Snow Falling And Lying, Averages.

[Terminal Moraine]

For anyone who keeps detailed weather records the following may be of interest.

If you live in or near any of these places how do your current averages compare with the following?

Mean annual number of days with sleet/snow falling and snow lying at 0900 at selected stations between 1912 and 1949 unless stated otherwise.

Harrogate (146m) 23.6 and 23.1

Stonyhurst, Lancashire ( 115m) 20.9 and 11.2

Cambridge (12m) 14.5 and 9.9

Hampstead ( 137m) 22.3 and 13.6

Rhayader, central Wales ( 231m) 19.6 and 15.4 1918-1949

Cullompton, Devon (61m) 6.8 and 4.5

Braemar (341m) 47.8 and 66.4

T.M

[Thundery wintry showers]

Well I imagine that Stonyhurst and Lancaster are probably about the same, because here are the averages for snow lying in the Lancaster area:

1961-90: 10 (snow falling about 20-25 days)

1971-2000: 7 (snow falling about 20 days)

1990s: 5 (snow falling about 10-15 days)

2000s: 3 (snow falling about 10 days)

It is probably very similar when one analyses Manchester and Preston, which are also on what I call the "M6 snowline". Yet Stonyhurst lies somewhat to the east of this snowline and is also higher up, so maybe 1912-1949 was not a snowier period than 1961-90 after all in this region.

I remember posting about a 'quirk' for South Tyneside due to the area's proneness to snowfalls from 36-hour northerly blasts: the area had a mean annual frequency of 13 days per year with snow lying over 1961-90, falling to 11 over 1971-2000, and remaining constant at around 8 days per year during the 1993-2004 period in which I took weather records.