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Cold Spell The Sum Up


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Posted
  • Location: Buckingham
  • Location: Buckingham

plenty of snow for the south west in Feb 1986 also.

In terms of winters in my lifetime I would rank them as follows: -

1 - 1978/79

2 - 1981/2

3 - 1985/86

4 - 1984/85

5 - 1986/87

=6 - 1990/91

=6 - 2009/10

8 - 1995/6

9 - 1996/7

10 - 2008/9

Obviously this winter still has scope to move a bit further up the list - I don't think there is too much between no 2 and no 6. We would need something special to challenge no 1 in the list however.

I think I would pretty much agree with this except I would put a little more distance between 2 to 6 in terms of intensity of these cold spells ie, depth of snow, drifting and lower temperatures (for this area at least).

We have had several falls of snow since 18th December here 15cms maybe the deepest at any one time which has been great. Some of those winters in the list above from Stu produced terrific drifts of several feet completely blocking even major roads. We haven't come anywhere near that though I realise some people may have done. Temperatures were also lower though I must admit I can't remember how long some of the spells lasted.

Really good winter since middle of December though - clearly way out in front of anything since the mid to early nineties. It would be great to see a sub 3 January and despite rising temperatures I think it's still looking good for that.

Any more for this winter? I wouldn't rule it out just yet but maybe not looking great for Feb if GP is anywhere near the mark and he usually is.

Even great winters can fizzle out to nothing - think back to Feb 82 et al.

I'd certainly take this winter even if there's no more to come.

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Posted
  • Location: Roscommon Ireland
  • Weather Preferences: blizzards and frost.
  • Location: Roscommon Ireland

splendid cold spell. ive never witnessed winter weather like it in my life.sometimes i felt as if we were locked in some frozen world. constant sub-zero temps, perma frost, dense freezing fog, permanent snow cover, ice,. heavy rain and gales. actually we got the lot here. :rofl:

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Posted
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks

This is my summary

Comparing the recent wintry spell with others

2010

This actually started on about the 16, December; snow fell for the first time on 17 December and on 8 other days in the month. Covering the ground, only thinly but for 9 days with a partial cover on a further 4 days. The mean temperature from 16-31 December was 1.2C, (long term average=4.6C); there were 10 frosts with 9 being on consecutive days.

The cold became even more severe with heavy snow in January. The first 15 days gave a mean of -0.1C compared to the long term average of 3.5C. Air frost was noted on the 10 days with a total of 12 to the 15th. Snow fell for 12 hours on the 6th to a total of 16cm-the 3rd highest in the records going back well over 50 years for this area. 1987 January=23cm and December 1981=19cm. Snow fell on 9 days and the ground was snow covered on 13 days and partly covered on the other two.

For the whole period 16 December-15 January, a total of 31 days the mean was 0.6C, snow fell on 17 days, with 20 days with a snow covered ground on 22 days.

December 1981 the figure is -0.5C truly a really cold month. It had 12 days with snow and 20 with it lying, along with 21 air frosts and 27 ground frosts.

January 1987 shows a mean temperature for the whole month of 1.2C. The number of days with snow was 9 with 12 showing lying snow, 18 air frosts and 23 ground frosts.

On the figures above this recent cold spell is probably the most severe since the December 1981 event, so certainly something to remember.

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Posted
  • Location: Evesham/ Tewkesbury
  • Weather Preferences: Enjoy the weather, you can't take it with you 😎
  • Location: Evesham/ Tewkesbury

A Winter to remember....not sure of the stats for my area as Ive not had time to check them, but for a rough guide its been the coldest since Jan 1982 with eleven days of lying snow not seen since jan 1982 not the deepest snow this time round though,1982 and December 1990 for a short time had more snow but all in all a memorable Winter and last years was not too bad either, but considering that we have had mild Winters from the late eighties through the nineties [perhaps excluding 1995/96] and through the naughties its quite remarkable! Lots of folks before this Winter thought we would never have any proper Winters again.....it now will rank along Winters such as 81,82 ,91 and indeed 1947 and 62/63 and now 2010!! :lol: :D

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Posted
  • Location: Llanwnnen, Lampeter, Ceredigion, 126m asl (exotic holidays in Rugby/ Coventry)
  • Location: Llanwnnen, Lampeter, Ceredigion, 126m asl (exotic holidays in Rugby/ Coventry)

The coldest and wintriest spell experienced since at least 1991, perhaps even back to sometime in the 1980s.

Its by far the worst I have experienced living in Wales, but as far as Coventry is concerned it has not been as extreme for snow and cold as February 1991 I would say.

Stats:

From December 11th to January 14th temperatures remained below average (8c max and 3c min Dec in mid December).

