Snow free December first since 2002

[Gaz1985]

Here's the UK and Ireland mapped average for reference: 

 

 

Northern Ireland you mean. 

[Summer Sun]

Here's the UK and Ireland mapped average for reference: 

 

 

My average is 4 to 6 days

 

This year zero

[NorthernRab]

Northern Ireland you mean. 

 

No, I didn't mean Northern Ireland.

[Gaz1985]

No, I didn't mean Northern Ireland.

 

Wow, well considering you got a Met Office (UK & Northern Ireland) map I guess that map is old then and not valid and Northern Ireland is now officially not part of Great Britain? 

Edited December 29, 2013 by Gaz1985

[NorthernRab]

Wow, well considering you got a Met Office (UK & Northern Ireland) map I guess that map is old then and not valid and Northern Ireland is now officially not part of Great Britain? 

 

No, I glanced at the map while posting it and thought it included the Republic of Ireland. To say "UK & Northern Ireland" doesn't make sense because Northern Ireland is in the UK - that's the same as saying the UK and England. 

 

So what I thought I was posting was a map of the UK and Ireland, but in reality I was posting a map of the UK, not the UK and N.Ireland. 

Edited December 29, 2013 by NorthernRab

[Gaz1985]

No, I glanced at the map while posting it and thought it included the Republic of Ireland. To say "UK & Northern Ireland" doesn't make sense because Northern Ireland is in the UK - that's the same as saying the UK and England. 

 

So what I thought I was posting was a map of the UK and Ireland, but in reality I was posting a map of the UK, not the UK and N.Ireland. 

 

No, you glanced at the map while posting it and thought it included the Republic of Ireland - you're words not mine dude lol 

Edited December 29, 2013 by Gaz1985

[NorthernRab]

No, you glanced at the map while posting it and thought it included the Republic of Ireland - you're words not mine dude lol 

 

ROI / Ireland - synonymous. 

[Great Plum]

Of course, in 2009 / 2010, we had over 20 days of lying snow here in Reigate!

[East_England_Stormchaser91]

Been safe to say that this is a December we need to forget regarding snow and cold! Absolutely rubbish for a coldies point of view. Infact, Ive not even had to get the ice scraper out yet, its been that unusually mild! 

Regarding snow, anything Polar maritime is as useful as a chocolate teapot for my area, and only favours elevated regions such as the peaks and pennines. Anything East of North favours me very well. Anything West is useless.

[Gaz1985]

ROI / Ireland - synonymous. 

 

To some people but the Unionists in Northern Ireland would firmly disagree with you on that one. And to some people "Ireland" means the whole island of Ireland.

ROI on the other hand usually comes across as more well known, for instance they compete in most sports as the ROI and not "Ireland"

[NorthernRab]

To some people but the Unionists in Northern Ireland would firmly disagree with you on that one. And to some people "Ireland" means the whole island of Ireland.

ROI on the other hand usually comes across as more well known, for instance they compete in most sports as the ROI and not "Ireland"

 

Well it certainly wasn't my intention to make any form of political statement or to make a big deal out of the whole thing. To almost everyone the word Ireland and the term ROI are synonymous (for example, first line of the wiki article on the ROI uses the two terms interchangeably, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland), but like many words Ireland also has another meaning, i.e. the entire island. 

 

I'm not really sure why you think this is relevant to this thread. If you really must persist, can I suggest that you PM me instead? The image has been posted for reference by other members, leave it at that. 

Edited December 29, 2013 by NorthernRab

[Gaz1985]

Well it certainly wasn't my intention to make any form of political statement or to make a big deal out of the whole thing. To almost everyone the word Ireland and the term ROI are synonymous (for example, first line of the wiki article on the ROI uses the two terms interchangeably, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland), but like many words Ireland also has another meaning, i.e. the entire island. 

 

I'm not really sure why you think this is relevant to this thread. If you really must persist, can I suggest that you PM me instead? The image has been posted for reference by other members, leave it at that. 

 

I wouldn't go as far as "to almost everyone" if that was the case there wouldn't be a divided island of Ireland. Some people in the North even hate the words Northern Ireland, they like and prefer to use the word Ulster instead.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Gaz1985

[johnholmes]

gawd we cannot even keep a thread about snow without getting political-how about you use the correct thread to argue the pros and cons of this please?

[NorthernRab]

I'm not really sure why you think this is relevant to this thread. If you really must persist, can I suggest that you PM me instead? The image has been posted for reference by other members, leave it at that. 

