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January Heavy Snow


damianslaw

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

January, bleak mid winter, when it should snow and lay crisp and deep and even... right?

Recent January's have been very poor for heavy snowfalls.

Last time we had over 6 inches in January, my definition of a moderate snowfall at least was late Jan 2013 from an Atlantic front. It was a Friday.

I suspect for many last snow equivalent levels in Jan was 2010.

Would like to hear people's memories of heavy snowfalls in January. I know locally 1940 brought trifle amounts..

Aware of the Jan 82 and 87 snowfalls.

In the last 30 years or so Feb and March have delivered.

Edited by damianslaw
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Posted
  • Location: Ashbourne,County Meath,about 6 miles northwest of dublin airport. 74m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold weather - frost or snow
  • Location: Ashbourne,County Meath,about 6 miles northwest of dublin airport. 74m ASL

Dont think ive had a decent snowfall at my location during the second half of Jan since the 80s. 

Since then any decent falls of which there haven't been many have come during the first half. 

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Posted
  • Location: Harborne, Bham 187m asl
  • Location: Harborne, Bham 187m asl

28 January 2004: a memorable event. A  system swung through from the north which was not really forecast. Thundersnow and a rapid fall of snow. 4 inches fell in the space of 2-3 hours late afternoon. Absolute gridlock everywhere with people having to abandon their cars and walk home. The next day was a snow day

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Posted
  • Location: Penrith Cumbria
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, snowy winters and warm sunny summers
  • Location: Penrith Cumbria
2 hours ago, damianslaw said:

January, bleak mid winter, when it should snow and lay crisp and deep and even... right?

Recent January's have been very poor for heavy snowfalls.

Last time we had over 6 inches in January, my definition of a moderate snowfall at least was late Jan 2013 from an Atlantic front. It was a Friday.

I suspect for many last snow equivalent levels in Jan was 2010.

Would like to hear people's memories of heavy snowfalls in January. I know locally 1940 brought trifle amounts..

Aware of the Jan 82 and 87 snowfalls.

In the last 30 years or so Feb and March have delivered.

We had 10cms of snow on 28th January 2015 from a  North Westerly streamer, I know Brampton in the North of Cumbria received 14cms, surprised there wasn't a reasonable fall at Windermere?

But your point is correct, January has been very poor for snow since 2010.

Andy

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Posted
  • Location: Irlam
  • Location: Irlam
7 hours ago, damianslaw said:

Don't recall the 98 event, must have been localised. We missed out on 18 Jan 2013 snowfall.

It was that one.  The Januarys of the 1990s were not great for snowfalls. Even during the best winter of the 1990s at least for my area, 1995-96, about the first two thirds of that January was mild, cloudy and virtually  frost free and there wasn't a lot of snow after the New Year of 1997, the coldest January of the 1990s.

The only Januarys with no snow cover at any time during the month in the 2010s are 2012, 2014 and I don't think there was during 2018.

In the 1990s, there was no snow cover during the Januarys of 1992, 1993, 1998 and 1990, 1994, 1995, 1999 only had 1 day each. That gives an idea just has bad the Januarys of the 1990s were  for snow cover. 

 

Edited by Weather-history
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Posted
  • Location: Cheshire
  • Location: Cheshire

New Year's Day 1962 (photo from South London on New Year thread)

January 1963 - anytime during this most wintery of months, but Philip Eden notes 3rd - 4th, 16th and 19th - 20th in particular for major falls. This was the scene in South London on 4th January.

snow 1963 2 (2).jpg

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Posted
  • Location: Home: Chingford, London (NE). Work: London (C)
  • Weather Preferences: Winter: cold and snowy. Summer: hot and sunny
  • Location: Home: Chingford, London (NE). Work: London (C)

Most January's have disappointed over the last 20 years or so. 

For London, these are the only standouts:

2013 - snowfall on the 18th and heavier snow again on the 20th. 

 

2010 - early Jan where parts of CS England, around Basingstoke in particular got buried. Here in NE London we missed the worst of it, but still got around 3-4 inches. 

2004 - thundersnow event in late Jan. Very heavy, intense snowfall, but melted away within a day or two. 

2003 - Thames streamer event on 8th Jan, gave London its heaviest snow up until that point since Feb 1991. There was also another quite heavy snowfall in late Jan 2003, when motorists were stranded on the M11. 

 

Going back earlier than that to the 90's:

Early 1997, with a freezing cold first few days of the month:

 

Jan 1996 had snowfalls at the end of the month:

and Jan 1995 had a New Year's Day snowfall:

 

Apart from that, since I was born in 1986, only Jan 1987 is another year with a memorable cold January spell (although I have no memory of it being only a year old).

