Cold Spell The Sum Up

[Thunder Snow]

The Cold Spell, The Great Sum Up

And now there end is near...................................

Well apart from a few wintry showers today and some possible heavy snow for Northern areas, this cold spell is nearly over. Although it has been abit of a dissapointing end here, the start and the middle were really good.

I got my first dumping around the start of the Spell, giving 6-8 inches of snow in places, and it was an even bigger suprise as it was not forecast. Although to tell you the truth ive really enjoy this cold snap, as its produced abit of everything rain/sleet/ heavy snow in a number of areas. We have even had some bright crisp frosty days to.

To be honest all i have come to expect from winter is 1 decent snowfall, and if i get that im happy.

So to sum up ive really enjoyed this cold spell, what were your thoughts on it.

On another note i think the BBC and the Metoffice, should hang there heads in shame, as some of there forecast through-out this period have been very poor.

So heres hoping that winter will go out with a bang towards the end of the month and into March.

Edited February 11, 2009 by Thunder Snow

[Timmytour]

I was just about to set up a thread bigging up the weekend of 21/22 Feb as the next potential big snow event....when I saw your thread and thought I'd tag it on here instead.

IMO it would take a bit of moving from the models for this to happen, but not much. This could renew the thrill all over again!

Any thoughts?

[Thunder Snow]

Lmao well it looks like milder weather will take over (average), but there is the potential for this it to happen again. Although you have to take note, the modles keep flickering between idea. Another factor is the sun is also getting that bit stronger now, so it would be best for any snow to fall in the evening and overnight.

What are other people's thoughts.

TS

[Coast]

And now there end is near...................................

Never say never......

I won't consider the possibilities over until the end of April and by then I'll be looking forward to one of the best Summers we've had since 1976 (well we weren't expecting the Winter of 2009 last Summer, look what we got! )

Mother nature owes us another one!

[PB22]

Nothing out of the ordinary for us here in Suffolk. A little snow on the Sunday afternoon, gave around 1cm. That was gone the next day and then its just been cold with some sharp frosts at night and lots and lots of rain. I've had better cold snaps in recent years!

[Essan]

Well considering I had better snowfall in April last year, I'm not assessing this winter until May

[Coast]

On another note i think the BBC and the Metoffice, should hang there heads in shame, as some of there forecast through-out this period have been very poor.

[Paul Sherman]

I was just about to set up a thread bigging up the weekend of 21/22 Feb as the next potential big snow event....when I saw your thread and thought I'd tag it on here instead.

IMO it would take a bit of moving from the models for this to happen, but not much. This could renew the thrill all over again!

Any thoughts?

Absolutely Nailed On

I will be in Cork that Weekend so expect Big Drifts, The only other Time I went to S Ireland was a few years ago on the same day that the SE Got an absolute Monster of an MCS (The Only one that Year) I remember phoning my wife and hearing the loud discharges of peeling Thunder from Close Bolts And could hardly hear her, whilst we in Dublin were treated to 18c and Cloudy skies

Stock up on those Mince Pies as Mr Farkin would say

Paul S

[stewfox]

Its not over yet +3c today and its trying to snow in North Oxfordshire

Given the extensive snow fields that are left why not wait till its over ??

[Drew]

Couldn't find the pictures topic of the other days so here are my snowy scenes uploaded onto flikr..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35284223@N08/

Pretty much summarises my cold spell.....

Edited February 11, 2009 by Drew

[Bolton67]

Seen more snow in 1 week than i have seen in the whole 13 years i have been down here.

16-18 inches over 6 days

Northamptonians will not be moaning. (including this exiled lancastrian)

[Hot*Snow]

Here in my location I would say winter has been pretty average overall. The recent cold snap has'nt been too exciting either although my forecasts were pretty much spot on for my local area which I was proud of:

01/02/09: Light/moderate snow showers on Sunday evening/overnight brought a covering of 1cm which had largely cleared by midday Monday.

08/02/09: Light/moderate snow showers on Sunday evening.overnight brought a partial dusting which had gone by Monday morning.

Neither of these I would class as significant snow events, because they are'nt. It has been almost a decade since significant snowfall (ie/2 inches+) affected my area, and alot of paces nearby.

