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The onset of the severe wintry spell of Jan.1987


Tom Quintavalle

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Posted
  • Location: Gilesgate, Durham
  • Weather Preferences: Snow, Heat
  • Location: Gilesgate, Durham
On 27/09/2019 at 20:50, Thundery wintry showers said:

At one time (back in the early 2000s) I was one of those who dismissed January 1987 as chiefly a south-east event, mainly because I had access to weather stats for Lancaster and they just had a centimetre from it, and because the archive charts show very high pressure across the north. 

But my present-day impression is that most areas had a fair amount of snow, with sheltered western areas tending to be the exception, as the air mass was so cold that it was able to generate plenty of North Sea convection all the way up to eastern Scotland despite the very high pressure.  Another area that was heavily hit was, unusually, southern Cornwall, with massive falls in places like Penzance, as the air mass was so cold that even the far south-west peninsula was cold enough for snow, and it presumably got hit by snow streamers running along the English Channel.

I can vouch for the fact that it wasn't just the south east. Up here on the East Durham Plateau, we got plastered with snow. A good foot of it.

Dave

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Posted
  • Location: sheffield
  • Weather Preferences: cold ,snow
  • Location: sheffield

I remember the run up to this cold spell .I kept daily records for many years and the UK had been quite mild while record breaking cold built to the east.i remember on the we'd being in the park in Sheffield and seeing a flock of geese flying westwards across us which obv got my attention.on the sat we had a damp miserable day and the temps were falling.sunday started bright but bitter then heavy snow showers moved in during the afternoon.monday was one of the coldest days ever in Sheffield and the snow really set in.i lived in a tower block at the time on the 14th floor and just to see how cold it was I threw a cup of boiling water off the balcony and it froze I stantly.i can't remember a colder couple of days in my lifetime but the late 70s were close

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
  • Location: NR Worthing SE Coast
  • Location: NR Worthing SE Coast

The beginning and the end of this cold spell was poorly forecasted.

If you look at the video from jan87 with Ian mckaskill , on the Wednesday he said it would remain very cold throughout the following weekend and probably into the following week,with snow in the SW

But by the weekend temps had risen above freezing and a thaw commenced.

This could have been one of the all-time classic  cold spells in this country if it had persisted longer,but it only was really severe  for about 4 days in a row.

Shame,and nothing remotely  as severe since, though end of feb,beginning of march 2018 would have givien it a run for its money if it had occurred earlier in the season.

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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)
16 minutes ago, SLEETY said:

The beginning and the end of this cold spell was poorly forecasted.

If you look at the video from jan87 with Ian mckaskill , on the Wednesday he said it would remain very cold throughout the following weekend and probably into the following week,with snow in the SW

But by the weekend temps had risen above freezing and a thaw commenced.

This could have been one of the all-time classic  cold spells in this country if it had persisted longer,but it only was really severe  for about 4 days in a row.

Shame,and nothing remotely  as severe since, though end of feb,beginning of march 2018 would have givien it a run for its money if it had occurred earlier in the season.

oh i don't know that spell at the beginning of Feb 1991 was nearly as severe and lasted longer all told where i was in Essex 

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Posted
  • Location: NR Worthing SE Coast
  • Location: NR Worthing SE Coast

I was away on a 3 month tour of Asia so missed Feb1991 ,lol.

I always checked the weather reports though on holiday and remember checking the UK papers,when they arrived a day later and seeing  london with a min of -5 c and max of -3c ,and thinking typical I missed it!

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Posted
  • Location: St Neots, previously Billericay & Brentwood
  • Weather Preferences: Thunder, snow, gales, all extreme weather really!
  • Location: St Neots, previously Billericay & Brentwood
On 19/11/2019 at 19:09, cheeky_monkey said:

oh i don't know that spell at the beginning of Feb 1991 was nearly as severe and lasted longer all told where i was in Essex 

I was in Romford for 87 (cant recall depths but was very deep) and Brentwood for 91 (around 12 inches of snow) and it was during my school days for both too so great fun - they still stand out clearly for me as the best snow - as a kid back then I assumed most winters were like those!! Those events and the 87 storm kick started my passion for the weather, really interesting weather times.

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Posted
  • Location: Canmore, AB 4296ft|North Kent 350ft|Killearn 330ft
  • Location: Canmore, AB 4296ft|North Kent 350ft|Killearn 330ft

My memory goes back to around 1982.

Jan 1987 was the holy grail by far for me- both in terms of temps and snowfall. We got a direct hit with 2.5 ft of level snow near the top of the north downs.

'91 was second although not as cold and no where near as much snow at around 16 inches.

Then I guess there's been a few 1 foot snow events including last year - though the cold last year was impressive. I remember March 2005 as a very intense 1 foot of snow in about 8 hours. 

By 1991, I too thought it was usual to have severe winter spells quite close together - oh how wrong I was lol

Edited by Coopsy
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Posted
  • Location: NR Worthing SE Coast
  • Location: NR Worthing SE Coast

yeah who should have though the snow would diminish so much after 1991,nearly 30 years now.

pergaos this winter will be different,but highly doubt it

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