Best time of year for cold synoptics - when?

[I remember Atlantic 252]

We have just 2 years ago which look even better charts except there was no extreme cold over russia during this spell.

Had quite a number of snow showers later this day which became more frequent but just gave a dusting at max temps of 2.3c.

First time I saw that chart from feb 1979 was last autumn when Steve Murr posted it.

i remember that snow had a lot from 21-24th but damn the time of year lots of partial thaws, need thise setups nowadays in december but so unlikely

i also had snow on 23-24th feb 06 but didnt last long

[Roger J Smith]

I did find one day in the daily CET with a mean below -10 C, that being 20 Jan 1838 at -11.9 C.

[Jonnie G]

I did find one day in the daily CET with a mean below -10 C, that being 20 Jan 1838 at -11.9 C.

I've just been through the daily CET data, and the lowest daily figures are:

-11.9 20/01/1838

-10.8 25/12/1796

-9.3 04/01/1867

-9.2 08/01/1841

-8.9 10/01/1823 and 25/01/1795

-8.8 09/02/1816

I guess this pretty much answers the question of best time of year for cold synoptics. It's from aorund Christmas day until the second week of February.

The most recent low one was -8.5 on 12/12/1981.

Edited September 23, 2007 by Jonnie G

[Thundery wintry showers]

The trouble is a lot of northerlies tend to bring just cold and clear skies inland with any snow showers tending around coasts that are exposed to the wind during the high winter months.

You are more likely to see snow inland during March and April northerlies when showers can be generated. Only if its a vigorous northerly with troughs and polar lows are you likely to see snow inland during the high winter months.

Yes, quite right. I personally think that a lot depends on how long the northerly sustains for- upwards of 48 hours and we usually get some troughs somewhere along the line, but a 36-48 hour toppler tends only to deliver to the favoured areas.

I remember 1998/99 as a winter where snow events came almost exclusively from such northerlies, and this was reflected in the snow cover stats- most favoured northern and eastern coastal areas had upwards of 10 days of snow cover, while most other lowland areas had a few days at the most. Actually, being down in Norwich this year, I'll probably get every bit as excited over these transitionary northerlies as I used to in Tyne & Wear (Norfolk being right in the firing line), but for the sake of the snow lovers on this forum in general, I'm hoping we get snow events from other sources also this winter!

I think returning north-westerlies are more reliable for general shower activity but often aren't cold enough, while easterlies are great for widespread snowfalls when the airmass is unstable, but when it's a stable airmass, dry and cloudy tends to be the result.

[JOHN.MAC]

the best time is at weekends so i can take the kids sledging haha!