YOUR FAVOURITE ARCHIVED SYNOPTIC CHART

[Tom Quintavalle]

Afternoon all,

 

Thought it would be nice to start a thread with a look back at some of your favourite synoptics, from the past.

 

Would imagine the majority will feature Winter charts but it can be anytime of the year. I'll kick off with something predictable then and another, perhaps not so predictable.

 

DEC.30th/31st 1978.

 

 

This event has long been etched in the memory, I was 23 at the time and had been a lover of snow, for many years. I can remember seeing the daily forecasts, as if it were yesterday. A succession of low pressure systems following an ever more southerly track, across the Atlantic, as pressure built over Greenland, between Xmas and the New Year. I vaguely remember the forecast for Sat.30th, mentioning a possible rain to snow event but think we had some early morning rain, followed by a drier spell. Went to work but was struck by an increasingly bitter wind picking up during the late afternoon. Went for a drink with some colleagues after work, in Dulwich, S.E.London. On leaving the pub, on route to another, at around 9 p.m, the wind had picked up further and the first few flurries of granular type snow, had already started to drift across the roads. On leaving our next drinking hole, the snow had already accumulated above the kerb level, very unusual for an Inner London Borough. A colleague managed to give me a lift back to Bromley (London/Kent border), the journey, which would normally take just over half an hour, took an hour extra. Conditions were far worse out there too, with pretty considerable drifting and I could not differentiate the path, from our garden, getting on for 6" in places but difficult to measure due to the amount of drifting, drifts were far deeper in places.

 

Without doubt the worst conditions I've ever encountered, in the Bromley area, for the combination of high winds and heavy drifting snow.

 

Would love to hear about your examples.

 

Regards,

Tom.

Edited September 9, 2013 by TomBR7

[Tom Quintavalle]

My 2nd example is from February 1983.

 

8th FEB 1983.

 

 

These charts roughly depict the situation halfway through a 36 hour, East Kent snow streamer, conditions were particularly severe east of Canterbury, especially on the North Downs between Dover and Folkestone. Went on a snow chase to that area, just as the event was finishing and I couldnt believe the amount of snow that had fallen in the area. We had just a smattering of snow, here in Bromley, in the extreme NW of the county but snow depths gradually increased as I reached the Medway towns and the depths increased east of Faversham and especially so once I'd gone through Canterbury.

Reached Dover and decided to travel up to Capel-le-Ferne, up on the Downs and over looking the Channel, circa 550ft or so. Conditions were incredible up there, compared to how things were at the opposite end of the county. Level snow-depths were around 12-15 ins but the drifts were up to the eaves of the many bungalows, that are numerous in the area, possibly 8/10 ft in places. Spoke to some of the locals who reported that snow, although streamer-type in nature, was almost continuous for 36 hours and they hadnt seen conditions like that for many years. The snow was accompanied by thunder at times and there were reports of a number of lightning strikes on properties, along the E.Kent coast.

Reading a report later, on the event, suggested that anomalously high SSTs in the S.North Sea/Channel, were probably a contributing factor to the intensity of the snowfall, in the area.

 

Regards.

Tom.

Edited September 9, 2013 by TomBR7

[Summer Sun]

Easy one for me

 

[The PIT]

Afternoon all,

 

Thought it would be nice to start a thread with a look back at some of your favourite synoptics, from the past.

 

Would imagine the majority will feature Winter charts but it can be anytime of the year. I'll kick off with something predictable then and another, perhaps not so predictable.

 

DEC.30th/31st 1978.

 

 

The event has been long etched in the memory, I was 23 at the time and had been a lover of snow, for many years. I can remember seeing the daily forecasts, as if it were yesterday. A succession of low pressure systems following an ever more southerly track, across the Atlantic, as pressure built over Greenland, between Xmas and the New Year. I vaguely remember the forecast for Sat.30th, mentioning a possible rain to snow event but think we had some early morning rain, followed by a drier spell. Went to work but was struck by an increasingly bitter wind picking up during the late afternoon. Went for a drink with some colleagues after work, in Dulwich, S.E.London. On leaving the pub, on route to another, at around 9 p.m, the wind had picked up further and the first few flurries of granular type snow, had already started to drift across the roads. On leaving our next drinking hole, the snow had already accumulated above the kerb level, very unusual for an Inner London Borough. A colleague managed to give me a lift back to Bromley (London/Kent border), the journey, which would normally take just over half an hour, took an hour extra. Conditions were far worse out there too, with pretty considerable drifting and I could not differentiate the path, from our garden, getting on for 6" in places but difficult to measure due to the amount of drifting, drifts were far deeper in places.