Nevertheless seeing the rest of the country in snow was great along with the model watching, nowcasting and dicussions have been interesting and great fun.

Hot*Snow

Edited February 11, 2009 by Hot*Snow

[trickydicky]

I'd say this recent cold snap has been very notable for the Midlands and South in gerneral, the Pennine regions and the Scottish Highlands. -18 in Aviemore is notable, 10 days and counting of laying snow in the Pennines is notable, heavy snow in and around London is notable and a whole day + worth of blizzards in the south west is notable. But in northern lowland and coastal regions, such as Lancashire and East Yorkshire it has been a real let down. Here in sort of central Lancashire we have had two very light periods of snow, both on a sunday night, both marginal and both melting quickly. Its hung around on the fells a bit better but it always does. Also its been generally too cloudy and/or too windy to have any severe frosts and ice days etc. All in all for my neck of the woods its been a mare having to watch all you gits snowed in on the news, for us the cold spell in Dec/Jan was better. 

Edited February 11, 2009 by trickydicky

[Hot*Snow]

I'd say this recent cold snap has been very notable for the Midlands and South in gerneral, the Pennine regions and the Scottish Highlands. -18 in Aviemore is notable, 10 days and counting of laying snow in the Pennines is notable, heavy snow in and around London is notable and a whole day + worth of blizzards in the south west is notable. But in northern lowland and coastal regions, such as Lancashire and East Yorkshire it has been a real let down. Here in sort of central Lancashire we have had two very light periods of snow, both on a sunday night, both marginal and both melting quickly. Its hung around on the fells a bit better but it always does. Also its been generally too cloudy and/or too windy to have any severe frosts and ice days etc. All in all for my neck of the woods its been a mare having to watch all you gits snowed in on the news, for us the cold spell in Dec/Jan was better.

Those two drab days of snowfall you were referring too must have been the same ones got, both on Sundays, minimal accumulations and melting quickly. Yeah must have been.

[ademlc69]

Thought id join this forum just to get my pennies worth in and to sum up this winter so far (i dont think its over just yet) it has been memorable for a number of reasons

Firstly i cant remember EVER seeing dry powdery snow right down here near the south coast it just never happens and i have lived in Southampton since 1981 but last Sunday was the exception i was driving at the time it started to snow and could not believe it when i saw the outside temp was reading -3.9!! i know its common over in places like Russia but down here on the south coast not a chance.

Secondly when ever we do get the snow which is nit often it usually lasts a day if that and then it turns mild and thats it but this time snow was laying on top of previous snow all across the south but not just for a day but over a week,i was quite amazed last Saturday when i had to drive down to Shaftsbury and on the way back i got up on top of zig zag hill and it was a complete whiteout it was scary not being able to see the road for the simple fact if you go over the edge its about a 300ft drop i was lucky enough to be in a 4x4 but that didnt stop me from getting stuck in a 3ft snow drift and finally i think just about every part of the country has seen snow this year not just a dusting but a good couple of feet in places i also drove through swindon which seems to have been the best placed for the snow which has lasted there for over a week.

All this is a good enough reason why this winters snow will stick in my mind for a long time to come,but if you remember it was either the start of march 2005 or 2006 it snowed every day until the middle of march ok it was only showers but it ended with the south east getting a dumping of a couple of feet so who knows might happen again.

[NW Leeds Russ]

Pretty astonishing cold spell in my opinion.

Can't remember the last time snow was on ground for 10 consecutive days..? and still plenty left now.

Also notable snow on ground for 7days first wk in Dec 08 so remarkable winter so far compared to recent.

[03jtrickey]

Remarkable snowfall for Cheltenham. At least four snowfalls of 2cm or more, with the largest fall being about 3-4 inches. Very deep snow on the hills surrounding town, however the snow was fairly quick to melt meaning we didn't get the high accumulations there were up there. I think the cold spell is more notable for frequency than for depth of snow, although I have only ever seen snow 2-3 inches deep before in Cheltenham. 1991 delivered about a foot though, so there is still some way to go to match that depth!

Bring on the spring...

