Longest lasting snow over in England?

[Jock Bingham]

Remarkably there is still significant amounts of snow in the Peak District, even as close as 3 - 5 miles from Sheffield city centre. Most of this is in the form of deep drifts in ditches and behind banks, where there has been shade. Even with temperatures in the teens, there is a good chance that snow will last in some small patches through till May. This seems to be because of the sheer volume of snow we ha so late in the season.

Does anyone know if snow has ever lasted from one winter through to another in England - however small the patch..?

I know this doesn't always even happen in Scotland - but I wondered in it was possible in England on very rare occasions, such as 1962/3 and in the 1600s and 1700s.

[BlueSkies_do_I_see]

I think the latest snow has laid upon English hills was late July during "the year without a summer" -1816

[4wd]

I see Hardknott Pass in the Lake District was finally cleared yesterday after being blocked for three weeks.There's a deep gully somewhere in Derbyshire/Staffordshire which has been known to hold snow through the summer.

[Interitus]

One thing to remember about Hardknott is that it is incredibly steep at around 1 in 3 in places meaning that it doesn't take much ice or snow to render impassable.

 

edit: According to BBC travel news the Corney Fell Road is still closed!

[4wd]

Yes they don't routinely clear it since it is too dangerous.I think it had got to the point where just short sections were buried by drifts and the warmth yesterday meant cleared surfaces soon became safe.

[Interitus]

Well they did have tremendous drifting in southern Cumbria but this explanation sounds more than likely 

 

THE Hardknott Pass in Cumbria has finally reopened to traffic more than three weeks after a dumping of snow first forced its closure.

 

 It took nine people and a tractor seven hours on Friday to disperse enough snow and ice to make the road clear enough to allow traffic to pass.

The road's prolonged closure was a blow to residents, tourists, farmers and business owners who require access.

Woolpack Inn owner Harry Berger became fed-up with waiting for Cumbria County Council to clear the road and took it upon himself to do so.

"Obviously the priority's been clearing the main roads and the trains and everybody's cars - and then there was the plight of the farmers and them losing lambs - and understandably those things are far more important," he said.

"But we'd been waiting patiently for over three weeks saying 'Hello, we've got a business to run!'.

"So we did it ourselves."

 

http://www.nwemail.co.uk/home/cumbria-s-hardknott-pass-reopens-to-traffic-after-three-weeks-1.1049505?referrerPath=

[Terminal Moraine]

I see Hardknott Pass in the Lake District was finally cleared yesterday after being blocked for three weeks.There's a deep gully somewhere in Derbyshire/Staffordshire which has been known to hold snow through the summer.

 Thats Eldon Hole near Peak Forest in Derbyshire. I've not spoken to anyone who's been up there since the snow at the end of March but I'll bet there's a good sized drift at the bottom. It's a large pot hole almost 200 feet deep and never gets any sunshine.

[HGrout]

So where is England's most southerly patch?

There was still drifts present in ditches till around Wednesday last week, here in

North West Essex.

[Interitus]

Photo of Eldon Hole in June 2010 -

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve-sharp/4727699817/in/photostream/

 

Discussion on winterhighlandinfo -

 

http://www.winterhighland.info/forum/read.php?2,149146

[4wd]

That might be where I saw it mentioned thanks, I see they even noted snow remaining in November.It's not that different to the old Ice House idea with only the top surface exposed to slightly above freezing air, it is not all that surprising it lasts so long in years with prolonged drifting to top it up.This year should be a good candidate.

[4wd]

http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=40900486

[hillbilly]

as far as i know the record for the longest remaining snow patch in england is 18th august on cross fell in 1979, i think the records are sketchy earlier in the century as records were not kept in fact not many records are kept now.i think there is a quarry in the cotswolds that retained snow into july in 1947.i guess 1947 and 1979 will hold the longest in living memory due to the amount of snow and the lateness of the season both having heavy snows mid to late march and having cold springs

[Harve]

The snow cover has been obliterated over the last 48 hours by the wind, rain and high temperatures.

Snow patches have now completely disappeared below 150m, and at this rate any snow higher up won't last too much longer, either.

