Cold Spell The Sum Up

[Thundery wintry showers]

For Exeter this has been remarkable- I'm told they just had one Met Office "snow day" in the last four years (probably 25th November 2005) and this month there have been three. There was the snow event on Monday, unusually consisting of dry powdery snow, and then further wintry showers on Tuesday although most of the snow melted. Then a 2-inch event on Thursday/Friday, and there was still a smattering of snow cover about even by the end of the weekend.

This has clearly been the snowiest period in the Exeter area since at least December 2000 and probably for much longer.

I agree with the members from Tyne & Wear who say it's been disappointing up there- unusually, the Tyne & Wear coast probably had less snow than Exeter, which doesn't happen very often. Although it has been the most significant wintry spell in the area since March 2006 according to my weather records, the winters of 2000/01, 2001/02, 2002/03 and 2003/04 all produced more significant snowy incursions, as well as 2005/06.

[Guest]

Not too bad considering the run of mild winters we have had lateley, though the snow at Watford has all but gone now. They may still be some left over the tops of the Chilterns, though as others say, winter is far from over yet.

Others have also mentioned the cold blast expected for the weekend of 21/22/02.2009 - I will be in Soutthern France then - I checked out the Metcheck LR forecast for Perpignan a couple of days ago and for that weekend and a few days following, they were forecasting near freezing temperatures with snow - Unbelievable - I have just checked it again and they have now modified it to cloudy with temps of about +7C, still cold for the area - I will hae to take some armagnac to keep it at bay!

[Koyli19]

cold here? well yes, but not as deeply cold as other areas inland.

snowy here? there has been some but very short-lived, and therefore does not compare to areas hardest hit.

it has certainly been more winter-like though, and whilst there has been snowfall of short duration in recent years there has been nothing to really compare to what happened in December 1981 and January 1982 when this area was in almost total white-out, and for once the usual protection offered by SST's etc, failed.

as for the rest of february, well i prefer to see what happens :lol:

[disco-barry]

Brilliant cold spell which isn't over yet, i'm expecting snow in The Pennines overnight Thursday.

[Rob]

Its been cold, very cold at times but nothing compared to the rest of the country, we only had two inches of snow and it managed to close the schools for two days! We had some severe ice to follow and last but not least the big storm on Monday Night.

[I remember Atlantic 252]

been a great cold spell 1-9 feb 09, not exactly 80's and earlier type as my temp reached 2oC or higher most days, no true greeny high so really a typical even larger teapot cold spell but a very good one, where as feb 1991 was -3 maximum wind and snow -7 minimum and snow, no day since 1 feb with a sub zero maximum

over for me now id say 7.1oC today, although slight frost to start, im dreading the wet weekend coming up, last frost tonight for a few nights,

had a lot of snow for todays standards but pants cold spell compared to the 1900's

[scott_anthony_glasgow]

Excellent cold spell for sure, still have around about 10cm lying snow thats me had 10 days in a row of lying snow looks like a few more to come don't think the temperatures got above 2c and plently of sub zero nights brilliant :lol: Cheers

Scott

[jacksdad]

Snowing here again boring yawn temp ~ 2C.

Still ~ 2 - 3 inches cover in fiels / gardens shade

[rbw]

Hi

Here in Churchdown near Gloucester we have had six falls of snow

1/2 Feb - half inc

2/3 Feb - two inches

4/5 Feb - two inches

5/6 Feb - three inches

8 Feb - didn't settle

9/10 Feb - probably two inches

This was an amazing amount of snow BUT most of it melted during the day as it hasn't been at all cold with night time temperatures of around zero and daytime temps up to plus 4c.

I must admit to be a little disappointed by the amounts when people nearby by had much more, and it was such a pity it kept melting. Still hoping for a blizzard!!!

Richard

[Cookie]

one warmest days in ages here got up to 6oC, so I think its over here.

[Bristawl Si]

A few points to make, for me on this cold spell:

(i) In the context of the last 15 years or so of winters, it's been the best cold and snow since 1995 or 1991. The fact that we've had about 4 snowfalls in the space of a week in BTL has not been seen since the 80s.

(ii) Add into the equation the fact that it's been cold or v.cold since late Nov, with only a small number of milder interludes then in that respect it's been a good old fashioned winter. In fact even in my youth we prob had more mild weather in the same years as we had great snow events.

