Winter 2004 To 2005

[johnholmes]

Good morning everyone, welcome to the first official day of Spring 2005!

I thought I would start a new thread for anyone to place their winter statistics in. Winter, in official terms, is from 1st December until the last day of February.

PLEASE don't argue over this definition or I shall have to set Net Weathers' very own Rottweiler on you - no names mentioned!

entries below please

regards

John

Edited March 1, 2005 by johnholmes

[johnholmes]

go on then I'll set the ball rolling.

Figures for my weather station since I started in 1979

The value is the mean temperature for the whole winter. If you wish you can add snow falling/lying and frost statistics.

7.0 97/98

5.8 98/99

5.9 99/00

4.8 00/01

5.1 01t02

5.1 01t02

4.4 02t03

5.2 03t04

5.5 04t05

5.5 is avge since 96t97 winter

so it ended about average, don't tell Metcheck!!

regards

John

Edited March 1, 2005 by johnholmes

[WBSH]

Winter 2004/2005 records for Maidstone, Kent.

Warmest day: 13c (55f) 12th Feb

Coldest days: 2c (36f) 24th Jan, 21st Feb, 24th Feb

Coldest night: -5c (23f) 26th December

No. of days with sleet/snow: 12

no. of days with lying snow: 7

No. of night time frosts: 12

No. of days of winds exceeding 50mph: 3

Average temperature for January: 7.3c

Average temperature for February: 6.7c

Average winter temperature overall: 7.07c

WBSH :huh:

Edited March 1, 2005 by Winter Blizzard Summer Heat

[J10]

In Novmeber, I asked everyone to keep a winter diary, has anyone kept one.

[Weather-history]

The Winter Index Rating for west Manchester for 2004-05 is 47

That compares to

2003-04 54

2002-03 41

2001-02 50

2000-01 77

1999-00 42

1998-99 42

1997-98 25

1996-97 69

1995-96 135

1994-95 45

1993-94 76

1992-93 43

1991-92 40

1990-91 119

1989-90 26

1988-89 20

1987-88 37

1986-87 100

1985-86 135

1984-85 128

1983-84 76

1982-83 86

1981-82 149

[Shanice]

Winter Report for 2004-05 at Pollard's Hill Weather Station, Surrey

Temperatures for the three month Winter period Dec-Feb were just above average, The Mean was 6.02c. The Average is 5.9c.

(My Temperature records here began in September 1990)

The Coldest Winter was 1995-96 when the mean was 4.27c

The Mildest Winter was 1994-95 with a Mean of 7.04c.

Except for the last week of February there wasn't much in the way of Snow and Rainfall wise it was also a very dry Winter with only 107mm, well below the average of 167mm and the Second Driest behind 1996-97 which had 83mm. (My Rainfall records began in Feb 1993)

Max Temp Avg.....8.68c...(+0.13 above Avg)

Min Temp Avg....3.37c...(+0.11)

Mean Temp Avg.....6.02c.....(+0.12)

Highest Daytime Max.....13.8c (7th Jan)

Lowest Night Min.....-4.7c (28th Feb)

Total Rainfall.....107mm...(-60.83mm below Avg)

Wettest Day.....20mm...(17th Dec)

Number of Dry Days.....60

Number of Rain Days.....30

Previous Winters (Mean Temps)

1990-91.....4.37

1991-92.....5.63

1992-93.....6.29

1993-94.....5.88

1994-95.....7.04

1995-96.....4.27

1996-97.....5.06

1997-98.....7.01

1998-99.....6.51

1999-00.....6.29

2000-01.....5.83

2001-02.....6.31

2002-03.....5.82

2003-04.....6.19

2004-05.....6.02

Previous Winters Total Rainfall (mm)

1993-94.....191

1994-95.....269

1995-96.....161

1996-97.....83

1997-98.....124

1998-99.....146

1999-00.....165

2000-01.....223

2001-02.....134

2002-03.....232

2003-04.....179

2004-05.....107

[johnholmes]

