March Blizzard

So a 1981-2010 February averaged 4.9C by the 7th, even though the month as a whole averages 4.4C? So February is a "cooling" month? How odd...

Thick Fog here and temps hovering around freezing. No doubt of the season here!

The poor hound! What's up with you?!, I used to love walking my mut in the fog! **Walkies!!**

Fair enough, WH. You're not one to argue with in these instances! My point was that throughout the CET history as a whole, February has on average been colder than December, but there will be the odd quirk in the series in which it wasn't (see the highlighted in the bold), as you've pointed out. Anyway, I'm not "Anti-Spring" by any means, I enjoy the season and especially the wide diurnal ranges you can experience. I don't at all begrudge anyone wanting an early spring, we all have our preferences, but I personally don't see the rush when there's months of guaranteed warmer weather ahead anyway from mid spring until around mid autumn. I would rather we make the most of the limited cold window we have in this country, and that takes us to at least mid March, and even mid April depending on what you're after. As I've said before, my perfect spring is a cold, snowy March, a mixed bag in April and a settled, sunny and pleasantly warm May.

Still foggy here but not as thick as early this morning or last night. Hope it persists throughout the day. Carlisle currently at -4C under fog...ice day inbound?

Isn't one reason for the extreme heat in the Lut desert the fact that the ground is dark and rocky, as opposed to light and sandy like the Sahara?

Old Crow in the Yukon has been flirting with -50C the past few days. However, I've noticed that places on Ellsmere island haven't been as cold as you'd expect all winter, Alert and Eureka have rarely been lower than -40C, spending much of their time in the -20/-30 range. A big positive temperature anomaly in the northern Canadian Arctic this winter?

That might be a factor, but I'd imagine a minor one. The UK winter is typically Atlantic dominated anyway, including February, and it's consistently been colder than December by at least 0.5C thought the CET history. Seas are colder, as are continental and arctic air masses, and they override the increase of day length and sun strength compared to December.Hell, the first third of March is colder/on a par with the first third of December, and the sun is positively molten by March, right? An odd quirk, March 2001 recorded a lower min than anything December 2010 did, as crazy as that sounds!

Exactly right, so why when we hit February, our joint coldest month, do people seem hellbent on the arrival of Spring?! It doesn't add up, people look for cold in November (warmer month than March) yet seem disinterested in February, (when it's far more likely to materialize) based upon some weird and false assumption that the sun is some kind of blowtorch at this time of year. You wouldn't think we recently had ice days, deep snow and sub -10C minima in March. I can only think it's some kind of reverse psychology, in an attempt to jump start winter again. If so, keep it up guys, I like your style! By the way, that's 9 consecutive days in my area where snow has survived the brutal Feb sunshine. Funny that...

I just wish they'd butt out with their opinion. "Thankfully cloud should roll in around midnight so temperatures shouldn't be too bad tonight". So I guess dank and drizzle is better than sunshine and a beautiful frost?! Really grinds my gears!

Just 19 more weeks until the nights start drawing in again...

Still some snow about on sheltered grass here from the fall last Thursday, that's 9 consecutive days. Not bad at all...could just do with a top up now!

We have collectively struggled to see low minima countrywide for a few years now. The conditions hardly ever seem to play ball; cloud will roll in or a breeze will pick up at some point in the night, and obviously the aid of snowcover has severely been lacking in most places. We seem to be in a very mobile phase, at least in the winter months, where the most conducive conditions either fail to materialize in the first place, or only persist for a few hours at a time. Persistent cloud during the night has been particularly prevalent.

Not me, I loved it! Anyway, it's worth noting that March 2012 was also an extraordinary month, but in terms of warmth as opposed to the cold of 2013. We probably shouldn't expect to see a repeat of either. Maybe people expect too much from March in terms of warmth; average highs of 8/9C, lows of 2/3C and dark at 6-6:30pm. Hardly sunbathing conditions.

March 2006 for the most part was cold, but a very mild final week pushed up what was up until then a very low CET. Anyway, if the CFS is actually on to something, I'd prefer the cold to be there right off the bat. As good as 2013 was, the real fun and games happened after a mild first 9 days. Makes you wonder what the CET would have been had that cold spell started 9 days (or more) earlier.

Currently sitting in 5th with an average error of 0.2C. Not bad! Weather-History is a real threat, he's always up there, could be an interesting battle this year!

Yeah, perhaps a name change is in order for this hypocrite?! Not sure about your suggestion, though. It doesn't roll off the tongue!

Yeah, I don't get it myself. You've got to laugh at comments like "nothing wintry in the foreseeable" when it's -5C outside and frosty. Is frost and cold not "wintry" weather? The netweather term "coldie" is a misnomer, as most "coldies" are actually "snowies". I'm a true "coldie", a lack of snow really doesn't bother me, as long as it's cold, and preferably sunny by day and frosty by night.

That would be brutal extended cold! To further emphasise my point, March 1947 was subzero in the CET zone until around the 15th...there's that mid March "cut off" point again. Even so, March 2013 was a bit of an eye opener in terms of the length and depth of the cold after mid month; -12.9C on April's doorstep isn't to be sniffed at. Goes to show the month as a whole can be very cold, even if historically the bulk of the cold occurs in the first half. I guess "6 more weeks of winter" on the 2nd Feb does actually take you to mid March - there may be some truth to the saying.

I consider the period of mid November to mid March as the window of opportunity in regards to deep cold.Using -20C as the benchmark, it seems to tie in with this idea almost perfectly as the earliest it's been recorded in the UK is 14th November, and the lastest is 14th March. Appreciable cold outside these dates obviously can occur, but it's probably impossible to be of the same intensity as inside it. I remember creating a thread on this website a while ago, in which I calculated an "average record low" by month, and half months, using the daily record lows. If I remember right, the second half of January had the lowest average. I also remember a marked drop and rise in November and March respectively, in regards to record cold between each half of the months. I've looked but I can't find it. I presume it's archived. Anyway, I'd argue that, based on what I've just said, that winter's back isn't truly broken until mid March. Here's the link I used: http://www.torro.org.uk/site/lowtempsyear.php Interesting that there is also another noticeable rise in temperatures after 21 March - the Spring equinox.

Last night was apparently the coldest night of the year so far in England. Shap recorded -9.1C

Crosby hit -17.6C in December 2010. I remember that clearly as it was the exact same low temperature as recorded in Woodford not far from me in Jan 2010, and because I was amazed such a location recorded such a low temperature.

Excuse the orientation of the photo, not sure why it's done that! I'm sure you get the idea...

Looks lovely...if it was June!Meanwhile, in subarctic Stockport...

Fair enough, but I thought more in here may appreciate the whole spectrum of wintry weather, and not just one aspect (snow). I guess I'm lucky in that I saw a very impressive fall of snow on Thursday, leaving over 4 inches in just a few hours. In fact, there's still a fair bit of it remaining on sheltered grass. I can understand the frustration for those down south that haven't seen any yet, but there's still plenty of time. Things can, and do, change at short notice, for better or worse. I'm just going to enjoy what we've got, while it lasts.