[MP-R]

Well today qualifies as the end of this cold spell here as the temperature soared to a tropical 8.2C in sunshine with light winds - more like April having weather like this with snow still on the ground.

I would say al though we have not had the most snow here in the south of Bristol, it has been a fabulous cold spell. Obviously being five at the time I had no interest in the weather in 1995, 1996 or 1997 and so didn't take any records so I don't know what the snow was like but the most snow has fallen here over the last week in my living memory anyway. Nearly two feet of snow on the Mendips is quite commendable.

The sheer frequency of snow has been amazing too with frontal snow on three occasions and snow showers on one day have meant the cold spell has been varied instead of just dull and cold everyday.

All in all, an excellent cold spell here which is very welcome to repeat itself again before the end of March. Just think how warm it was this time last year!

[Geordiesnow]

If i had to sum up this cold spell, one of frustration i have too say, not alot of snow occured here but the constant low maximums is certainly something to keep a note of.

On a wider outlook, this cold spell has certainly been one of the best for a long time, worst snow for 18 years in parts of London, SW England seeing quite a bit of snow and the very low tempertures in Scotland a few nights ago should also be noted. So whilst its been a rather ordinary cold spell on a regional pov, on a national pov, its sort of bring back the years for some.

[Gray-Wolf]

Well we've had our fair share but now I'm wanting my sons birthday to be blessed the way his 3rd birthday was (70f in Chester Zoo on March 18th)

Luckily we share the same birthday so we can both have a 'slack day' and breathe in the warmth (seeing as he's in South Island N.Z. at present he may not agree!!!).

[nej1965]

This has been the longest spell of snow that I remember - ever!! 1991 had a lot of snow but it all fell at once and lasted ages ( I remember it well, I was in plaster and housebound for a couple of weeks!), I can't remember snow on snow on snow and it isn't melting very quickly. This week has had the scariest driving conditions I have ever experienced. Why couldn't it have snowed next week when the kids are off, then there wouldn't have been as much moaning about why schools had to shut!!!! I dread to think how bad the roads would have been during rush hour if the school run had tried to carry on as normal..?

[noggin]

Well, it's been a corker here. We've had 4 heavy snowfalls, giving a total of 8", 10 days' lying snow and there are still little piles lying around.

It has been absolutely wonderful and I took some lovely pictures. Within the constraints of my irregular working hours, I extracted every possible moment of pleasure and enjoyment from it!

I was just about to set up a thread bigging up the weekend of 21/22 Feb as the next potential big snow event....when I saw your thread and thought I'd tag it on here instead.

IMO it would take a bit of moving from the models for this to happen, but not much. This could renew the thrill all over again!

Any thoughts?

21/22 Feb, eh? Yes, please...that's my birthday! The 21st....not both days, of course! What a birthday it would be if it snowed.

Edited February 11, 2009 by noggin

[Nick L]

Cold spell? Over? Let me just look out my window...nope! It's snowing here! The cold spell lives on

[Mammatus]

Nothing exceptional down here in Suffolk, infact almost very disappointing with regards to snowfall.

Had much better falls over recent years if I was to be really honest. Personally IMHO this in no way compares to 1991 and beyond. They really were the days when we had to dig our way out the front door with a serving spoon

Here's hoping for the Azores High to ridge in over the coming few weeks and bring some warm and sunny weather as we approach mid-March 17 -20C

Seasons

[snowmackem]

To me, from a IMBY p.o.v., this winter has not been special at all. OK, low temps generally and lots of promise but coming to nowt! I have been living in the North East since 2000 and most winters, believe it or not have seen more snowy weather down South than up here. So much for the North East being the snow capital of England, if all the snow that has fallen on my garden since October fell again tonight in one period, it would not total more than about 12cm ! Serious, it's been that good.

Granted a lot of people have had a fantastic winter but don't start going on about having had 20cm of snow and how it's the snowiest it's been down South for 20 years, cos believe me, that would be the snowiest it's been up here for at least 9 !

Anyway, it's not over yet is it, it will be our turn next, with 40 cm level across Tyne and Wear, transport chaos, two-week snowmen etc etc. Can I dream ? Of course I can.

Karl