 

I wouldn't go as far as "to almost everyone" if that was the case there wouldn't be a divided island of Ireland. Some people in the North even hate the words Northern Ireland, they like and prefer to use the word Ulster instead.

[johnholmes]

getting back to the title of the thread, shall we?

 

My last snow free December was 2012 but then Doncaster is about as low lying as one can get without actually being on the coast!

In 16 years of dat there have been 5, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2012.

[NorthernRab]

I don't think I can remember a completely snow free December off the top of my head, we certainly always get snow falling.

 

In terms of lying we've had a couple days so far, but a "bookies" white Christmas instead of a postcard one. A normal December would usually have seen a bit more in the way of the white stuff, but the extreme gusts combined with snowfall has more than made up for this, even if it didn't lie on that occasion. 

[damianslaw]

We saw some sleety snow mixed in with hail on christmas eve - blink and miss it affair, but not enough for me to class it as a day with snow falling.

 

I think the last snow free December here was in 2007, 2006 also delivered no snow, as well as 2002.

 

Snow free Decembers are not unusual. Much more likely to see a snow free December than a snow free March.

[Snowyowl9]

Considering its been a non-stop S to SW-ly flow all month..quite fortunate to get a covering of snow on Christmas eve...some of it however very patchy by boxing day...ground frosts at night.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Snowyowl9

[Pennine Ten Foot Drifts]

Just a coupe of quick showers here, but so insignificant I can't even remember which days. And whilst I know 'it's early days', and 'things can change quickly', this just feels to me like it's going to be one of those winters i.e. the type of winter we thought we'd seen the back of after the much vaunted 'pattern change' in 2007 (I think it was).

Edited December 30, 2013 by Pennine Ten Foot Drifts

[iand61]

Just a coupe of quick showers here, but so insignificant I can't even remember which days. And whilst I know 'it's early days', and 'things can change quickly', this just feels to me like it's going to be one of those winters i.e. the type of winter we thought we'd seen the back of after the much vaunted 'pattern change' in 2007 (I think it was).

Same here, a bit of snow on the car first thing one morning and odd flakes in the mix during a couple of heavy showers.The only fall which covered everything including the road was in mid November when we had about 3cm and most of that had gone by the end of the same day.It certainly has been a poor attempt at winter so far although TBH other than a couple of inches of wet snow in early December, late 2012 was no better than 2013 and as we all know winter did not really arrive until January and March.

[The PIT]

Well a snow free December and looking like it'll be a fair way into Jan before any snow falls at this location.

[Terminal Moraine]

2 mornings with lying snow here ( met office definition) and a grand  total of 2cm for the month. There have been 7 days with sleet or snow falling so not the worst December for snowfall by any means but hardly in the 'wintry' category.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Terminal Moraine

[Thundery wintry showers]

In 19 years of records at Cleadon in Tyne and Wear (1993-2011) I had two Decembers pass by without a flake of sleet or snow- 2006 and 2007- so it was pretty unusual.  Decembers without any mornings of <50% snow cover were more common but were still outnumbered by the Decembers that had at least one such morning.

 

Here in Sandhutton (N Yorks) December 2012 didn't even come close, with 6 days of sleet/snow falling, though none with >50% snow cover (one morning had <50%).  This December thus looks like being my first sleet/snow-free December since 2007.

[feb1991blizzard]

I bet Sandhutton had a heck of a lot of lying snow days and falling snow days in Dec 09 and 10 though and a good number with an absolute belting i would of thought!

[damianslaw]

Just a coupe of quick showers here, but so insignificant I can't even remember which days. And whilst I know 'it's early days', and 'things can change quickly', this just feels to me like it's going to be one of those winters i.e. the type of winter we thought we'd seen the back of after the much vaunted 'pattern change' in 2007 (I think it was).

 

 

Its rare for northern Britain not to record at least one morning with snow cover in any given winter season - even if that day falls in March and April. Mild winters such as 88/89, 89/90 and 06/07 delivered at least one such day. Winter 88/89 was followed by a cold April with localised snowfalls. Winter 97/98 saw snow in April likewise 07/08...

 

There is a lot of very cold air to our NW - a potent polar maritime airflow would easily do the trick this year accompanied by evaporative cooling - I remain positive we will tap into some very cold uppers during the second half of the winter and wouldn't at all be surprised to see some potent northerly outbreaks during early part of spring.