Wildswimmer Pete

Is this a sign of impending pattern change and/or the end of the influence of the recent SSW?

We'll have to agree to disagree. Winter '63 was OK at the beginning but not when it lasted until to the last week of April. In my area the main snowfall thawed at the end of February but we then endured continual cold weather with wintry showers through March and April. Much like this year up to now. I'm cheesed off with the current 5-month long winter. A lot of us would prefer to see all four seasons of the correct length back in their rightful positions. Note my emphasis - I lived in Wirral at that time.

............and followed by that awful winter. I lived through that.

Often March saw the first 20C but obviously not this year. Together with others I'm hoping for it in late April especially as we are looking at yet another cold shot in mid-April. Wish this *+%"@* winter would crawl into its grave and die.

I'm looking forward to the time I can catch the rays in just shorts in my south-facing back garden however it looks like cold weather for the foreseeable future.

I think we should agree to disagree. The title of this thread appears to mean subjective views like mine. My memories aren't seen through rose-tinted glasses. My strong long-term memory is based on recollections of places, music, things like holidays and days out and of course events throughout my 60s teenhood. I apologise for my brusque, terse manner when posting but my stroke trashed my speech and even now it takes me some effort to write prose.

That's right, 60s were pretty humdrum except for '62 which was chilly and exceptionally wet with only a few proper "summer" days. I my family spent a week's holiday in August at Kircudbright and it rained solidly for all but the Wednesday when I was taken to the beach. It rained solidly from Wirral to Gretna up the A6 (only a short stretch of the M6 open back then).

September '69 saw a late heatwave with temps up into the 70sF (we used old money back then) but the start of October was typically autumnal. Summer '70 was nice but not exceptional. However March '70 was cold with frequent wintry showers and hard frosts which if I remember correctly continued into early April. Summers of '71 and '72 were so-so but notably dull. The last summer I remember is '87 for the wrong reasons - substandard temps. Late Summer Holiday Sunday saw dark skies, driving rain and temp of 9-10C. Holiday Monday saw fine conditions but a max of only 14C. Sadly I have no memory of 90s or later summers as my stroke a few years ago trashed my short- and mid-term memory however my long-term memory became much more keen.

Here in the Northwest none of the 1960s summers were memorable with summer '62 abysmal. Summer 1959 was an absolute scorcher - I was only nine at the time and I was off school for six weeks so out and about every day. The next memorable summers were '75 and obviously '76. '84 was a good one.

I don't go by dry statistics, I speak from actual experience. Saturday 20th April 1963 I was with my cousin in Liverpool City Centre going round the shops. We endured a strong, cold wind with driven sleet - and I mean sleet, not rain. 21st March 1963 (vernal equinox) saw sunny intervals with wintry showers. Again, I experienced them. I'm not interested in London or anywhere else. I'm only interested in what I experienced in Merseyside/Cheshire. I can assure you that the first sign of spring weather wasn't until the last week of April '63. When I post regarding weather conditions it's always from personal experience, I avoid quoting statistics and as an engineer I know too well how stats can be misrepresented. You know the old saw: there are lies, damn lies and statistics.

Yes, Wetterzentrale have re-analysed 1963 and they go further back. Here's the chart from the 20th April 1963, near the end of that awful winter (Spring arrived during the last week of April).

This year's pattern up to now is similar to that of winter 1963, with winter dragging on to late April. There were wintry showers on my birthday, 21st April. May saw a fortnight's heatwave with crystal blue skies but the following summer was indifferent. This was followed by a truly golden autumn with weather mild enough to be topless out in the playing fields during PE (I was a schoolkid then).

Of course there was 1962/63 with lying snow for weeks (including Christmas). Like this one, that winter dragged on until the last week of April. I fear that will be repeated this year. It's supposed to be spring and I hope to see no more snow and ice.

Freezing rain. Supercooled water that flash freezes on impact. Leads to sheet ice on roads and causes icing on power lines the weight of which can bring them down. Freezing rain is more of a threat to power supplies than snow. I saw a lot of that in the winter of 1962/63.

Still nothing here. Odd how Runcorn Old Town is getting snow, but the New Town is getting nothing. Perhaps down to the geography of the area. The New Town is built on the ridge that finishes at Runcorn Hill, mostly 60m asl. Perhaps the ridge is deflecting the wind in some way. Odd.

Nothing here despite the radar. Not a sausage.

According to radar we should be seeing snow. Currently cloudy, dry, punishing cold wind but just a few swirling flakes.

Cloudy and currently dry with just a few flakes swirling around in the breeze. Current temp: 0C

Light snow @ 11:21am

Cloudy this morning, no sign of any overnight ppn, overnight min. -5.6C, currently -0.7C. Dry but although I haven't ventured outdoors looking at the trees I'd say moderate breeze F4.

Currently clear with some small, ragged cloud but at 9:28pm outdoor temp is already -5.2C. Dry with very little breeze.

4:25pm moderate snow with large flakes.

12:57pm Now snowing heavily with large flakes.

12:45pm moderate snow has started.

Mostly fine overnight but some snow from an overnight shower. Overnight min: -6.5C, currently 0.5C. Fine at first but the heavy shower clouds are building and now currently cloudy.