Cold and snow in October

[damianslaw]

Given my thread about a northerly shot in early October. 3 Oct 94 to be precise has descended into a thread about snow and cold in October as a whole, then merging into Autumn cold and snow and inevitably then winter cold and snow, I think it best to start a new thread dedicated to October cold and snow only given we are about to enter October.

Please stick to discussion about October cold and snow only, winter cold and snow posts should not be posted, or cold and snow in November. Can start a Nov thread if others would like, but always good to reflect on weather past in the same seasonal month.

[cheeky_monkey]

October 2012 was cold and exceptionally snowy..i was living in Calgary at the time..the 1st was hot and sunny at 28c was snowing and 0c the next day..it remained cold pretty much for the rest of the month with on and off snow and by Halloween temps were down to -10c by day and -20c at night with a good 30cm of laying snow 

[Don]

October 28th 2008 is the one for me with snow as far south as the southern counties.

[I remember Atlantic 252]

24 minutes ago, Don said:

October 28th 2008 is the one for me with snow as far south as the southern counties.

'alf term snow, snowed here but didn't lie

[Summer18]

Yes remember October 2008, it didn’t snow here but we had some decent frosts for the time of year. The weekend of the 25th was a complete washout if I remember correctly and the colder air followed on from that. Sort of ushered in the colder period that followed for a few years.

October 2012 had a colder period as well but we had no snow on that either, just a few genuinely cold and sunny days. 

[damianslaw]

7 hours ago, cheeky_monkey said:

October 2012 was cold and exceptionally snowy..i was living in Calgary at the time..the 1st was hot and sunny at 28c was snowing and 0c the next day..it remained cold pretty much for the rest of the month with on and off snow and by Halloween temps were down to -10c by day and -20c at night with a good 30cm of laying snow 

I was in Calgary October 2010 then Banff and Vancouver, it was notably mild, remember watching the forecast and no cold to speak of. Indeed on the 20th Calgary hit 20 degrees. Was October 2010 an anomaly? I think it turned cold later in the month. I was lucky blue skies and no rain for the 3 weeks I was there.

[cheeky_monkey]

25 minutes ago, damianslaw said:

I was in Calgary October 2010 then Banff and Vancouver, it was notably mild, remember watching the forecast and no cold to speak of. Indeed on the 20th Calgary hit 20 degrees. Was October 2010 an anomaly? I think it turned cold later in the month. I was lucky blue skies and no rain for the 3 weeks I was there.

seems to be a typical La nina pattern here warm Septembers and October..this year could be almost a carbon copy of 2010 looking at the charts ..autumn 2010 here preceded a cold and very snowy winter

[Don]

5 hours ago, I remember Atlantic 252 said:

'alf term snow, snowed here but didn't lie

It partially settled IMBY but higher places in the south east like High Wycombe had a proper 2-3 inch covering I believe.

[Harry233]

I can remember October 2008 at the end being noticeably cold but I can’t recall any snow in my area.

October 2012 was noticeably cold throughout after a mild first week. I remember it being noticeably windy throughout felt like January most the time. The last week there was some very cold days and frost and we had a brief snow shower on the 26th I think. 

Most recently both October 2018 and 2019 had northerly spells where it was very cold especially at night. We had one day in 2018 it got down to -5.C and the maximum was only 4.C. 2019 had something similar.

[Rollo]

In all my years of weather watching I cannot remember proper snow ever falling in this area indeed apart from a little sleet nothing of note. November can be a different beast,we certainly had a proper fall in 1962. “Weather” magazine had a great picture of York station covered in the white stuff and we had some in Sunderland as well.

[SummerShower]

It showed in North Hampshire on 28th october 2008 and a few patches were still around on 30th.  Remarkable for october really.

I'm also sure I remember seeing pictures of enormous drifts in Devon on this latter date as well.. guessing this must have been on the moors but can't be 100% sure of this.. just going on memory.

This is the only fall I remember in October down here though

[4wd]

I shall have to hunt out some October snow scenes here from as early as the 5th if I remember right.
There is a tendency for repeat events through October i.e. if we have one spell cold enough for snow at least a couple more are likely.
But equally many years have generally mild to warm condition even into November.

26th October 2012


 

[NorthYorksWeather]

15 minutes ago, 4wd said:

I shall have to hunt out some October snow scenes here from as early as the 5th if I remember right.
There is a tendency for repeat events through October i.e. if we have one spell cold enough for snow at least a couple more are likely.
But equally many years have generally mild to warm condition even into November.

26th October 2012


 

Blakey Ridge 27th October 2018

[Thundery wintry showers]

As I noted in the other thread, in the Tyne and Wear/Durham area there were sleet and snow showers to low levels from northerlies around mid-October 1992 and on 26/27 October 2012 and 27 October 2018.  The Durham University webcam showed snow falling, but not lying, early on the 27th October 2018.  I don't think the region got any snow in late October 2008 but there was lying hail in places on the 29th/30th.  The 2008 instance was easily the most widespread October snowfall of recent years across the south-east though.

Personally I wasn't in the region on any of those occasions, but I saw sleet in October in Lancaster on 20 October 2002 from a frontal system that pushed into Arctic air and it briefly turned cold enough for sleet with a temperature of 3C.  I was in the Vale of York near Thirsk on 26/27 October 2012 and to my surprise saw snow showers from that northerly and even a dusting of snow on the ground for a time.  I also think (but am not 100% sure) that I saw sleet mixed with rain in Exeter late on 27 October 2018 when the temperature fell sharply from 7C to 3C, and there was lying snow above about 300m over Dartmoor.

October snowfalls have been fairly common to low levels in north-east Scotland over the past 30 years with occurrences in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2018, the earliest in the season being the aforementioned northerly of 3 October 1994.  I recall that there was quite a widespread and unexpected snowfall in northern England on 30 October 2000, though in Tyneside I got rain and 4C from it, and similarly on 25 October 1992.  There were also reports of showers of sleet and wet snow locally to low levels in England and Wales around 20-22 October 2003 and thundersnow events in the east of Ireland.  I also vaguely recall reports of sleety showers around Scarborough on 20 October 2010, the same day when some parts of the Aberdeen area had a dusting of snow.

Edited October 1, 2020 by Thundery wintry showers

[Thundery wintry showers]

Not a particularly good picture, but here is confirmation that I saw a little bit of snow on the ground early on 27 October 2012.  It had already started to melt by that point: I think I got to about 70% snow cover sometime just after midnight, and then the showers turned more sleety towards dawn.

Edited October 1, 2020 by Thundery wintry showers

[damianslaw]

2 hours ago, Thundery wintry showers said:

Not a particularly good picture, but here is confirmation that I saw a little bit of snow on the ground early on 27 October 2012.  It had already started to melt by that point: I think I got to about 70% snow cover sometime just after midnight, and then the showers turned more sleety towards dawn.

Yes last time I saw October snow lying was on this date in and around Barnard Castle area. There was no snow this side of the Pennine just a sharp frost. May see of the white stuff on the high fells next weekend.

[Weather-history]

Mid October 1993

 

[SummerShower]

3 hours ago, Weather-history said:

Mid October 1993

 

Actually loved october 1993, one of my best childhood months.  There were thundery showers literally most days in the first third or so (more so than many summer months) but then it turned crisp and cold for the second half.  Remember some very frosty days.

[Snipper]

21 hours ago, damianslaw said:

Yes last time I saw October snow lying was on this date in and around Barnard Castle area. There was no snow this side of the Pennine just a sharp frost. May see of the white stuff on the high fells next weekend.

Was Dominic there checking out the snow?