November 1985

[hillbilly]

The cpldest November for 101 years with a Cet of 4.1.There was a mild start but most of the month was wintery with easterly winds and many snow showers here in the pennines.Southern England had snowcover during midmonth and the Scottish highlands got down to -20.9 deg at the end of the month.

Figures here were 3.3deg for the month and 12 air frosts.

Does anyone have memories of this forgotten month,looking outside today it is hard to imagine those conditions so early in the season.

[damianslaw]

13 hours ago, hillbilly said:

The cpldest November for 101 years with a Cet of 4.1.There was a mild start but most of the month was wintery with easterly winds and many snow showers here in the pennines.Southern England had snowcover during midmonth and the Scottish highlands got down to -20.9 deg at the end of the month.

Figures here were 3.3deg for the month and 12 air frosts.

Does anyone have memories of this forgotten month,looking outside today it is hard to imagine those conditions so early in the season.

Slightly too young to remember it, it came on the back of a very mild October as well, a bit of an oddity, December 1985 was also very mild until the final week. 

The last relatively cold November I remember, exception of 2010, was 1993, that too brought easterly winds later in the month and snow too, followed by freezing fog. 

It does seem hard to imagine on a day like today with widespread maxima in the 13-15 degree range. 

[cheeky_monkey]

yes i remember it ..not often you get cold easterly spells mid month with snow..only other time i can remember is Nov 1980

[HafrenLMP1]

I'm wondering if this is when we had a late November Sunday late afternoon/early evening snowfall......I'm pretty sure it wasn't 1986, so it's either 1984 or 1985.

[trickydicky]

I couldn’t be any less interested in it now but in my childhood i was a big fan of Rallying and used to avidly follow the RAC rally. 1985 was a very cold and icy one. You used to get a snowy or at least icy one every few years before they limited it to South Wales and changed it to earlier in the year. The last snowy one was 1996 when there was a lot of snow on the Kielder stages. There are plenty of videos of the 1985 RAC on YouTube which give you a pretty good indication of the weather that year in late November (24-28th). The earlier stages in the midlands are largely just wet, the next day in Wales dry, when they cross into southern Scotland there’s a thin covering of snow, the Lake District stages largely just frost covered and then there’s snow again in North Yorkshire. 

[Weather-history]

Remember Bonfire night 1985 being a chilly one with a forecast of wintry showers.

27th November 1985 has always stuck in my head, that was a Wednesday. Remember a snow shower coming in mid morning and it was hail and snow showers during the day. Ground became covered after dark after a graupel shower and it was snow showers for the rest of the evening. There was a prolonged one around 9pm, recall lamp posting watching. 

There was a school strike at the time, so often school days were short over that period of 1985-86. Was told to go to school later that morning than usual, remember walking with the snow falling. It was icy that morning as well. Infact, just the day after the Shuttle disaster the following January, we had a half day because of the strike and was sent home (went around to one of my schoolmate's house)  and it was snowing although wet. Didn't realise it was to be the start of a frigid few weeks. 

Edited November 18, 2020 by Weather-history

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Aye, Wednesday, the good old real winters

[Penrith Snow]

Oh yes this was a great month. I worked near Edgbaston University at the time and remember a surprise late November snowfall, I think it was the 27th. The day had been dry despite the forecast of scattered snow showers and by 3pm with the light fading I was giving up hope. Then I noticed dark clouds gathering in the sky to the north west, within 5 minutes the whole sky had turned  that brown threatening colour as the wind picked up. I was due to leave work at 3:30 that day and as I left the office i could see this wall of snow sweeping across the University, seconds later the snow arrived swirling and drifting in the gusty wind.

The journey home was a nightmare with traffic across the south west of Birmingham brought to a crawl as the snow settled instantly on the freezing road surface, snow only fell for an hour but 6cms of dry snow accumulated and the hard frost that followed ensured the snow lay until early December.

