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Wintertime easterlies


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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

In that case, you might be thinking of 24th March 1986, as there was a snowstorm in places from a NW'ly that day.

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Posted
  • Location: Benfleet ,Essex
  • Location: Benfleet ,Essex

Can someone have a look at early marh 1988 it was the yr i had my eldest son and i was worried about the snow we had had he was born on 14th march and i think we had had snow that week and before

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Posted
  • Location: Dundee - 140m ASL
  • Location: Dundee - 140m ASL

I think that the Easterly that occurred in January 1987 was the coldest one for at least 60 years...

Just looking at this chart makes my eyes water, it must have been mindnumblingly cold...

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/19...00219870112.gif :blink: (I think this is the coldest chart that exists for the UK that is in the wetterzentrale archives dating back to 1948)

There must have been a lot of snow in Eastern areas. (Pity I wasn't in Dundee at the time).

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/19...00119870112.gif

I was only 7 at the time and was living in N. Ireland so I was too young to remember.

Imagine if we got a a few charts like those at +96 hours this winter.... :blink:

Edited by Sawel
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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

I was with my parents in Barrow-in-Furness in January 1987. The area of NW Lancs and SW Cumbria was one of the least affected, with only a slight dusting reported at Hazelrigg (Lancaster University) although it did stick around for a week. Being just two and a half years old, I don't remember it.

Most of the rest of my immediate family were living in the South Shields area, where they reported being almost snowed in!

Interestingly, my first memory of snow occurred shortly before I moved house in May 1991 (and I was living in South Shields at the time of the snow). I have more than a suspicion that it was associated with a certain other easterly spell earlier that year that people often mention for its severe cold, and production of widespread snowfalls.

Edited by Thundery wintry showers
quoted location I was in
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Posted
  • Location: Nuneaton,Warks. 128m asl
  • Weather Preferences: Snow then clear and frosty.
  • Location: Nuneaton,Warks. 128m asl
I agree that both Siberian/Scandi High pressure and Greenland HP are required for any cold spell to be sustained. If an easterly starts off a cold spell it will run out of stream unless high pressure can retrogress to Iceland/Greenland and allow pressure to fall over Scandi and pull down a trough with more arctic air behind it to keep the cold spell going. Steve Murr's winter ode has the classic 62/63 winter which is arguably the best example of this process continuing for weeks on end!

What we could do with for something like that again (pink flying pig smilie!)

Tamara

Yes brings back memories.I was in High School then Tamara and Snow lay for 66 days here.We could arrange sledging sessions every evening after school without fail.We just took it for granted that the snow would be there.

That was when I first kept a daily weather log having had my interest sparked by the exceptional conditions which started just after Christmas.

I would settle for just a week or 2 of that this winter,if only just to give the youngsters an idea the pleasure and fun that can be had from crisp snow.At least it may drag them away from their playstations. :unsure: :blink:

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Posted
  • Location: Reading
  • Location: Reading

Yes, I remember January 1987 well - I was in my early 20s and living in Southampton, where I ended up staying until 2002. IIRC Jan 12 was the coldest day of the 20th century in Southampton (max around -5) followed by the coldest night (think it was around -11). I remember the kitchen sink in my bedsit freezing over, giving up trying to get warm, putting on 2 jackets and scarves and going down the hill to the pub, where a small band of us huddled together in the warmest corner and recounted our various stories of frozen sinks and sanitaryware <_<

Edited by Stargazer
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Posted
  • Location: Dundee - 140m ASL
  • Location: Dundee - 140m ASL

Hi TWS and stargazer.

on Trevor Harleys site at http://www.personal.dundee.ac.uk/~taharley..._in_january.htm Between the 7th of January and 20th of January, only one day recorded an above freezing temperature at Gatwick. (that reading was 1C with the other 12 days ranging from 0c to -7.

in South London a temperature of -9.1C was recorded, "probably equalling or lower than the previous lowest minimum in London (see 1841 and 1867)."

50cms of snow fell in Cornwall and 45cms in some Eastern parts.

The 12th of January saw many places receive their coldest day of the century.

If only we could get a cold spell like that now! <_<

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Posted
  • Location: Head in the clouds somewhere near Avondale, West Auckland
  • Weather Preferences: Storm-force northeasterly(with a high tide!).Blizzards.Sunny summer
  • Location: Head in the clouds somewhere near Avondale, West Auckland
Hi TWS and stargazer.

on Trevor Harleys site at http://www.personal.dundee.ac.uk/~taharley..._in_january.htm Between the 7th of January and 20th of January, only one day recorded an above freezing temperature at Gatwick. (that reading was 1C with the other 12 days ranging from 0c to -7.

in South London a temperature of -9.1C was recorded, "probably equalling or lower than the previous lowest minimum in London (see 1841 and 1867)."

50cms of snow fell in Cornwall and 45cms in some Eastern parts.

The 12th of January saw many places receive their coldest day of the century.

If only we could get a cold spell like that now! <_<

I dont know the details, but I remember this: January 12/13th was the first 24 hour period since records began that not one weather observation site in the whole island of Ireland recorded a temperature above 0 degrees. I was very lucky to have got off school (4 miles from home) early because our PE was cancelled.

