Snow Dumping 1994? Need Some Help!

[Radiating Dendrite]

I could do with some help; I am trying to remember a snow event from my younger years and would love to see the charts. I think it may have possibly been 1994, but it could have been a year either side (I am sure I was 8ish).

Anyway, I lived in North East Wales then close to Mold and remember that it started to snow at around 5pm and continued through the night, stopping at around 10am. I remember there being news bulletins all that morning and all the schools in the area were shut for several days. I think we were one of the worst affected areas and I do believe that 30cm was deposited. I was off school for the rest of the week and the snow stayed on the ground for quite a while. I think it may have been late January/early February time, but I could be wrong.

Hope you can help me as this was what started my passion for weather and there is a large picture of me playing in it! Thanks.

[Optimus Prime]

You're probably remembering the 15th February 1994. No real snow in 1993 or 1995 (aside from perhaps December 93 and January and December 1995)

February 1994 was overall rather cold, around a degree below normal. Only January this year has recently been colder. Very cold SE winds took hold from the 11th brought with it sub zero temperatures over quite an area and low minima, it was the 5th coldest spell of the 90s. Maximum in Devon on the 14th was just -4.0c. With the cold and snow there was also lightning. The cold ended on the 23rd.

Here's the chart for the 15th where much of Wales saw some heavy snowfall;

[Thundery wintry showers]

Another possibility is later in the month on the 22nd-24th February 1994 although the snow did not last as long on that occasion, so it is the less likely of the two.

January 1995 did have some snowfalls from the Midlands northwards (including north-east Wales) late in the month but they were all very short lived.

[Radiating Dendrite]

Thanks guys!

That certainly seems to fit.

[damianslaw]

The mid Feb 1994 event seems to fit your description, the snow was brought about from a very cold easterly, in Windermere we only got a couple of inches though..

However, we saw a foot later that month.. the second deepest fall of snow that I can remember after the infamous feb 5/6 1996 event.

[Summer of 95]

Apologies for butting in a little late, but I've been without a computer for 4 weeks so have only just read this...

14-15 or 22-23 Feb 1994 were my first thoughts too; as they were the only two that could possibly fit the category of "Snow Dumpings in 1994"- however the 30cm and staying around for several days doesn't really fit either. The first one only gave around 5cm in most places, although it was very cold for a couple of days (it got milder about the 17th, melting the snow except in N Scotland) and most of the country was covered; I remember it mainly for being the first decent snow for 3 years. The latter gave 10cm here (which hasn't been reached in February since) but was another one which only lasted a couple of days, and it fell in the afternoon rather than overnight.

Another possibility is 2-3 March 1995 but being March that melted even quicker, except on the hills where I remember it staying most of the month. That one was overnight Thur-Fri so if school was closed on the Friday (it was for some schools near here) it would have given a 4-day weekend hence the "off schoool for several days".

However another strong candidate, which hasn't been mentioned because it was very localised to NE Wales and the NW Midlands, is the snowfalls around 19-21 Dec 1995. That consisted of two snowfalls, one on the evening of the 19th which started about 5pm, the other early on the 21st which stopped around 10am. This spell left 15cm in Shrewsbury so 30cm in the hills around Mold would certainly seem possible. In fact I remember reports of it being very severe around Ruthin in particular. Plus it came right at the start of the holidays (during which there was further snow).

[Radiating Dendrite]

Thanks summer of 1995.

It did start in the late afternoon so that does tie in with your account.

I remember that it was during school term as they came on the radio saying that all the schools were shut. The local area even featured on GMTV which I remember watching before I ventured out into the snow. There seemed to be a very slow thaw over the next few days, with snow collapsing off rooves etc but staying on the ground.

Anyway, thanks for all your help guys!

[Weather-history]

Late Jan 1996 is a possibilty as it does fit the late Jan-early Feb period. Heavy snow showers did penetrate far inland in that easterly, we had a good covering here in Manchester. The cold continued into early Feb 1996, when we had another dumping of snow. So snow was on the ground for a good period, close to a fortnight in some places.

The trouble with the 19th-21st December 1995 snowfalls is that schools were breaking up for Christmas anyway. So schools being shut for several days as you say does not really fit because they would have been shut anyway for Christmas :lol: Also being Christmas, I would have thought for a schoolkid, one would remember it as being around Christmas time.

Edited August 7, 2009 by Mr_Data

[damianslaw]

The more I read your thoughts and timings the more I am inclined to believe that it wasn't 1994 and that it was the 5/6th February 1996 snow event. This gave widespread deep falls of snow to much of SW Scotland, Cumbria, other parts of NW England (to lesser extent) and also N Wales and NW Midlands.

The 5th was a Monday so that would tie in with your statement that we were off school for the rest of the week..the snow hit us in Windermere just before lunchtime and lasted through to 3pm the following day, it probably would have mnade its way to you in Mold at around 5pm on the 5th as it was caused by a very slow moving front which became stalled over NW England and N wales as it hit a block of high pressure to the east, it developed a wave and just sat in situ for near 36 hours which is why there was so much snow, in Windermere we recorded 18 inches, the mid Feb 1994 event coincided with half term and the late Feb 1994 event I don't believe lasted very long as temperatures quickly climbed whereas the early Feb 1996 event was followed by a very slow thaw as temperatures remained below average for many days. Dec 1995 coincided with the school holidays. Late Jan 1996 didn't see as heavy a fall as the 5/6th Feb 1996 event - it must be that one.

Edited August 8, 2009 by damianslaw