Mean temperature Dec 15th to Jan 14th: -0.9c (Max 2.3c Min -4.1c)

Mean temperature Jan 1st to 14th: -2.9c (Max 0.6c Min -6.4c)

From December 28th it did not exceed 4c.

4 successive minima sub -10c Jan 7-10th

Absolute minima -16.7c on Jan 7th (perhaps the coldest locally since Jan 1982)

Lowest maximum: -5.1c on 7th

4 ice days all between Jan 4th - 9th

21 air frosts Dec 17th to Jan 13th.

Snow or sleet on 17 days

Snow lying at 0900 on 16 days

Snow lay continuously Jan 2nd to Jan 15th.

Max depth of snow 16cm (a little less than in Feb 2007 but that only lay for a few days).

post-2595-12636619382428_thumb.jpg

Edited by Tonyh
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Posted
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District. 290 mts a.s.l.
  • Weather Preferences: Anything extreme
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District. 290 mts a.s.l.

As it seems very unlikely that today will produce a max' below 3.0c I think I can safely say the cold spell has now come to an end after 31 days, the third longest in the last 35 years here.

The mean max' and min' temp' over the period was 0.6c and -2.4c respectively. The mean max' was the lowest for any cold spell since Jan 2001 and the mean min' since Dec/Jan 2002 but both of those were only 8 day spells.

For long cold spells ( 15 days or more )it was the coldest spell since Jan/Feb 1996, which was also the last cold spell of any duration to produce a mean max' temp' below 0.0c.

Lying snow was persistent although we did have a 3 day spell at the end of December with less than half cover whereas areas a bit further north in Derbyshire retained their snow cover throughout. Amounts of snow were nothing exceptional and the greatest measured depth of 26cm in January, although the most in that month since 1987, has been exceeded plenty of times in other months and is more a reflection on the mildness and lack of snow in January over the last 20 years than on the snowiness of this one.

All in all a good long cold spell, in line with winters of old, but not quite up there with the top flight for a combination of cold and snowfall.

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Posted
  • Location: Carryduff, County Down 420ft ASL
  • Location: Carryduff, County Down 420ft ASL

It's a weird one for me, for whilst I had snow lying from December 17th for three weeks, I only gained 6cm in snow that whole period. A crappy northerly toppler would give at least 10.

In terms of snow amounts, this is my worst for the last 10 years for this stage of winter.

For frosts and ice days though, the best start to winter in NI since 1981.

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Posted
  • Location: Camborne, Cornwall
  • Location: Camborne, Cornwall

Very disappointing to be honest. I know I live in the far South West and we are not supposed to get snow, but I did have high hopes with all the fantastically cold temperatures just 100 miles up the road. One day of snow to 1cm doesn't really cut it.

The only real thing I can say is that the Winter of 2010 was an event worth watching but as I can remember a 6ft drift in the early 1980s I guess global warming is true.

Edited by kernowman
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Posted
  • Location: Nottingham
  • Location: Nottingham

Sadly for us in Nottingham, we had the cold tempertures but not a lot of snow, enough to enjoy but not the huge falls that other areas had. Quite a number of disappointments as promised snow failed to materialise or missed us altogether, all of a bit of an anti-climax for us Nottingham. Other areas on Nottinghamshire did fare better, eg North of the County

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Posted
  • Location: Shepton Mallet 140m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, snow and summer heatwaves.
  • Location: Shepton Mallet 140m ASL

If it wasnt for last winter i would say it has been best in last 25 years but it has been a little bit of a let down for west country although some very impresive cold temperatures.

Febuary 2009 now thats what i call a heavy fall of snow, both falls of snow combined in this cold spell were not a scratch on febuary.

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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

My stats for Cleadon (just in) show that December was the coldest since 1995, comfortably beating the other notably cold ones of 1996 and 2001, and judging by stats for nearby Durham, almost certainly the second coldest since 1981. 10 days of snow lying (Met Office snow day definition) is almost certain to be the highest in December since 1981.

January's stats won't be coming in for a while, but with 13 days of snow lying so far, it easily beats any January since at least 1987- possibly since 1985. As I have no access to snow depth data in the area other than my own weather records back to 1993, I can't say for definite how the 25cm on the 9th compares with earlier snow events, but it must surely be right up there with the biggest snow events this side of the exceptional winter of 1979.

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Posted
  • Location: Southend-On-Sea, South East Essex.
  • Location: Southend-On-Sea, South East Essex.

I've had two 5-6" dumps of snow here. One on 18th Dec and the other on 8th Jan.

Lying snow for around 14 days and around 10 days of falling snow.

Very good for us at the mouth of the Thames Estuary.

Witnessing the serious thundersnow that went on for hours (18th Dec) and the blizzard like conditions, with temps at -4 (10am) on the morn of 5th Jan I think, was fantastic.

Best spell of snowy weather for a long, long time. Certainly since the noughties began.

Edited by LeighShrimper
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