In Novmeber, I asked everyone to keep a winter diary, has anyone kept one.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

yep

[johnholmes]

The Winter Index Rating for west Manchester for 2004-05 is 47

That compares to

2003-04  54

2002-03  41

2001-02  50

2000-01  77

1999-00  42

1998-99  42

1997-98  25

1996-97  69

1995-96  135

1994-95  45

1993-94  76

1992-93  43

1991-92  40

1990-91  119

1989-90  26

1988-89  20

1987-88  37

1986-87  100

1985-86  135

1984-85  128

1983-84  76

1982-83  86

1981-82  149

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

what does that mean pal, excuse me being a thicky?

[J10]

Winter 2004/2005 records

Warmest day: 14c (7th Jan & 1 Feb)

Coldest days: 4c (23rd, 24th Feb)

Coldest night: -6c (28th Feb)

No. of days with sleet/snow: 10

no. of days with lying snow: 5 (1 meets Met Office Rules)

No. of night time frosts: 18

No. of days of winds exceeding 50mph: 14

Average temperature for December: 7.46c

Average temperature for January: 7.71c

Average temperature for February: 5.81c

Average winter temperature overall: 6.66c

[Weather-history]

what does that mean pal, excuse me being a thicky?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Its an index on how "wintry" a winter was. It takes into account on the number of air frosts, the days where sleet/snow fell and the number of days where snow was lying and the mean max temp of the winter. The higher the index value, the colder/severer the winter and vice versa.

:lol:

Edited March 2, 2005 by Mr_Data

[reef]

December 01, 2004 to February 28, 2005.

Warmest Max: 13.1°C (on 07/01/05)

Coldest Max: 2.0°C (on 20/12/04)

Warmest Min: 11.0°C (on 07/01/05)

Coldest Min: -2.4°C (on 28/02/05)

Average Min: 2.7°C

Average Max: 7.8°C

Overall Average: 5.3°C (+0.8°C Above 1970-2000 Average) - Mildest since 1998.

Air Frosts: 13

Snow showers: 31

Snow lying at 0900: 3 days

Dry Days: 46

Wet Days: 44

Thunderstorms: 0

Well what can I say, with an extremely mild January (+1.7°C Above 1970-2000 Average) the winter on the whole finished the mildest since 1998. It was also the most snowless here since my records began, with only 3 days of snow lying at 0900 (all in late-February) - however two of those were slight dustings and one an accumulation of 1 inch. It was also the latest time I have seen a first snowflake all winter since my records began - 18/02/2005.

A pretty dry winter too, with more dry days than wet here, quite unusual. Unfortunately due to my rainfall meter being broken I cant comment on amounts, but needless to say it will be low, as over half of those wet days were insignificant drizzle. No thunderstorms either.

As well as being the most snowless, it was also extremely low on air frosts, 13 in 90 days of winter is ridiculous, and 7 of those were in December. January and February only had 3 each! There were however a total of 31 snow showers, all due to last weeks northerly/easterly cold spell, which coincidently saved this winter from being the mildest since 1990 by lowering the February CET to only +0.5°C Above 1970-2000 Average.

Edited March 2, 2005 by reef

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Ok then, my records go back to 1998, so the mean temp, number of air frosts and lowest recorded minimums for the periods Dec 1st to Feb 28th/29th are:-

1998/99 - 3.28º - 33 air frosts (-8.0º)

1999/00 - 3.38º - 24 air frosts (-8.5º)

2000/01 - 2.15º - 25 air frosts (-7.8º)

2001/02 - 3.50º - 35 air frosts (-10.8º)

2002/03 - 2.61º - 35 air frosts (-8.4º)

2003/04 - 2.68º - 40 air frosts (-9.0º)

2004/05 - 3.82º - 33 air frosts (-6.4º)

The things that stand out to me were just how cold 2000/01 was compared to the others, and just how mild this winter has been. Also, despite a relatively high number of air frosts this winter, I haven't had the severe frosts of previous years.

