Warmest and coldest November?

[Potent Gust]

Hi guys

When did the warmest and coldest Novembers occur?

[Nick H]

Hi guys

When did the warmest and coldest Novembers occur?

Since 1659,

Warmest 1994 (10.1C)

Coldest 1915 (2.8C)

[Ross B]

Moving this one

[Potent Gust]

Since 1659,

Warmest 1994 (10.1C)

Coldest 1915 (2.8C)

My God 10.1C. Funny I don't seem to remember it but it was only 13 years ago!

Thanks for that

[Optimus Prime]

Since 1659,

Warmest 1994 (10.1C)

Coldest 1915 (2.8C)

Not quite. Coldest was way back in 1782 at 2.3c.

[Potent Gust]

Not quite. Coldest was way back in 1782 at 2.3c.

Where do you get these records from OP?

[Nick H]

Not quite. Coldest was way back in 1782 at 2.3c.

Thanks OP.

[osmposm]

Where do you get these records from OP?

You can find them here, PG: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/hadle.../HadCET_act.txt

[Ledbury Lad]

You can find them here, PG: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/hadle.../HadCET_act.txt

The two Novembers I personally well remember for cold spells, even without looking back at my own reports and observations, were both in the 1960s - right in the middle of the "Mini Ice Age" (c.1940 - 1970).

The first one was November 1962, which came as a real foretaste of the extremely severe three months' winter that was to start little more than 4 weeks later. Of course, none of us was aware at the time what was just around the corner so to speak! As with all the real classical severe winters of the past it came right from the east, under the exact conditons and synoptic situation which more or less guaranteed a reasonably lengthy spell of very cold weather - an area of very high pressure moving WESTWARDS out of Northern Russia to become centred over northern Scandinavia. Northern Europe had been intensely cold for some time, and this cold blast from the Continent came in on very cold easterly winds towards Britain around the 9th, and that Remembrance Weekend saw many people shivering at the parades in biting easterly winds. The cold persisted and the weekend after that - 16th/18th November saw the heavy snowfalls which badly disrupted traffic from the north of Scotland all the way down to Cornwall (people were trapped in their cars on Bodmin Moor). Many areas saw their heaviest November snowfalls for many years. The cold finally relented around the 20th.

The infamous winter proper that year commenced in exactly the same way just before Christmas 1962, but the conditions of snow and ice were, of course, much more severe and lasted very much longer than those of November. The snows and frosts and icebound conditions we had all grown so weary of that winter finally melted in the strengthening power of the March sunshine and the long forgotten Atlantic winds replacing the Siberian variety.

The other November - in 1965 - again saw a similar bitterly cold spell, again coming in right from the east under very similar conditions - an anticyclone moving westwards out of Russia. This was mid November and for several days temperatures failed ro rise above feezing day or night in many areas, especially in southern and eastern areas as well as most of the Midlands. My own records mention a lot of icing, and ice forming on power cables brought widespread power cuts. Snow was far less prominent than the very cold spell three years earlier which I mention, but snow showers did affect many areas, even as far south as the south coast of England. As road traffic was very much lighter than it is now, with far fewer vehicles on the roads and with local authorities routinely prepared for snow and ice in winter as a matter of course, I don't think traffic was disrupted to any degree, certainly nothing like the conditions of 1962/63, with even fewer vehicles at that time.

The most crucial feature in both of these Novembers, I think, was the synoptic situation - the most significant being the westward movement of high pressure from European Russia towards Scandinavia. Always a sign of real wintry weather at that time of the year onwards through the winter. Every single severe winter in Britain we see mentioned in all the record books saw this scenario at the onset of the very cold and prolonged spells - Continental Arctic or Continental Polar, the coldest air masses to reach these islands.

It's very debatable whether such situations will occur again with any regularity as they once did - or if ever they will again.

As for November warmth - well, I think that this has now become more of a feature of more recent Novembers, but even so some extraordinary high November temperatures actually occurred in Novembers preceding very severe winters - one such was the very warm spell in early November 1946, when temperatures reach 21C in some areas. WE all know what followed later on that winter.

The same thing happened in November 1938, when many areas basked in temperatures reaching 21C, this being followed by the intense cold and severe snowstorms of Christmas 1938 which, again, came in on very cold easterly winds straight off an icy Continent following, yet again, a westwards movement of high pressure out of Russia. The strength of the easterly winds accompanied by temperatures well below freezing on that occasion saw some of the highest windchill factors of the entire 20th century. Christmas 1961 very nearly came close to it for very high windchills, again under the same synoptic conditions. I shall never forget the bitterly cold wind cutting through me like knife through butter as I came out of my office at around 1300hrs on Saturday 23 December 1961. The Saturday after that 29/30 December 1961 a blizzard deposited over a foot of snow on us.

Edited November 8, 2007 by Ledbury Lad

[Michael Fishermans Friend]

1985 I remember was pretty cold, particularly the second half with wet snow and sleet at times, especially in the north. I think the average temp here in the south east was 4.75c for the month, 1988 too was pretty chilly, and then the infamous cold November spell of 1993!

[Nick F]

A record low for November was recorded in the early morning of the 14th in 1919: -23.3C at Braemar in the Grampians. -21.7C was recorded at Perth and -21.1C at Balmoral.

November that year was very cold (3.3C CET)- though not the coldest. Very heavy snow affected Scotland cutting some areas off, there was 17 inches of snow at Balmoral - even 8 inches on the streets of Edinburgh. Quite exceptional for mid-November! The following winter was mild though.

[nasher]

A record low for November was recorded in the early morning of the 14th in 1919: -23.3C at Braemar in the Grampians. -21.7C was recorded at Perth and -21.1C at Balmoral.

November that year was very cold (3.3C CET)- though not the coldest. Very heavy snow affected Scotland cutting some areas off, there was 17 inches of snow at Balmoral - even 8 inches on the streets of Edinburgh. Quite exceptional for mid-November! The following winter was mild though.

Hi nick,

Very impressive temps and snow depths for november,got to say its been chilly for a few days now here on the south coast,normally on todays standards,its wet and windy and mild,it appears to be changeing over the last few months and getting cooler,is it due the melting of the ice caps?or is it due to the cycle.

[Potent Gust]

You can find them here, PG: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/hadle.../HadCET_act.txt

Thanks for that!