ScottSnow

Was snowing heavily at Newcastle train station at about 9.45pm. There has been intermittent snow showers here in Gateshead since. I've just put something in the bin outside and its frozen on top. A slight covering tonight ???

Yes the 18z goes with what a few poster's on here are predicting, a couple of colder shots before a more sustained outbreak from the north. The signs are encouraging and the 18z shows that when the energy coming off the eastern seaboard dies down heights can build to our north west. The Arctic is nearly at it's coldest in early Feb so any northerly should provide plenty of punch. For my location some of the best snowfalls I've seen have came drom northerly winds such as 26th Feb 2004.

Dec 1995 was cold especially in Scotland but I don't believe it lasted that long. Nov 1993 saw deep snow here in the north east and was a brilliant spell of cold weather especially so early in the season. I remember it well as I went to the Newcastle vs Liverpool match on the sunday afternoon (Newcastle won 3-0 Andy Cole scored a hat trick), it started snowing while I was at the match and began to stick, in the morning when I got up to go to school there was a nice thick covering of snow. Just from memory I believe it stuck around for about a week.

Very interesting... I know my relatives house in Co. Durham saw lying snow from 16th Dec 2009 until mid Jan 2010 where there must have been at least 20+ days of lying snow consecutively, here in Gateshead we saw a temporary thaw in between Christmas and New Year. Again in the winter of 09/10 I know that places in Scotland (mainly in the Highlands) saw lying snow from mid Dec 2009 until mid March 2010. Loch Morlich near Aviemore was frozen throughout that period.

Steve to be fair I have at times see you 'ramp' events up which didn't have a chance of coming off. We don't know who is going to be correct but it will be interesting what conditions we do see as we head into Feb. My own personal hunch is somewhere in the middle - cold/cool shots from the north or north west and then a period of cool/colder weather from the north / north east.

Overview of Jan 2013 cold spell now that it is well and truly over. Days with falling snow: 14 (13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th) Days with lying snow (50%+): 14 (Mon14th - Mon 28th) Max depth: 21cm ( Sat 19th although there were similar depths on Mon 21st and Sat 26th) Max depth of snow would have been greater but the snowfalls were marginal at times so didn't add a great deal to the snowdepth. Temperatures were steady with no exceptionally low night time minima. The persistent cloudcover and often marginal conditions for snowfall were the most disappointing aspects of the cold spell. The snowy breakdown was a bonus and something that was sadly missing from Jan and Dec 2010. I had some great days out walking in the snow in Teesdale on the 16th and 24th and North York Moors on the 18th. I also enjoyed skiing at Yad Moss in the pennines on the 23rd. Spent a few nights out sledging as well. I certainly tried to make the most of the snow. 7.5/10

Well if you were born in the 80's or 90's your not going to be able to compare it to winters that you can't remember or that were before you were even born. People who witnessed 1947 and 1963 might well think that the years you have mentioned were damp squibs in comparison. I said the last ten years as I joined the forum ten years ago in 2003.

Elaborate on what ? I can certainly see the potential for colder weather as we head into Feb and agree broadly with TEITS assessment however it is too early at this stage to say this is definitely going to happen.

I wouldn't go patting yourself on the back just yet... I go along with your prediction of some more sustained cold weather as we head into February but it is not nailed on yet.

Yes the sunny weather yesterday was a nice change. Imagine a spell of weather like Feb 1947 where I believe sunshine totals were very low for the entire month in easterly areas.

Don't really think its synoptically looking anything like the start of last Feb in Europe. The start of last Feb Europe was firmly in the freezer and dominated by easterly winds, at the minute Europe looks mild in comparison. This time we are looking more for pressure to rise in the Atlantic allowing northerly winds to develop. None of the current runs look particularly mild in my opinion. I enjoy skiing and the current output certainly keeps the mountains in Scotland under snowcover. I believe we will see a couple of shortlived northerly incursions before a rise in pressure to our north west will allow a more sustained northerly regime to develop.