(iii) BUT, to have 3 or 4 snow events in a winter was not uncommon in Bristol and West Country in a 100 year context, for example ......and NOT unusual in the context of my lifetime (47 years so far).

(iv) BUT i still maintain that this winter, and more specifically this last week or so, does not compare to the series of winters we experienced in the 78-87 period. During a number of those years BTL saw numerous fierce blizzards, biting easterlies, below freezing temps in the daytime, bone-crunching night time temps and v.deep snow even in the BTL suburbs.

Because of the v.low daytime temps that snow used to lay for days even on the roads, often hard-packed. The snow was usually of the dry powdery nature, with a low water content.

But all in all, so far, a pretty good winter, compared to 'modern' times.

Maybe it's the first in a series of severe winters

[Grimsby Snow Lover]

Well I think the cold spell has been quite a good on compared with recent years. We have had an air frost here for the past 10 days which is quite an achievement with me living quite near the north sea. We have had a couple of snow events that have left a covering although 6 miles away in the wolds had a decent covering. Although in terms of snow depth others years have been more productive (up to now that is) the sheer length of the cold spell has been impressive. I believe some lucky places have had snow cover for well over a week now!! Heres to the next cold spell, hope its not too long off

[john mac]

a cold spell that wasnt that cold mainly, we had one really got dumping (almost 1-0inches) but unfortunately miss out by 10 miles for furthur dumpings on three other occasions, more cold to come i feel after a brief mild interlude

[Northernlights]

The background on my laptop is a photo taken on the 28th of October 2008 showing falling settling snow at midday in front of our horsechestnut tree resplendant with its autumn coloured leaves and this sums up the winter to date with snow on the ground at sometime in every one of the last 5 months with this recent spell probably the best for snow(20 cms) and frost together. Air frosts have been very frequent since late October and with two notable spells of nightimes below -10c at New Year and in the last few days There are shaded areas of ground that have been frozen since just before New Year. After any short mild spells it has always quickly defaulted back to cold with interestingly a number of days with west winds giving us falling snow. Now with sea temperature approaching their minimums and colder than they have been for a few years I don"t think winter is over yet. All the wildlife on the farm plus the cattle and sheep are devouring vast amounts of food commensurate with the current cold and possibly future cold spells. I feel that without looking at the models we are in for a late spring up here with snowfall continuing into April and at low level and summer suddenly arriving in June.

[Northernlights]

The background on my laptop is a photo taken on the 28th of October 2008 showing falling settling snow at midday in front of our horsechestnut tree resplendant with its autumn coloured leaves and this sums up the winter to date with snow on the ground at sometime in every one of the last 5 months with this recent spell probably the best for snow(20 cms) and frost together. Air frosts have been very frequent since late October and with two notable spells of nightimes below -10c at New Year and in the last few days There are shaded areas of ground that have been frozen since just before New Year. After any short mild spells it has always quickly defaulted back to cold with interestingly a number of days with west winds giving us falling snow. Now with sea temperature approaching their minimums and colder than they have been for a few years I don"t think winter is over yet. All the wildlife on the farm plus the cattle and sheep are devouring vast amounts of food commensurate with the current cold and possibly future cold spells. I feel that without looking at the models we are in for a late spring up here with snowfall continuing into April and at low level and summer suddenly arriving in June.

Just an added thought what really makes this winter for me is that there is hardly any greeness left in the countryside the grass has been burnt brown by the continuing and sometimes hard frosts and we have been feeding the sheep since mid January which has not been done for 20 years or so as in recent years the grass has continued to grow all winter and there has always been a fresh bite to put them onto and they would not look at hay or turnips. In the garden some snowdrops are flowering but the daffodils have only broken the surface when latterly some would have been flowering by now This winter has definitely been a reminder of the winters I knew in the sixties and seventies.

[SnowAngel]

Not too bad considering the run of mild winters we have had lateley, though the snow at Watford has all but gone now. They may still be some left over the tops of the Chilterns, though as others say, winter is far from over yet.

Others have also mentioned the cold blast expected for the weekend of 21/22/02.2009 - I will be in Soutthern France then - I checked out the Metcheck LR forecast for Perpignan a couple of days ago and for that weekend and a few days following, they were forecasting near freezing temperatures with snow - Unbelievable - I have just checked it again and they have now modified it to cloudy with temps of about +7C, still cold for the area - I will hae to take some armagnac to keep it at bay!

