March Blizzard

How much do they differ by, typically?

I hope so, I love late winter cold with the longer days.

That was quick! I guess a few of the Met Office guys and girls stayed sober over new year then! Only 0.1C out. A good start for me after last year's nightmare.

Don't know why people bother with the hassle of scraping or using pungent de-icers, a kettle full of lukewarm water does the trick much better and quicker.

I'll go 4.1C, please. Another variable month akin to December but perhaps with a more potent cold snap/spell as we approach Feb, dragging down the value after a mild first week. Maybe another tail ender of a winter. Feb to mid March may be the period to watch.

That really is an odd quirk! Surely we will see it before long?

Was shocked before when I was going to pop out in the car and discovered it was starting to freeze over. Colder at this point than it was last night, was expecting a mild night for some reason...

You South Westerners have seemingly done pretty well out of this spell. I've been keeping tabs and places like Bournemouth and Exeter have been surprisingly chilly, and many other places in your region even colder. Not that often that your neck of the woods is the coldest in the country.

Thanks for that info interitus and BFTV, would never have guessed the maxima contributed more. I assumed the opposite mainly due to how much overnight cloud there has seemingly been this year.

Yeah. It's felt more like consistent warmth than any exceptional heat, with mild overnight minima almost certainly more of a factor than high maxima.

The list I had was for the UK as a whole. I'm certain of this because Logie Coldstone was a frequently named location. Maybe someone can find it. For some reason or another I've got the university of Dundee in my head in relation to it, perhaps it was compiled by someone there?Not 100% sure about that, though. You are right about surprise minima, I'd suggest that temperatures close to -8C in southern England, without snow cover, is actually pretty good going. Yet on other occasions you can struggle with more favourable conditions, at least on paper.

I remember once having a list of the coldest temperature by year, going all the way back to 1910 I think, although for the life of me can't find it on the internet again. I don't remember seeing any single digit minima on there, so if I'm right then this year could be the first for over 100 years in which it has happened. As someone who adores pipe-freezing minima above all it's been a very trying few years for me in that regard. Don't get me wrong, I like snow, ice days and even the odd storm but you can't beat a severe overnight/morning frost in my book. I've really enjoyed the last 3/4 days weather wise, the enormous snow flakes on Boxing Day, the glorious sky this morning with the low sun illuminating through the fog, the light catching the edges of the broken cloud, the frost lingering throughout the day and steaming off the fences in the direct sun, the roofs of the houses staying white from dawn till dusk. When the weather is like this, at this time of year, I ask myself "why would anyone want it any other way?". I get on with life regardless of the weather, but the thought of impending grey skies, and rain carried on a mild wind disappoints me somewhat. After last winter, we probably deserve to see another spell like this one (at least) before we bed into spring.

A lot of talk about just getting through the next 2 weeks or so...as if a solid Arctic freeze is guaranteed afterwards. More than likely uncle Bartlett will ride into town!

No. I learnt me lesson last year with that idea...

I just put half a gallon of anti-freeze in mine...

Have we any official confirmation yet on where did (or didn't) see a white Christmas?

I still find it strange how we didn't record such a temperature early in the year. Usually January, February and March record below that without much effort, and in most years you would half expect April to do so, too. It's hard to believe we are waiting until late December to scrape near -10C for the first time in the year.

Jamstec going for a below average March to May. Lets hope that's mostly down to a brutally cold March than a persistently cool 3 months. Although the model (and I) are probably wrong anyway, I've had a feeling a cold March 2015 is on the way for a while.

If It's any consolation, you always seem to do better for accumulations than us down the road in Stockport, we had no lying snow in March 2013, yet there was a fair bit in and around Ashton when I went.

My money is on Woodhouse Park...

What's your altitude WH? Only sticking on cars and grass here. My location is urban though...

The flakes here are a more normal size now. We had a 5-10 minute period of absolute monsters though. Didn't think to take a photo, sorry!

Wow. These flakes are seriously big. Biggest I've ever seen probably! At least 2-3 inches wide! Unreal...

Massive flakes here now. Still refusing to stick, though.

Ouch. And to think Liverpool is accumulating the white stuff.