Widespread snow to rain event 1979

[cheeky_monkey]

I have a vivid memory of widespread heavy snow/blizzard event that eventually turned to rain. This occurred in the winter of 78/79...however i cant remember if it was in January or February 1979..all i know it happened on a Friday as i remember our school was shut early due to the snow and sitting in the assembly hall waiting to be sent home. Anyone else remember this ? ..only other bit that might help it went from below freezing on the Friday to +12c the next day and most of the deep snow that fell being washed away.

[andreas]

Hi - I was in my early teens at the  time I wrote my diary in Cheltenham, it may be this weekend:

·       [Fri] 19 Jan. It snows heavily, but quickly thaws in the night. We play snowballs at school. 

·       [Sat] 20 Jan. There are still lots of matches postponed today, with eighteen inches of snow in Sheffield!

[Don]

1 hour ago, cheeky_monkey said:

.only other bit that might help it went from below freezing on the Friday to +12c the next day and most of the deep snow that fell being washed away.

Wow, talk about rapid thaw!  I imagine there was likely flooding in places?

[Weather-history]

 andreas

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Thurs 4th Feb '94 was similar here

[rustle]

It was I think the weekend of 20th/21st of January. I was in the last year of school. It snowed steadily all day friday, then got heavier through the night and into saturday afternoon before eventually petering out. Big depths and drifts. In leeds we stayed on the cold side so enjoyed it for a couple of days beyond. Proper winter 1979!

[Methuselah]

 Weather-history

I can't recall that event, W-H, but I do remember when an all-night blizzard turned to rain just as I got up. Come to think about it, events like that were far more common back in the 1960s. We do get them now, of course, but without the snow! 

[A Face like Thunder]

Philip Eden reported heavy snow moving northwards on 19th Jan 1979 followed by a temporary thaw in southern districts. Heavy snow again on 22nd/23rd followed by freezing rain which caused chaos on roads, railways and London Underground. It was indeed a long Winter of Discontent. 

[cheeky_monkey]

yep must have been this ..similar to what happened on Dec 13th 1981

[Summer of 95]

 I remember Atlantic 252 I don't remember that one at all (remember the snow on 14-15th and 22-23rd). Must have veen very local. 

27th January 1995 sounds very similar to it though- snow suddenly turned to rain with zero warning, that did cause some floods 

[Penrith Snow]

 cheeky_monkey Definitely Friday 19th January 1979, blizzards moved north across UK followed by a thaw, however, the mild air never reached further north than Birmingham. I remember travelling to Coventry on Saturday 20th, 15cms lay in SE Birmingham but half way to Coventry the fields became green the snow having been washed away. Great winter.

[Summer8906]

Could it also have been Fri 5 / Sat 6?

I only have rather vague memories of the winter due to age at the time, but I do remember the heavy snow on New Year's Day and a slushy mess with a thaw on Sat 6th. This was NW England, basically Cheshire south of Manchester. I also remember an intensely foggy, but snow-free, Sunday when we travelled south to look at houses in the Thames Valley which I think was either the 7th or 14th. A shame personally as I was increasingly interested in my surroundings and hadn't travelled south of Birmingham much by then, but the fog meant I couldn't see anything!

I can't remember the timings of subsequent snow events but I do remember the snow came back on multiple occasions later in the winter. I associate Abba's song "Chiquitita" with snow and intense cold and that came out early Feb apparently, so there must have been more in Feb.

 Penrith Snow Ah right, I would have missed that particular thaw. Can't remember the details of that weekend, though.

Edited November 9 by Summer8906

[Thundery wintry showers]

I think 19/20 January 1979 was far more likely to be the event. The synoptics point to fronts aligned WNW-ESE making slow progress against a blocking high extending from Greenland to Scandinavia, which tends to lock snow in place on the northern flank for several hours before it turns to rain in the south.

5/6 January 1979 did see a thaw but I'm not aware of it having been preceded by heavy snow, as it was one of those breakdowns to milder air from the north-west where pressure remained high for a couple of days. What followed was quite remarkable though: cold zonality set in and by the 9th most regions were seeing snow showers from a westerly, and then the winds veered northerly, maintaining cold weather after that milder blip.

[cheeky_monkey]

 Thundery wintry showers it was defiently Jan 19 not Jan 5..as it was well after Xmas eg the Xmas decs were long gone..that's why i was thinking it was sometime from Mid Jan to early Feb 1979 initially 

[I remember Atlantic 252]

 Summer of 95 17th Dec '97