such weather, cold cloudy days also feel seasonal, cold foggy days more so, cold snowy days the best though! more so if they come courtesy of arctic airstreams, rather than polar continental, which tend to be cloudier with poorer visibility.

Edited by damianslaw
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Posted
  • Location: Wildwood, Stafford 104m asl
  • Weather Preferences: obviously snow!
  • Location: Wildwood, Stafford 104m asl

Mornings, the darker it is, the warmer it is, 

light winds, clear skies, bright and sunny means cold

dark, wet, dull and especially gales means mild, at least in my location

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Posted
  • Location: Longden, Shropshire
  • Location: Longden, Shropshire
7 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

I often thought 82, 84 and 85 were cold ones for some reason. 

December 1985 was a very mild month overall, but it did turn very cold just after Christmas with a little snow.  Christmas 1988 was very mild.  I got a digital thermometer that year and the temperatures were regularly topping 13C during the festive period!

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Posted
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl
8 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

I just remember one Christmas from my childhood being sunny and very mild, and at the time it felt strange. My family made a big deal about it though. Think it was Christmas 87 or 83. 

Most 80's christmas were mild, only 1981 was a cold snowy one. 1984 and 1985 saw cold conditions in the run up to New Year but not christmas itself. It could well have been 83, 86, 87 or even 88. Indeed the only really cold December of the 80's was 1981. 

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Posted
  • Location: Cleeve, North Somerset
  • Weather Preferences: Continental winters & summers.
  • Location: Cleeve, North Somerset

Of course preference has to be cold, in any shape of form, not just snow like some of the half-cold lovers on the forum. Frost, fog, crisp clear skies with sunshine, snow - the works. 

If it has to be mild, ideally I prefer it dry and if possible bright. Contrary to damianslaw, I can't stand the mild, dull, darkness that can so often turn up. Too warm to wear a coat, but lights still on - just bizarre. A bit like hot humid cloudy days in summer - useless! 

With both of these, can't beat sunshine. We live in such a cloudy country compared to others but sunshine at any times of the year, and at any temperature is great. Obviously sunny and cold would be my preferred option but I do quite enjoy mild sunny days in winter. Christmas 2002 was a rare sunny and almost warm day here. Last December produced a few, January 1998 and February 2008 also delivered almost springlike spells.

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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Looking at the synoptic charts the mild sunny Christmas Day was most likely 1987.  The spell around Christmas 1987 was mild and dull but Christmas Day itself was sunny, thanks to a not-particularly-cold polar maritime incursion.  Other less likely possibilities are 1983 (similar setup, but more likely to be showery) and 1988, though 1988 had a tropical maritime air mass and so would probably have been cloudy.

Personally I'd much rather it be mild and sunny than mild and cloudy, especially if it results in an emphasis on high daytime maxima (rather than minima).  It's not common to get very mild weather combined with bright sunshine, but the early part of the February 2008 anticyclonic spell managed it (as did the very beginning of the December 2001 anticyclonic spell if I remember rightly, though it soon turned colder) and it also happened widely on 13 February 1998.

Edited by Thundery wintry showers
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Posted
  • Location: Shepton Mallet Somerset
  • Weather Preferences: Seasonal
  • Location: Shepton Mallet Somerset
On 11/15/2017 at 14:58, Sunny76 said:

I often thought 82, 84 and 85 were cold ones for some reason. 

I can recall Dec 81 being cold, as was the beginning of January 85 .

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Posted
  • Location: Essex Riviera aka Burnham
  • Weather Preferences: 30 Degrees of pure British Celsius
  • Location: Essex Riviera aka Burnham
22 hours ago, Don said:

December 1985 was a very mild month overall, but it did turn very cold just after Christmas with a little snow.  Christmas 1988 was very mild.  I got a digital thermometer that year and the temperatures were regularly topping 13C during the festive period!

I think the last 2 Christmases here in the south east have seen maxes of at least 13c (though colder on Boxing Day last year).

Crisp calm cold sunny weather does it for me...but the best is a sunny easterly which dries the ground completely out (well use to) before the arrival of wintry showers, can't remember when that last happened!

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