Interesting the variations of the cold/snow even sometimes at relatively short distances. Just shows what a difference height and distance from the sea can make. I'd still rate the cold spell at 7.5/10 here, we did quite well from friday night's event but I will stick by my original rating. We've had two weeks of snowcover and falling snow virtually everyday the only thing missing was low overnight temps. The constant cloudcover did get a bit depressing and the marginal situations where we ended up with rain or sleet were disappointing but overall the conditions were not to be sniffed at here. It was certainly very close to being an epic spell of cold weather if the temps had been slightly lower. The cold spell would be in my top three from the last ten years; 1) Nov/Dec 2010 10/10 2) Dec/Jan 2010 8.5/10 3) Jan 2013 7.5 /10 4) Feb/Mar 2005 6/10 5) Feb/Mar 2006 ( Was living in Scotland at time) 6/10 February's 2009 and 2012 were poor for my location here in the north east.

In my book the Nov/Dec 10 cold spell could only be a 10, lots of snow and ice days and lasting around two weeks. Don't know really what you expect considering where we live, we don't live in Quebec for example. Like I've said elsewhere I think we were spoilt in a way by the winter of 09/10 and Nov/Dec 10. Bear in mind that the CET of Dec 2010 was the coldest in the last 100 years which just goes to show that conditions like that are the exception. I'd rate this cold spell a 7.5/10. Plenty of snow lasting nearly two weeks, it could have been colder and the rain/sleet events were disappointing but overall probably the third best cold spell in the last ten years IMBY.

Yes the GFS is starting to throw a few colder ideas into the mix now in FI. I wouldn't be suprised to see colder scenarios start to appear at closer timeframes as we head towards feb.

Just been outside for a walk. Brilliant out there with drifting snow in the wind, which is very rare for this part of the region being so low.

Still snowing here. Can't remember the last time we had a good snow event of a breakdown like we are seeing tonight.

Yes small flakes here as well. My footprints are covered in the backyard from about half an hour ago. Temp must be rising though as I can hear dripping now outside the backdoor.

How much did you get from the snow around lunchtime ? I was in Woodham from 10am till 1pm and it came down pretty heavy. There was much more fresh snow when I left compared to here in Gateshead.

Moderate to heavy snow and blowing around in the wind.

Yes I remember talking to some relatives in the summer of 2010 who live on high ground (above 1000ft) in the north west who said the winter had been a real bad one there. Feb 2012 was also a poor showing here. Still snowing here in Gateshead and the snow is blowing around making for real wintry conditions. I can't remember the last time we had a real snowy breakdown (we didn't in Jan or Dec 2010) although it may have been 12th March 2006. I suppose it ticks another box for this cold spell.

4C for me although I'd love to see a cold february I just can't see this happening. An average month with a few short cold snaps.

Can hear the snow blowing against the windows here. I think there maybe some nice drifts up on higher ground.

Yes in your location it may have been far snowier in Jan 2010 but you live where ? Stockport ! Although it hasn't been that cold here it has certainly been snowy here in the north east. In the north east there was also more sunshine and colder temps in Jan 2010, however Nov/Dec 2010 was both colder and snowier in this part of the world. Like I say it depends on your location how you rate a spell of cold weather. For example parts of this region like Stanley and Consett have been even snowier than my location in this current spell. Parts of this region wouldn't even class it as just the 'Jan 2010' March Blizzard as there was snowcover from Dec 16th until Jan 15th so it would be classed as the Dec 09/Jan 10 cold spell. As I have previously stated parts of Scotland had snowcover from mid December 09 until early March 10.

Yes the breakdown has been constantly pushed back. Even todays snowy breakdown wasn't really anticipated and tomorrow hardly looks mild especially in eastern areas.

Interesting. Although Jan 2010 was a lot colder here this spell has been as snowy. I certainly think many people would of rated this cold spell higher if we hadn't been 'spoilt' by the winter of 09/10 and the weather of Nov/Dec 2010. Where I was living in Co. Durham the snow lasted from mid Dec 09 to mid Jan 10 and in many parts of Scotland the snow lasted from the middle of December 2009 until early March 2010.