Edited by danm
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Posted
  • Location: Wildwood, Stafford 104m asl
  • Weather Preferences: obviously snow!
  • Location: Wildwood, Stafford 104m asl
12 hours ago, high ground birmingham said:

28 January 2004: a memorable event. A  system swung through from the north which was not really forecast. Thundersnow and a rapid fall of snow. 4 inches fell in the space of 2-3 hours late afternoon. Absolute gridlock everywhere with people having to abandon their cars and walk home. The next day was a snow day

Aye remember that one as a fail! very little fell, just a patchy dusting at best

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Posted
  • Location: Dundee
  • Weather Preferences: Snow, thunderstorms, gales. All extremes except humidity.
  • Location: Dundee

January 2013 definitely the last decent fall up here. Higher parts of the town got 45cms though the snow was wet  nearer the river and didn't accumulate so much. More fell inland in places. Here is Kenmore village taken in the afternoon. Snow continued there until the early hours of the next morning. My favourite January for snow was 1984 which had for me the deepest level snowfall I can remember. The second pic is from 1963 though all I can remember from that year was doing a lot of sledging. This was a path being dug out to one of my classmates house in Highland Perthshire. The local school did not close!

CF49D173-18E9-4E2C-A499-D7E4637456E0.jpeg

8BBF5A3C-7F80-4938-AC3D-B89954C0E812.jpeg

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Posted
  • Location: halifax 125m
  • Weather Preferences: extremes the unusual and interesting facts
  • Location: halifax 125m

With the exception of 1980 and 1981 we had  good snow events every January from 1977 to 1987.Some big falls came in 1978,1979,1982 and 1984.The only meaningful winters since to match any of these years were 1993,1995 and 2010

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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)
On 03/01/2021 at 14:13, I remember Atlantic 252 said:

18th Jan 2013

5-9 Jan 2010

must be many in 90's, 5th Jan '98

apart from Dec 90 and Feb 91 i dont remember any large snowfalls in the 1990s in my neck of the woods

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

Too young to remember Jan 84, was 5. An unusual month Atlantic very active cold zonal, much of Scotland and N England had very heavy snowfalls.

Jan 85 also very snowy and very cold month.

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

Jan 2018 brought a cold week middle of the month from memory, we didn't have much snow, just a couple of cms, but seem to remember there was a fair bit in Scotland. I guess 6 inches in the Highlands is preety standard.

One of the heaviest snowfalls in January in recent times happened in late 1995, we missed out here, just a few inches, but parts of W Yorkshire received well over a foot, I think one or two spots about 40cms. It was a classic case of evaporative cooling with a warm front moving into cold air and stalling. A very localised event, very wet snow.

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Posted
  • Location: Dublin, Ireland
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, snowy winters and warm, sunny summers
  • Location: Dublin, Ireland

January 2010 the only decent January I have seen. Had many days of falling snow but rarely any accumulations. 

January 2018 brought a dusting on the 16th from a polar maritime NW'ly associated with Storm Fionn which was unusual to see here, flakes were massive. 

Had a few flurries in January 2013 at best whilst mountains had a nice pasting.

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

The heaviest snow I've seen falling has to be 11th January 2008 - it would've left a decent covering had it not been for the 30mm of rain that preceded it!

Otherwise the other heaviest falls would have to be 31st/01st 2019, 18th Jan 2013, 06th & 13th Jan 2010 and 28th Jan 2004. There have been light ones in between but nothing impressive.

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

Might see one this January, just a feeling best on current output.. could be one of those very heavy wet snowfalls, but hope the cold chases the mild away.

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Posted
  • Location: Gatwick
  • Location: Gatwick

I recall new year's eve in the late 1970s we had rain turn to heavy snow in Surrey. Was quite spectacular. We always seemed to get a lot back then unless it just felt like a lot as I was shorter then. 

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Posted
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl
1 hour ago, Chasbrown said:

I recall new year's eve in the late 1970s we had rain turn to heavy snow in Surrey. Was quite spectacular. We always seemed to get a lot back then unless it just felt like a lot as I was shorter then. 

That will have been 1978. A southerly tracking jet interacted with strong heights to the north, result was a tight pressure gradient, with blizzards and a biting east wind. 

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Posted
  • Location: Cheshire
  • Location: Cheshire
9 hours ago, damianslaw said:

That will have been 1978. A southerly tracking jet interacted with strong heights to the north, result was a tight pressure gradient, with blizzards and a biting east wind. 

Yes, a memorable New Year in the south of England for all the wrong reasons. I moved house the following week and there were still problems with snow, ice and cold then, in what turned out to be a long drawn-out winter. 

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Posted
  • Location: North Leeds
  • Location: North Leeds

I remember 2004, I had to leave school early because of it. 2013 we had heavy snow mid month but that got totally overshadowed by the following March.

2010 is by far the most snow I have seen in January and the depth of the cold lasted so long.

I can also now add yesterday to the list!

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