The Recent Cold Spell Compared To Other Cold Spells

[Snowyowl9]

The spell in 1996-97 had 8 ice days, 4 of which were consecutive, and there was 10cm of snow on new years eve which then gave a continuous cover until the end of the spell, this definitely gave the impression of a more wintry spell than this most recent one and was longer into the bargain.

However, compared to the really cold winters the one just gone pales into insignificance. 1985 saw 10 ice days in January and another 9 in February with two 5 day spells of consecutive ice days in each.

January 1987 had 12 ice days including a consecutive spell from the 9th-19th and best of all was 1986 which had 3 ice days in January and 26 in February, including 22 consecutive days from the 2nd-23rd; this last was also accompanied by a continuous snow cover of between 22 and 32 cm in depth.

Very interesting especially 1985/86 this one gave 4 ice days while 1996/97 gave 5 or 6.

How many did you get during this one?

[damianslaw]

Quite similar to the spell in December/January 96/97 - similar time similar duration, but that spell was more severe here in the south east with colder temps by day and more snowfall. This cold spell has come as a shock simply for it's duration (near on 2 weeks) with the coldest night temps after the new year. Here in Burnham on Crouch we experienced our first 'Ice day' since the forementioned cold spell in January 1997 with a max on Saturday of only -0.4C whilst the coldest night being -5.1C. We were relatively lucky to see any snowfall with a max depth of over 1cm (wow) on the 5th compared to nearl on 3 inches in 1997. A 'Big Freeze' maybe not but in these 'even larger teapot' times maybe so. Compared to severe cold spells/snaps such as the spells in 95/96, February 91, Jan 87 (the biggy), Feb 86, Jan/Feb 85, Dec/Jan 81/82, Winter of discontent 79, Feb 78 it simply does not compare but lets hope we might get more from round 2 or will there not be another round as per the winter of 1996/97 when after was largely mild.

I echo your eact thoughts there, yes it has been a notable cold spell when considering the past decade or so, however,on account of lack of snow it doesn't quite compare to Dec96/Jan 97. For us in Cumbria it wasn't that special we only recorded a couple of ice days, too much pesky cloud about on many nights so we never saw any real low temperatures apart from on the 5th. In this respect it was much more of a midlands/S england event where nightime minima was consistently low,however, no temperature records were broken and the lowet reading of -13 in Aviemore nothing to write home about even -10 in england not that special I think. Still it was great timing just after christmas allowing those who had the time and got out and about some memorable days of excellent outdoor weather alebit without the lovely snowy scenes to boot.

[mcweather]

I would have to concur with both Timmy H and Damianslaw here the recent cold despite producing the coldest temp my 17 years here at Winfrith and the coldest temp at Hurn airport since January 1963.It Was merely good compared to the mild mush of the post 88 era it certainly does not bear comparison 78,79 81,82 85,86or87 in terms of cold maximas, or longevity of exceptional minima ,most certainly not in terms of snowfall nor in terms of being a nationwide event for long periods.

Nevertheless it was fantastic to actually have some real cold at a time of year when it should be here.

[Terminal Moraine]

Very interesting especially 1985/86 this one gave 4 ice days while 1996/97 gave 5 or 6.

How many did you get during this one?

4 ice days in the spell just gone.

[trickydicky]

I echo your eact thoughts there, yes it has been a notable cold spell when considering the past decade or so, however,on account of lack of snow it doesn't quite compare to Dec96/Jan 97. For us in Cumbria it wasn't that special we only recorded a couple of ice days, too much pesky cloud about on many nights so we never saw any real low temperatures apart from on the 5th. In this respect it was much more of a midlands/S england event where nightime minima was consistently low,however, no temperature records were broken and the lowet reading of -13 in Aviemore nothing to write home about even -10 in england not that special I think. Still it was great timing just after christmas allowing those who had the time and got out and about some memorable days of excellent outdoor weather alebit without the lovely snowy scenes to boot.

I think the cloud in Cumbria was largely an Eastern phenomenon. My parents live in the Western half of Cumbria (where I was over the festivities) and from Christmas eve onwards just about the sunshine was uninterupted and frosts were very hard, particularly in the run up to and over New Years.

This has definitly been the longest and coldest spell since I moved to the Preston area in 2002, by a long way in both catergories, although I have no way of proving it. Other than that there seemed nothing overly special about it, it reminded me of several similar spells that I can remember from growing up in the 90's in West Cumbria where we often had an uncanny knack of missing out on snow but got a lot of frosts.

PS. I wish I could remember Feb 86 - 26 Ice days in a 28 day month, marvellous.

Edited January 13, 2009 by trickydicky

[Snowyowl9]

4 ice days in the spell just gone.

Thanks looking again 1996/97 probably would of given nearer 7c,the only reason is that when my other reading reads -2c or below then anything just above that it starts thawing,I check the roof for first signs in the shade,cloudcover seems to be worse it varies.

[ukmoose]

Fascinating to read those stats TM. Well put together indeed.

I am trying to tie them in with my ever-fading memory and it just goes to show how we can mislead ourselves sometimes with false memories. I am guilty of that more than most probably but your figures do seem to confirm my thinking that night time minima are higher than they used to be.