Had rainfall radar been available at the time I would have seen this intense snow shower coming, it was a classic Cheshire Gap event with heavy snow showers forming over the Irish Sea then channelled by the North West wind into the west Midlands.

They don't make em like that anymore  

Andy

[SortingHat]

Odd. The PNW had low level cold air that whole month too!  One of the coldest modern stretches!

[SortingHat]

On 18/11/2020 at 03:00, Penrith Snow said:

Oh yes this was a great month. I worked near Edgbaston University at the time and remember a surprise late November snowfall, I think it was the 27th. The day had been dry despite the forecast of scattered snow showers and by 3pm with the light fading I was giving up hope. Then I noticed dark clouds gathering in the sky to the north west, within 5 minutes the whole sky had turned  that brown threatening colour as the wind picked up. I was due to leave work at 3:30 that day and as I left the office i could see this wall of snow sweeping across the University, seconds later the snow arrived swirling and drifting in the gusty wind.

The journey home was a nightmare with traffic across the south west of Birmingham brought to a crawl as the snow settled instantly on the freezing road surface, snow only fell for an hour but 6cms of dry snow accumulated and the hard frost that followed ensured the snow lay until early December.

Had rainfall radar been available at the time I would have seen this intense snow shower coming, it was a classic Cheshire Gap event with heavy snow showers forming over the Irish Sea then channelled by the North West wind into the west Midlands.

They don't make em like that anymore  

Andy

How much of Birmingham shut down? Was it a total cluster trap like Portland after that kind of snow which the news goes to Troutdale to freak everyone out where trucks slide off of a certain I-84 overpass?

Edited November 19, 2020 by SortingHat

[damianslaw]

Period Jan 85 - Mar 87 was a cold one, lots of cold months mixed in, some milder ones as well such as Oct and Dec 85 and Nov and Dec 86, but more cold ones Jan 85, Feb 85, Mar 85, Nov 85, Jan 86, Feb 86, Mar 86 and Apr 86, Jan 87, Mar 87.

Summers 85 and 86 were preety chilly as well.

[hillbilly]

Just now, damianslaw said:

Period Jan 85 - Mar 87 was a cold one, lots of cold months mixed in, some milder ones as well such as Oct and Dec 85 and Nov and Dec 86, but more cold ones Jan 85, Feb 85, Mar 85, Nov 85, Jan 86, Feb 86, Mar 86 and Apr 86, Jan 87, Mar 87.

Summers 85 and 86 were preety chilly as well.

Yes i was just about to mention the cool summers.

Ibelieve November 1985 and February,April,August and September 1986 are the coldest of each respective month to this day!

[damianslaw]

1 hour ago, hillbilly said:

Yes i was just about to mention the cool summers.

Ibelieve November 1985 and February,April,August and September 1986 are the coldest of each respective month to this day!

Yes certainly so. 1986 was a cold year!, the last 3 months not so much. 1996 and 2010 last two cold years since.

[Weather-history]

7 hours ago, damianslaw said:

Period Jan 85 - Mar 87 was a cold one, lots of cold months mixed in, some milder ones as well such as Oct and Dec 85 and Nov and Dec 86, but more cold ones Jan 85, Feb 85, Mar 85, Nov 85, Jan 86, Feb 86, Mar 86 and Apr 86, Jan 87, Mar 87.

Summers 85 and 86 were preety chilly as well.

I would extend it out to June 1987, April was a very mild one but May and June 1987 were both cool. 

[HafrenLMP1]

9 hours ago, Weather-history said:

I would extend it out to June 1987, April was a very mild one but May and June 1987 were both cool. 

Yes, the first two Test matches of that summer (Old Trafford, Lord's) were blighted by rain.

[Durham Weather]

I remember it well. It was the first time i’d been to the Remembrance Day service on the top of Great Gable. Snow was a foot deep in places on the climb from Honister Pass. Temp was about -3 degC at 11am. We’d camped the night before in Buttermere and there had been freezing rain overnight. The road up Honister was lethal on foot, so we went cross country in the snow. Brilliant, brilliant day.