I knew my little excel spreadsheet would come in handy, but today I get my Davis Vantage Pro 2 and data logger. Huzzah for graphs.

[johnholmes]

hi

Now that the dust has settled on our past winter, by definition, 1 December - 28 February, I have looked again at the statistics for this area.

First there is a correction for my mean winer temperature, on my first post I gave 5.5C, it should be 5.6C.

Rating this winter with my own statistics, just back to 1997, its the 6th coldest, or put the other way, its the 4th mildest since 1997.

With a value of 5.6C I then looked at all the other winters, in this area, for which I have data, Finningley records go back(for a full winter) to 1943. In the years from 1943 to 1995, there were 9 winters with a mean of 5.0C or higher.

1994/5 = 5.4C

1989/90 = 6.1C

1988/9 = 6.5C

1974/5 = 6.0C

1973/4 = 5.2C

1966/7 = 5.2C

1956/7 = 5.3C

1949/50 = 5.0C

1948/9 = 5.5C

A total of 9 winters in a period of 50 odd years.

In my own records over 9 winters there have been 7 with a mean of 5.0C or higher.

And, yes, before someone says but its two different sites, even though they are only 3-4 miles apart. When I set up my site I had already run comparison temperatures for about 2.5 years of my garden temperatures with the Finningley max/min values over the same period, and found them USUALLY within 0.3C of the Finningley values.

So, in this area, there would seem substantial evidence to show that winters are milder now than during the latter half of the last century! Now as to why that is, I will refrain from making any comment.

Any comments please?

regards

John

[MP-R]

Yatton, Bristol

NOVEMBER

After a very wet start to the month with severe thunderstorms and torrential rain it was very dry and rather cloudy. There was a spell of snow on the 19th and 20th.

DECEMBER

The start of the month was very cold with snow showers. It was then another quite cloudy adn dry month. There were a few wet days and Christmas Eve was the wettest with a thunderstorm dropping 22mm of rain in just 4 hours. It snowed on Christmas then was cold and generally dry until the end.

JANUARY

In total there were three days with thunder - overnight 7th/8th, Sun 9th and Wed 12th. The first half of the month was very wet at times but the second half was much colder with significant snowfall on the 22nd. The closing days were dry and very mild for the time of year.

FEBRUARY

This February was the 3rd February in a row with below-average rainfall with only 38.5mm registered. It was a very mild start before becoming damp and wet in the second week. The half term week was cold with frosts and the last week it snowed every day with a minimum of -12C.

Winter also crept into the beginning of March bringing thundery and wintry showers on the 4th and 5th. So this has been one of the driest winters for a long, long time.

[[email protected]]

Chelmsford (Essex) Weather Statistics for Winter 2004 / 05

December 2004

Daytime Av Temp - 6.8 C

Nightime Av Temp - 2.3C

General Synopsis - A generally dull month with intermittent spells of sunny weather and cold snaps, especially around Christmas. Despite Metcheck prediction of 80% chance of snow in Essex, we missed a single flake on the day it was just 2C! It would be another month before snow fell here...

January 2005

Daytime Av Temp - 7.9C

Nightime Av Temp - 3.4C

General Synopsis - A very stormy beginning to the New Year with two major Low Pressure storm systems smashing 103mph recorded gusts into Scotland, N Ireland and parts of N England with relatively mild temperatures. Conditions cooled and calmed down towards the latter half of the month with the first snow of 2005 recorded in Essex on the night of the 23rd and into the 24th January.

February 2005

Daytime Av Temp - 6.5C

Nightime Av Temp - 1.7C

General Synopsis - A dull, mild and damp start to the month gave way to NE'ly winds and snow showers across most of the country by the last third of the month. With snow recorded on 19th and then from 21st - 28th February, the cold spell lasted until 11th March by which time temperatures finally crept into double figures. Despite the cold spell, only 1 inch of snow persisted at any one time as snow usually melted during the day time as temperatures ranged from 2C - 5C.

Regards,

Snowy