March Blizzard

Thanks for that. Just to clarify is a SYNOP station one that the public can see on the MetO website ie Altnaharra as opposed to one they can't see ie Braemar?

Just noticed on BBC north west tonight that they have data for the new Rostherne weather station, it was showing recent rainfall amounts and it was on the list of locations. Nothing on the MO website, though. Perhaps we will be seeing it up and running soon on the observations page.

Northern parts of the Gulf of Bothnia should start to freeze at this time of year.

I thought the uk December average was closer to 5C?

I think Fantasy Island sounds more mythical, which is very apt for model outputs.

Wouldn't a January 1940 style Ice storm bring countless power cables down? Our sheer reliance on electricity would be exposed. It would be pretty much worst case scenario as far as winter weather goes in this country.

Agreed, but I think the health and safety and compensation culture of today has a lot to do with services, schools and workplaces being shut in even fairly insignificant wintery weather, not necessarily the attitude of the people.

I think it's a bit unfair to judge a generation based on what they have not yet had to endure. Given the opportunity I think the younger people today would surprise the older "can do" generation with their resilience if faced with a 47/63 style winter. Generation X/Y get a lot of bad press, some of it justified, a lot of it not.

I agree about March '47, bitterly cold first half with lots of snow then suddenly mild with lots of rain and flooding, would have been be an absolute nightmare. March 1-8 CET was -1.6C and 1-15 ended up -0.2C. Temperatures as low as -21C. It's not often you get a month with a sub zero CET first half that ends up being the wettest on record. A truly remarkable month that may have been harder to cope with than the 3 preceeding months, despite their severity too. 1947 was surely a more difficult winter to endure than 1963, especially when you consider the amount of snow and the state the country was in at the time.

That's the most sensible I've seen the Express regarding a weather story, ordinarily they would try to convince us it would last until June. Take a bow, DE!

In my neck of the woods Jan 2010 was far better for snow than Dec 2010, it also produced lower minima. As I work outdoors my memory of Jan 2010 was charging through about a foot of snow, my memory of Dec 2010 was constantly landing on my backside from ice under a thin level of snow...and that was with chains on my boots!

In Jan 2010 I had a good laugh at all the people who "couldn't" make it to work because of the snow. It seems many who work behind a desk struggle with the idea of good old fashioned walking. I trounced through about a foot of snow all day, day in day out, and managed perfectly fine. I think when most people say they can't get into work because of snow they really mean they can't be bothered.

My 5.6C looks miles off, unless we get November 2010 part 2.

I honestly think that 2010 has skewed a lot of people's expectations regarding decent cold at this time of year. In my opinion all 2010 showed us was that extreme cold (by British standards) is possible, but by no means probable at end of Nov. In my mind November is probably the most predictable month of the calender; you can pretty much guarantee that it will be mild, wet and windy for most of the month, in most years. Snow and cold is something i don't normally associate with the month, leave that to January and February.

Sounds good . Yeah it's useful pub ammo, that one. Most people usually think it's Moscow which is in 3rd place behind Astana, Kazakhstan.

Why don't the MetO mapped regional averages colours match a consistent numerical value, rather than changing from region to region? The dark blue for the SW is probably equivalent to light red in northern Scotland. I know we can see the difference between the regions on the UK averages page but it would make more in depth comparisons between regions much easier. Oh by the way, winter 2012/2013 will be the coldest on record, 90 foot snow drifts just outside Swindon, highs of -20C in the Scilly Isles etc etc

I do the same on my Iphone's "weather" tab, every winter I select the coldest places it has available. Yakutsk is nearly always the coldest place but is occasionally bested by the likes of Alert, Canada and Fairbanks, Alaska. Ulan Bator is surprisingly cold, too. Coldest to warmest (in terms of consistency) usually goes something like this: Yakutsk, Alert, Fairbanks, Barrow, Yellowknife, Churchill, Iqaluit, Ulan Bator, Omsk, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Astana, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Vorkuta, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Nuuk. The Canadian praire cities are very hit and miss, they can be amongst the coldest one day and comfortably the warmest the next. Alert stays coldest for longest, it never really gets anything like warm.

You might be looking in the wrong place for warmth in early March, unless you consider an average high of around 7-9C warm? The genuine warmth of late March this year was a record breaking, once in a blue moon anomaly. I won't be holding my breath for a repeat next year. I too work outside year round and I must say that I am enjoying the mild weather currently, still comfortable wearing shorts. Personally I would take cold and snow in March and wait for the possibility of any proper warmth from about mid April onwards.

Excellent post, damianslaw. Couldn't agree more. I would also much rather have any cold arrive in mid-late winter than early. Get all the mild, wet and windy out of the way in November and if needs be, have December as an "overspill", if you will.

I work outside and I'm still wearing shorts, might start wearing trousers if/when it starts getting within a few degrees of freezing. I'd only consider a scalf and gloves if my eyelids started to freeze shut. Now if you don't mind, I'm off to pour some anti-freeze on my cornflakes.

What's central heating...?

Wow, 15C minima in December? That's slightly outrageous. I detest them sort of conditions in winter, persistent thick cloud that keeps all the mild air in. Does anyone happen to know what the record mildest/warmest minima are for each month?

Me. If it had been 0.3C cooler my entry would have been spot on!

Not personally as I have never been at or near the equator but, I remember hearing Michael Holding mention it on commentary when England were playing the West indies in Guyana a few years ago.

Anyway, to stay on topic, what is the most probable final October CET value after adjustments?