Jan 1979 in the south

[Summer8906]

Always been curious what this month was like in the south.

I was still living in NW England at the time and I remember it being very snowy, though aside from the New Year snow event I cannot place the exact dates of the snowfalls nor how long they stuck around. But I do remember it being very persistently cold and snowy.

A look at the synoptic charts however reveals that the south was frequently under the influence of mild-looking cyclonic SWlies. Indeed the mean max in Southampton for Jan 1979 was 4.8C, chilly but not exactly notably cold. Furthermore it was a mere 0.7C lower than Jan 1997, the coldest month of the 90s by mean max, which was intensely cold for 10 days but then mostly average for the rest of the month, albeit very dry.

In Southampton Jan 1985 (4.5C) and 1987 (4.3C mean max) were both colder and Feb 1986 (2.8C) considerably colder.

So anyone from the south of England, south of the M4, got any memories of Jan 1979? Was it indeed less impressive than 1985 and 1987?

Interestingly it looks like Jan 1997 was the opposite of 1979, a function of the synoptics. Jan 1997 was actually milder by mean max at Ringway than at Southampton.

Edited November 23, 2024 by Summer8906