There had been hail & snow showers during the day, but in mid-afternoon the showers became heavier & merged into a long spell of heavy snow, which stuck on even the busiest roads, even at sea-level & right down to the coast (where the school was). This was VERY rare for the middle of the day, with an east wind, which is only just off the sea on the coast here.

My bus just about made it back to where I live, and then I was able to spend the rest of the day just watching the blizzard. Every other class had to walk home from school.

That night a trough of low pressure moved up from Biscay and produced a real blizzard with gale-force SE winds

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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

I'm guessing from the data that 11-13 January 1987 started off as a "2b" on my classification, but soon reverted to an emphatic "2c". However, it looks as if the 14th-15th saw a change to a category 1c and then 1b, judging by the fact that a dull spell started then. This would be consistent with the dissipation of the upper level cold pool and decreased instability.

That's the nature of easterly types- you can't even guarantee that the weather will remain consistent throughout an easterly spell. I remember Stratos Ferric remarking upon dry cloudy weather and stratocumulus layers in February 1978, a spell which probably commenced following the heavy prolonged snow showers that hit north-east England around the 11th.

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Posted
  • Location: Caterham-on-the-hill, Surrey, 190m asl (home), Heathrow (work)
  • Location: Caterham-on-the-hill, Surrey, 190m asl (home), Heathrow (work)

One thing I remember towards the end of the Jan 1987 Easterly spell in Kent was quite foggy and grey conditions as the milder air slowly encrouched from the SW with a slow thaw. This was in stark contrast to the the coldest and snowiest part of the spell which was characterised by either white-out conditions in the heavy snow showers or brilliant sunshine in between but not for long before the next shower arrived driven on by with a strong bitterly cold wind. The end of the cold spells in the mid 80s I often remember being characterised by a slow rise in temps and a slow thaw with fog as the milder air condensed over the colder air over the snow.

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Posted
  • Location: Reading
  • Location: Reading

I remember that Jan 12 1987 was cloudy and dry (and of course very cold) in Southampton and the snow arrived on Jan 13 and took several days to clear completely. Daytime maxima were close to freezing point for several days from Jan 13 onwards.

Have also just taken a look at Trevor Harley's site, which backs up Mr D's reckoning that the unusual snowstorm across the south was on March 19 1987:

"Heavy snow in central regions on the 6-7th. Drifts several feet deep reported in Staffs. There was another heavy snowfall on the 19th over the south: 30 cm on Salisbury Plain."

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Posted
  • Location: Nuneaton,Warks. 128m asl
  • Weather Preferences: Snow then clear and frosty.
  • Location: Nuneaton,Warks. 128m asl


One thing I remember towards the end of the Jan 1987 Easterly spell in Kent was quite foggy and grey conditions as the milder air slowly encrouched from the SW with a slow thaw. This was in stark contrast to the the coldest and snowiest part of the spell which was characterised by either white-out conditions in the heavy snow showers or brilliant sunshine in between but not for long before the next shower arrived driven on by with a strong bitterly cold wind. The end of the cold spells in the mid 80s I often remember being charcterised by a slow rise in temps and a slow thaw with fog as the milder air condensed over the colder air over the snow.

Hi Nick,

In contrast the end of the big freeze in 1963 ,early March was very gradual.We had a few sunny days on a gentle South Easterly with frosty nights.The daytime max`s increased a little day by day before the High declined to our East and the Atlantic fronts brought rain and South Westerly`s by about 4/5th March.By this time the Snow had all but gone.

The first time the Atlantic had `won `the battle since December 1962!

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Posted
  • Location: Caterham-on-the-hill, Surrey, 190m asl (home), Heathrow (work)
  • Location: Caterham-on-the-hill, Surrey, 190m asl (home), Heathrow (work)

Hi Nick,

In contrast the end of the big freeze in 1963 ,early March was very gradual.We had a few sunny days on a gentle South Easterly with frosty nights.The daytime max`s increased a little day by day before the High declined to our East and the Atlantic fronts brought rain and South Westerly`s by about 4/5th March.By this time the Snow had all but gone.

The first time the Atlantic had `won `the battle since December 1962!

Wish I was around then mate, though must have been a relief - with people dancing in the streets, when the big freeze of 1962-3 finally came to an end.

I'm sure there were many in Jan 1987, such as British Rail (back then) in the SE/E, who were glad to see the back of that particular cold and very snowy spell.

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Posted
  • Location: Hanley, Stoke-on-trent
  • Location: Hanley, Stoke-on-trent

From my experience (which sadly goes back to the 60's), most good easterlys tended to come from very mild situations & usually wet too. Looking back I always seem to remember fronts piling into the North sea & then being forced back westwards by a strong push of pressure from the east.

Returning fronts were usually quite weak but sometimes had a bit of wintry stuff on them, especially for the East coast. Then you could feel the change in the air source & there was a different smell to the air. Ah well, getting on abit you know ;)

Dave

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Posted
  • Location: Bedfordshire/Herts border 40m asl
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, crisp, calm and sunny
  • Location: Bedfordshire/Herts border 40m asl

Definitely colder and with a sharpness in the air tonight. An altogether different smell...

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