 

Without doubt the worst conditions I've ever encountered, in the Bromley area, for the combination of high winds and heavy drifting snow.

 

Would love to hear about your examples.

 

Regards,

Tom.

If I remember correctly the forecast for the change over was very much underplayed. Today of course we would be receiving our last rights. What I do remember the evening it started the orange neon glare of an approaching shower then strong winds and heavy snow then all quiet again then half n hour later the same again. Next morning the temperature was 19F strong winds and frequent heavy snow showers. The snow so fine it blew through the gaps in the windows and made drifts within the secondary glazing. The side of the house facing the wind and showers was covered in ice. The showers moved so quickly it was possible to have a clear sky then minutes later another blizzard. Temps that day peaked at 21F and rose slowly as the week went on. A classic wintry spell which hasn't really been matched since. 

[Tom Quintavalle]

Yes SS,

 

Phew what a scorcher.  not!

 

Tom.

[Tom Quintavalle]

Hi Pit,

 

Should imagine your conditions were pretty severe, just look at those 850s upwind of you!

 

The really bitter air took a little longer to get here but those conditions I described in the original post were pretty severe, for the Kent/London border.

 

Tom.

[Gaz1985]

 

This for me, January doesn't get much better than that. Not many layers of clothing needed. Positively balmy! 

[Summer Sun]

 

This for me, January doesn't get much better than that. Not many layers of clothing needed. Positively balmy! 

 

Indeed the warmest UK winter on record with 2006 / 07 in second place

[cheeky_monkey]

Indeed the warmest UK winter on record with 2006 / 07 in second place

im afraid 1868/69 is the mildest winter on record i think?

[Mark Neal.]

Weds January 6th 2010 at Midnight... A trough coming down from the north stalled and gave us 16 hours of snow, most of which was heavy we had 28cm

Edited September 9, 2013 by Mark Neal.

[Isolated Frost]

I have three, very recent ones.

4 inches of new snow overnight to start New Years' Day, from a brisk NE wind.

A trough associated with the cA flow gave around 15cms of new snow within about 1 and a half hours, heaviest snow I'd ever seen. This is the first real big fall of Nov/Dec 2010 and preceded many great thundersnow and cold days to the end of the month.

An epic cold front- not much snow from it (max 10cms lying, Dec 25), but immense cold temperatures. Many areas around here saw 9 or 10 consecutive ice days from the 16th to the 25th, with temperatures falling below -5c and occasionally -10c, and struggling to reach 0c by day. 

[cheese]

Easy one for me

 

Eh, on the face of it, it's a stonking chart, but the exceptionally high temperatures were largely restricted to the South East. Indeed, the absolute maximum during that month here was a paltry 30.2C, and that was the only occurrence of a +30C temp that month.

 

I prefer this chart myself. It may not be as pretty to look at as the above one, but it delivered far hotter temperatures on a more widespread basis than August 2003:

 

 

One more..

 

Jan 1995 - which delivered exceptional snowfall to much of northern England, especially Yorkshire. It didn't last long mind, and the temperatures reached double-digits by the 31st, but wow, what a snowfall. Beats anything we've had recently by a million miles. Moisture-laden low pressure colliding with a cold air mass = snow bonanza.

 

Edited September 9, 2013 by cheese

[Anvils in the Sky]

Great idea for a topic, Tom.

 

For me, it has to be 13th January 1987...

[Anvils in the Sky]

And in terms of a chart from summer......believe it or not, about three hours before this, we had an incredibly violent thunderstorm pass through Kent. One of the most spectacular of the 80's. Yet nobody seems to remember it except me. That high to the east had given a rare few hot days beforehand (we got back from Spain on 17th August, and it seemed hotter here than there), and then a small but very active little front moved across the SE. Gave us an hour of spectacular lightning, deafening thunder, and torrential rain.

Edited September 9, 2013 by Anvils in the Sky

[Weather-history]

Autumn warmth chart

Autumn snow

Summer warmth chart

Winter snow

Winter snow

Winter warmth

Spring warmth chart

Spring snow

Edited September 9, 2013 by Weather-history

[Summer Sun]

im afraid 1868/69 is the mildest winter on record i think?

 

The UK has experienced its second warmest winter on record, with a mean temperature of 5.47C (41.8F), provisional Met Office figures show.

