March 1947

[Rollo]

As promised the weather log for March 1947,taken frim "Weather" magazine.

The weather continued at its most savage in march 1947,hitting particularly hard at a time of food and fuel shortages following the ravages of war.

The first half of the month continued where February left off, with gales and heavy snowstorms over much of the country, but mostly fine weather over north-west Scotland. Several inches of snow covered the ground over most of central,eastern and southern Britain and drifts of up to 16 feet were reported in the Pennines and up to 9 feet at Whipsnade on the 6th.In the seond week of the month there were reports of driftsof up to 25 feet over the Scottish Highlands. The temperature fell to -20C at scattered locations on the 4th and the 8th.

However, the sun has some power in it in March,and although this was rarely felt in this country in March 1947,with an average of less than 2 hours sunshine per day over many parts of England and Wales, much warmer air started to make its presence felt further south. The mid-day temperature at Paris on the 11th was 12C, and a thaw began in southernmost Britain. Depressions began to move further north into the British Isles, and the severe cold was pushed northwards as a result. However the rapid thaw of such deep snow,exacerbated by frequent heavy rain, led to some of the most serious and widespread inland flooding seen in these islands.Enormous damage and much loss of life resulted, with southern Britain the worst affected. To add to the suffering, there was a widespread severe gale over England and Wales on the 16th, with gusts of 85 knots at Mildenhall(Suffolk) and 81 knots at Cardington(Bedfordshire).

The weather continued very disturbed until the end of the month. After temperatures of 15c had been recorded here and there in the south on the 28th and 29th, cold northerly winds spread to most places on the 31st.

It was the wettest March of the century over England and Wales, with over three times the normal in places; less than half the normal was recorded,though,in north-west Scotland. It was the coldest March of the century over Scotland.

Edited January 24, 2008 by Rollo