March Blizzard

It's looking almost certain high pressure will sit over/near the UK for much of next week. I really hope it's not a cloudy high...

I agree with your middle two sentences, today was great; cool temperatures that felt fairly warm in direct sunlight with clear skies and frost over night - beautiful. I've just been for a walk taking in the novelty of cold air, clear skies and no wind. Very refreshing after relentless mildness, wind and rain for so long.

That's why I'd rather see charts like that for now, and the charts we are seeing for the next week or two for early/mid April. Can we swap?

As someone who works outdoor I agree with the "anything but rain" point completely. Like you said, I honestly wouldn't mind Mar 2012 like conditions, I actually found that spell very pleasant, but I'd rather conditions closer to 2013. By April, I myself will be weary of cold.The weather will do what it wants and, like it or not, we will all have to just get on with it.

Yep. I'm not a fan of "reverse" springs either; ones that see mild/warm in March when cold is still possible and northerlies in May when genuine warmth should be on the cards.There's no rush, there's plenty of time for warm, settled weather.

I suppose it makes sense when you consider Feb/Mar is the coldest time of year in the high Canadian Arctic, and if the jet stream plays ball there's nothing to stop that cold flooding south. Plenty of records in the US tumbling, too: http://www.weather.com/news/bitter-cold-finish-february-20140221

Yes CM, it seems like a lot of records have been broken in central Canada recently, particularly in Saskatchewan. A few places got below -40C, I believe, and suggestions early March has brought the coldest temperatures of the season yet in some places.

So a sub-zero minimum averaged across the CET zone right off the bat for March. Do you know what the lowest daily CET minima was for the winter just gone, BFTV?I reckon we will avoid any date records within the next 7-8 days, but that's just a hunch.

It's interesting that you mention aircraft, I'm sure I've heard that straight after 9/11 the US experienced its largest diurnal ranges in years (on record?) after all flights were grounded for a few days. Aircraft contrails clearly modify the temperature variation by creating their own artificial layer of cloud.I think a few of the reasons Autumn has narrower ranges than Spring is because, firstly, it is often a cloudier time of year and, secondly, is generally more humid, holding minima up somewhat.I love this time of year because of the possibility of big diurnal ranges - sub-zero by night and in the teens by day.

Goes to show that some places in North America have been anomalously warm despite most of the Continent being anomalously cold.http://m.winnipegsun.com/2014/02/26/winnipeg-experiences-third-coldest-winter-in-more-than-a-century

0.8C out for me, to be honest I wasn't expecting to be less than 1C out when I went for 7C! Nonetheless, it's still my best effort so far this season . It moves me up a massive 12 places...from 49th to 37th. My title defence is looking very shaky already, I'm doing a Man U!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against March 2012 conditions per se, I'd just much rather have March 2013 conditions! I'm trying to take comfort in that the start of this month is looking eerily similar to last March; Fairly mild with a bit of high pressure and large diurnal ranges...Lots of talk of a potential 2012 repeat, but we shouldn't ignore the possibility of 2013 type conditions either.

A few decent ranges so far today: Benson from -3.9C to 8.5C (+12.4C) Pershore from -3.1C to 9.6C (+12.7C) That's based only on hourly observations, so the actual ranges are likely to be slightly higher. If the models come close to verifying for a week from now we could easily be looking at 15C+ ranges.

I was looking for a figure, but you're probably right with the date. I ask because I reckon there's a chance we could get a colder CET minimum on the first day of March than during the entire winter, ironically.

Does anyone know what the coldest CET daily minima of the winter was?

Fingers crossed (but not holding my breath). I'm not interested in "warmth" so early in the year - save the "summer" charts for a more appropriate time of year. The wintry window is still open for a good few weeks yet, there will be plenty of time for warmth after that.The general consensus is that the first 10 days or so (of March) will be mild, perhaps followed by a cooler second half - sounds kinda familiar, that...

Reading the main model thread I get the impression "FI" is now 2-3 weeks...High pressure and 20C for the first half of March is nailed on, apparently.

The scary thought is we could get a winter, temperature wise, similar to this next time; evidenced by the fact we had two stinkers on the trot in 88/89 and 89/90.

March 25th.

Going with my head hasn't helped so far this year, so I'll go with my heart: 4.9C.

Not surprising really when you consider that it has very similar winter temperatures to Torquay! Theoretically, you could host a Winter Olympics in Los Angeles if the outdoor events were undertaken in the San Gabriel/Bernadino mountains. A more relevant figure would be the temperatures in Rosa Khutor during the games - the place where all the outdoor sports were played.

To be honest I have found a bit of interest in this winter; I may even rank it slightly higher than the one before it! (Don't shoot!) The reason is that I like hard frosts and low minima, and although this winter hasn't delivered that at all the storms and rain have provided something of a distraction from the shocking reality in regards to temperatures. For me, last winter was very disappointing, with very few cold nights (here at least). The difference is that the lack of low minima was more noticeable because no other weather at the time was sparking any interest for me. As a result, I was more aware and conscious of the lack of my preferred winter weather type than I have been this winter.

What I'd give for a chart like that...on 7th March 2014!

Fair enough. There's no arguing with the stats - December is slightly colder than March, on average. However, I would not agree that March couldn't be described as "wintry" just because another month is slightly colder.With that being said, I still find it hard to believe that the UK recorded a lower temperature in March 2001 (-21.7C) than it did in December 2010 (-21.4C)! Yes, splitting hairs but remarkable nonetheless.

I suppose you're right! I wouldn't worry, we'll probably see a nationwide blizzard...in May.