[hillbilly]

i believe it is brockhampton quarry near the aptly named snowhill in the cotswolds that held snow to mid july 1947,if anyone knows that area it would be worth a look.snow has disappeared massively this weekend just pockets higher up where it is sheltered.i have been told of an account in 1947 of a farm lane still inpassable to vehicles on the yorks/lancs border at 1400ft on june 2nd

[Terminal Moraine]

The High Peak Trail between Hoe Grange and Parsley Hay still has several stretches, some of a hundred metres or more, with snow up to 1m deep.

The Duke of York pub at Pomeroy which had a drift up to the bedroom windows during the blizzard still has a drift up to the ground floor window sills.

[Terminal Moraine]

I counted about 30 drifts remaining within about 7 miles of where I live when I was out on the bike this morning; I say 'about' because in some cases I couldn't tell whether the remaining snow was a natural drift or the remnants of snow piled up by mechanical shovels when the roads were dug out.

The largest would probably last another 4 or 5 days at current temperatures. Most of the remnants were on the north side of walls or thick hedges, or on banks shaded from the sun but, surprisingly, 3 were out in the open facing W/SW.

I might go out again on Friday and head north, rather than S/SE, as I'm sure there will be some left between here and Tideswell.

[johnholmes]

I'll give an update on Sunday for the area I will be walking in, Little Longstone over the top to Foolow then back into Wardle and return. There were huge amounts of snow in and around Wardle and Gt Hucklow over the Easter weekend. One farmer suggested there would be patches into early May?

[hillbilly]

its surprising how fast it is disappearing over last few days i thought some would last well into may but at these temps even snow on the tops is going to struggle still lots overlooking m62 on buckstones and plenty on holme moss but nothing like a few days ago

[4wd]

I seem to remember a good Webcam which showed the main snow wreath on Cross Fell in 2010, it was still there first week of June.Can't find the cam now.

[Harve]

I counted about 30 drifts remaining within about 7 miles of where I live when I was out on the bike this morning; I say 'about' because in some cases I couldn't tell whether the remaining snow was a natural drift or the remnants of snow piled up by mechanical shovels when the roads were dug out.The largest would probably last another 4 or 5 days at current temperatures. Most of the remnants were on the north side of walls or thick hedges, or on banks shaded from the sun but, surprisingly, 3 were out in the open facing W/SW.I might go out again on Friday and head north, rather than S/SE, as I'm sure there will be some left between here and Tideswell.

There is a wreath of snow still left on the SW facing slopes of the Weaver Hills in the Staffordshire Moorlands, still visible from much of Staffordshire. Rapidly depleted from last Friday though, where cover was still 30-40% on the slope.

[feb1991blizzard]

The last tiny piles saddleworth moor went about 24-48 hours ago, roughly the same date as last year. we had a heck of a lot of lying and falling snow days here since christmas, obviously the higher up the more.

[4wd]

Still plenty of small patches left mainly from January on the moors here, they won't last more than a week though.

Particularly large drifts above Ingleby Greenhow and Fryup Dale, where a large open areas to the south were the source of the snow.

[feb1991blizzard]

Still plenty of small patches left mainly from January on the moors here, they won't last more than a week though.Particularly large drifts above Ingleby Greenhow and Fryup Dale, where a large open areas to the south were the source of the snow.

I think the land is more conducive to it lasting up there, even when we got an absolute montster in march, there was still bare patches, i think it might be due to peat or something.

[4wd]

The moors are rather 'plateau-like' with wide areas of fairly level open land above 1000feet, then quite steep drop offs on the northern side into Eskdale and the Cleveland Hills.Effect being a substantial area of deep snow can be swept into north facing locations well suited to surviving into spring. 

[Interitus]

Some webcams from the ski slopes of the northern Pennines and Lake District showing some sizeable but rapidly diminishing patches of snow -

 

Yad Moss http://www.yadmoss.co.uk/

 

Weardale http://www.skiweardale.com/ski/current.aspx

 

Lake District ski club on Raise http://www.ldscsnowski.co.uk/page6.html