Definetly still some lying snow here in the Chilterns. Hard to believe when we have had so much rain and sun andit wasnt that deep to start with.

[damianslaw]

Not a particularly memorable cold spell for my neck of the woods- fairly average stuff, 2inches of snow at most on the 2nd which quickly dissapeared, and no ice days or really cold nights. However, I have enjoyed seeing the hills staing persistantly white and I had a great days walking last Sunday around Thirlmere and up Raven Crag which was covered in powder snow.

Still think the best is yet to come late feb will deliver some hefty snow and proper cold courtesy of very cold uppers which incidentally we have not yet had properly this winter in fact early december saw colder uppers than we have had this last week. Also very annoyed with the Beeb saying the coldest spell in 20 years - completely wrong, yes the snowiest spell in the SE since feb 1991 which is 18 years, but certainly not the coldest - early jan 09 was colder.

[azores92]

Definetly still some lying snow here in the Chilterns. Hard to believe when we have had so much rain and sun andit wasnt that deep to start with.

ive said it before and ill say it again. we are now on the verge of the last sixth of the meteorological winter folks. thats not to say that no snow can fall later than the 28th february, but i feel many are looking forward to the longer warmer days now. ill say this winter has been superb, although there were no snow records broken here. for me, february 2007 cannot be broken for a snow event. 15cm recorded and ill never forget having to walk a few miles home from town after getting a lift from a friend, but being gridlocked and having no other choice. this winter has brought more consistent but fragmented snow events. i think the best fall was about 8 or 9cm at any one time. the cold spell though brought very low maxima in the day and felt properly wintry walking on the frosty ground in december and january. i just hope we have kept the bartlett high and icelandic low at bay for a while now. more negative NAOs i say.

[J10]

From last Monday to this Monday, there were Met Office Snow days, giving a run of 8 in a row, this is most in any winter since 1991 (possibly 95/96), so this must go down as a major snowy spell.

[BristolBlizzard]

been great here in bristol last week or so ,even got to take kids sledging . .

[Snowmun]

For me a proper snow event is where it snows and stays cold from what I've seen even in places that had alot of snow it was always followed up with spells of rain, then snowed again only to be followed with rain, great winter events like 87 and 91 had good snow fall and then it stayed cold for the whole period without keep turning back to rain and slush so I can't count this event as being that exceptional what do others think on this?

[❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️]

Woke up on Monday not expecting to see any snow, apart from maybe a dusting. I was surprised to see around one inch of snowfall. There were occasional snow showers, and some snow stuck around to Wednesday. Wednesday night into Thursday was an amazing (for me!) 5 or so hours of moderate-heavy snowfall. There was a slight thaw again, but the snowfall was repeated the following night with around 3-4 inches for both snowfalls. It was definitely the most snow i have ever seen in my back garden! It has been melting since then, and now there is nothing left apart from piles/balls of snow.

Sledge arrived yesterday

[mackerel sky]

It has been the most snowiest spell I can remember since 1996 and certainly the most since i've lived here (~ 10 years), technically tomorrow will be 11 consecutive days meeting the minimum requirement of > 50% snow cover and 6 days with falling snow, a cumulative amount of 23 inches, but never reaching a thickness greater than ~ 11 inches because of thawing in between spells. That for me has been the minor disappointment - when it hasn't been snowing, its generally been a slow thaw in daylight hours particularly, but not exclusively with temperatures in the range of 0-1C. But we have consistently been just on the right side of marginal here in Northamptonshire, which has allowed the snow to fall in the abundance it has.

Given that 3 inches still remains in sheltered shaded areas, and that we have several feet or metre high piles of increasingly greying snow still littering the area from various clearance atempts, I question whether London and the SW were really hit as badly as here???

Edited February 12, 2009 by mackerel sky

[Higher Ground]

Continuous snow cover here since 1st Feb, snowfall practically every day, and still a level 5 inches of snow in the garden. So it doesn't feel like it's "over" here at all: there's loads of snow whether on the grass, bushes, driveways, pavements or even the sides of the roads in places. And we had a 1cm top-up at about 6pm which, along with a hard frost tonight, has set us up for yet another fully wintry scene tomorrow morning. Looks like we're easily going to surpass 2 weeks of continuous snow cover, and I'm pretty sure this is a record here in the last 20 years (longer even than in Feb 91).

[Northernlights]

Had an inch of snow in the last half hour and still snowing hard so it looks like this cold spell is going to end with a bang!!!