 

In southern England, the winter warmth set a new high, reaching 6.53C (43.8F), beating 6.49C (43.7F) in 1989-90. All three winter months saw above average temperatures, and January also recorded its second highest UK-wide temperature, reaching 6.0C (43F).

The Met Office's UK national record series date back to 1914.

 

The warmest winter on record was in 1988-89, when the mean temperature was 5.82C (42.5F).

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6401063.stm

[Isolated Frost]

The UK has experienced its second warmest winter on record, with a mean temperature of 5.47C (41.8F), provisional Met Office figures show.

 

In southern England, the winter warmth set a new high, reaching 6.53C (43.8F), beating 6.49C (43.7F) in 1989-90. All three winter months saw above average temperatures, and January also recorded its second highest UK-wide temperature, reaching 6.0C (43F).

The Met Office's UK national record series date back to 1914.

 

The warmest winter on record was in 1988-89, when the mean temperature was 5.82C (42.5F).

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6401063.stm

 

It says there that the Met Office's UK series dates back to 1914, not before 1868-69.

[feb1991blizzard]

Great idea for a topic, Tom.

 

For me, it has to be 13th January 1987...

Rrea00119870113.gif

 

Same here, 12th - 14th all stonkers,

 

+

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEAT THAT !!!!!!!

Edited September 9, 2013 by feb1991blizzard

[Tom Quintavalle]

Thanks for your examples guys, especially loving the Winter ones, no surprise there!

 

Anvil, from our pov, a classic. I use the chart for the 12th Jan, as my wallpaper.

 

Another fav chart of mine and a surprise event, I seem to remember the forecast only mentioned wintry showers. 

 

25th DEC.1970.

 

 

This almost certainly was a Thames streamer type event, which gave 4 ins of snow, in this area, and a couple of cracks of thunder,in the early hours of Xmas morning and snow showers on Boxing Day too, giving a very festive feel to the holiday period.

Remember listening to the Shipping Forecast at half midnight, whilst watching big fat snowflakes falling against the light of the lamppost, at the bottom of our garden. Should of course have been at Midnight Mass but being a real party animal and only 15, at the time, preferred listening to forecasts, rebellious Catholic boy that I was! 

Thames, Dover....Heavy, prolonged snow showers. Heaven to the ears!

 

Keep 'em coming.

 

Tom.

[Relativistic]

The UK has experienced its second warmest winter on record, with a mean temperature of 5.47C (41.8F), provisional Met Office figures show.

In southern England, the winter warmth set a new high, reaching 6.53C (43.8F), beating 6.49C (43.7F) in 1989-90. All three winter months saw above average temperatures, and January also recorded its second highest UK-wide temperature, reaching 6.0C (43F).

The Met Office's UK national record series date back to 1914.

The warmest winter on record was in 1988-89, when the mean temperature was 5.82C (42.5F).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6401063.stm

The CET has 1869 down as the mildest, closely followed by 1834, and then 1989 and 2007.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcet/ssn_HadCET_mean_sort.txt

[Tom Quintavalle]

Feb1991,

 

Those 850s are pretty vicious! Would imagine this is one of the coldest 850 charts for SE England, certainly in my life-time.

 

13th JAN.1987.

 

Tom.

[Gaz1985]

For you coldies - 2 foot of snow in Milan 1985 - Imagine if this happened in London haha the chaos!

 

[Captain Shortwave]

This as it bashed many myths about March

 

 

Epic snow event for the south coast/Channel islands and northern France, produced snow showers across eastern coasts. Possibly the coldest march day I've ever experienced with temperatures in the South east struggling to get above freezing which again is exceptional for March.

[feb1991blizzard]

Feb1991,

 

Those 850s are pretty vicious! Would imagine this is one of the coldest 850 charts for SE England, certainly in my life-time.

 

13th JAN.1987.

 

Tom.

 

 

Yes I used to used the 14th jan as my wallpaper I think as that was ehen the snow moved north and hit the West Midlands and I got my biggest fall ever of level snow.

 

The thing to note about the charts like the 1895 one is the curvature in the isobars, when you have massive convection followed by some sort of shortwave, or trough / occlusion developing and battering from the East, these are the sort of charts most likely to produce a heck of a lot of snow in a very very short space of time, the crème de la crème in my opinion.

[Gaz1985]

Epic end to September 2011, near perfect, warm or very warm sunny skies and low humidity 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 2012 was also fantastic - pretty much the same as September 2011 with sunny skies, very warm and low humidity.