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2018 best compared to which historical event?


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Posted
  • Location: Swindon
  • Weather Preferences: Snow. Always Snow.
  • Location: Swindon

Before this snow/cold weather event arrived there were lots of posts comparing the possible outcome to be like 1991, 2009, 2010 etc.

Appreciate it hasn’t ended yet but I though it would be an interesting discussion to look back at it and see what big historical snow event 2018 has compared to

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Posted
  • Location: halifax 125m
  • Weather Preferences: extremes the unusual and interesting facts
  • Location: halifax 125m

A very premature post  but I can actually answer it easily as few snow events are actually similar at all.If you look at the famous big winters 1947,1955,1963,1979,1986 or even 2010 and 2013 all were actually very different.

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Posted
  • Location: Powys Mid Wales borders.
  • Location: Powys Mid Wales borders.

Today was colder than any day in jan/nov or december 2010 too,so very impressive.

2010 didn`t really bring any blizzards,maybe 1 day but not on today`s scale.

Edited by Snowyowl9
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Posted
  • Location: Skirlaugh, East Yorkshire
  • Location: Skirlaugh, East Yorkshire

As always it depends on where you live. For cold it has certainly been notable, with maxes of 1.9C, 1.9C, -0.4C and 0.3C (so far). For snow however, in what should have been a favoured location it has been totally rubbish. In the end we just managed 1cm, which is less than previous recent easterlies in December 2005 (2cm), March 2006 (2cm), February 2009 (4cm), January 2010 (8cm), February 2012 (9cm) and January 2013 (10cm).

  

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Posted
  • Location: Derry, NW Ireland, 20 to 30m ASL
  • Location: Derry, NW Ireland, 20 to 30m ASL

Cold, yes. So far, useless for snow in NW Ireland here anyway. Many areas haven't got much and its incredibly local stuff. Not so prolonged as well, so I wouldn't really put it to the bars of 2010 or 2013 for this location.

 

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Posted
  • Location: Dundee
  • Weather Preferences: Snow, thunderstorms, gales. All extremes except humidity.
  • Location: Dundee

For cold up here nothing like late Nov / Dec 2010 where we had 20 ice days compared with two this time. Snow depths also at around 20cms level are less than half early Dec 2010  but what it did have was drifting snow right down to sea level which was great to see. 

Still snowing away this morning but constant light snow and graupel in the wind rather than heavy convective showers as the uppers are less cold. Temp has crept above zero too at 0.5C

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Posted
  • Location: Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland 20m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Snow,Thunderstorms mix both for heaven THUNDERSNOW 😜😀🤤🥰
  • Location: Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland 20m ASL

For my area this either ties with or marginally beats 2010 in terms of snow depth (currently 9 inches and 1 foot drifts here) and in 2010 I was living 75m higher than I am now and measured 16 inches.

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Posted
  • Location: Dorset
  • Weather Preferences: warehamwx.co.uk
  • Location: Dorset

2009 and 2010 combined didn't give as much snow as it did here, yesterday. Off of the top of my head, I have to go back to 1994 to match in terms of snow.

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Posted
  • Location: Reading
  • Location: Reading

For us in Reading this event is roughly on a par with February 2012 and January 2013, with somewhat lower daytime temperatures - all three events gave us a handful of days with a maximum of about 5cm of lying snow (although it's still snowing here so this may increase a bit). Yesterday's maximum was only 0.1C above that of 3 December 2010, the coldest day in my 15 year record - November-December 2010 was our coldest spell by far but it was notably dry without as much snow as most parts of the country.

Our biggest snow event of the last 15 years by far was January 2010, when we had 23cm in the garden - the heaviest snow in that spell was confined to quite a small area to the west and southwest of London. Our other notable snow events were February and December 2009, which both had about 10-12cm (in the latter I had to abandon my car in Basingstoke on the way back from work as the lorries got stuck on the first hill).

Edited by Stargazer
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Posted
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl

Temperature wise -not sure, possibly January 2013, perhaps a bit colder in terms of maxima, but that was a longer period of cold, whereas this one looks like a 4-5 day spell. Minimum temps haven't been particularly cold though. 

Snow-wise we did better in Feb 2012, and Jan 2013 gave 8 inches, we only got 4 inches overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday. 

No way near on a par with Nov/Dec 2010, or Dec 2009/Jan 2010.

For spectacular spring cold snowy spells, late April 1981 has to be the one to beat.

Late March 2013 also very impressive for consistent depth of cold. 

Its been a notable cold spell, but not a historic one I feel, yes some places have seen record cold maxima, and for the SW and Wales it will go down as memorable, for central Scotland, NE England - nothing special.

Edited by damianslaw
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Posted
  • Location: Longden, Shropshire
  • Location: Longden, Shropshire
Just now, damianslaw said:

Snow-wise we did better in Feb 2002, and Jan 2013 gave 8 inches, we only got 4 inches overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday. 

 

Do you mean February 2012?

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Posted
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl
1 minute ago, Don said:

Do you mean February 2012?

Yes - just edited. Mind we only had 5 inches then, it hung around for a few days. We tend to do best from frontal attacks coming off the atlantic - warm fronts and occlusions stalling into cold air. In these set ups, we are prime hotspot! Unfortunately they often mark the transition to mild air.

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Posted
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield
  • Weather Preferences: Any Extreme
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield

Well I've know worst March weather in the seventies with more snow but less cold. However until the end of Feb the winter was remarkable for the lack of snow here. So I would give it 4/10 Most of the marks for the last few days.  

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Posted
  • Location: Essex Riviera aka Burnham
  • Weather Preferences: 30 Degrees of pure British Celsius
  • Location: Essex Riviera aka Burnham

February 2012 on the Essex coast we had around 6 inches of snow from a static Atlantic front in calm conditions and maxima around 0.4c - 1.5c. 9/10 days in duration.

January 2013 - cold to very cold with snowfall not much more than 2 1/2 inches and temps of 0.5c - 3c but around 12/13 days in duration.

February/March 2018 - around 5 inches of snow but much more powdery hence some drifting and slightly colder daytime maxima -1.5c - 1.5c although this spell looks slightly shorter in nature if a thaw sets in tomorrow (Saturday). This spell probably most disruptive. (First ice day since Dec 2010).

 

Edited by Froze were the Days
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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

For Exeter, this event will go down as the best since late December 2010.  As for other areas that I've lived in, for South Tyneside I'd say best since late Nov/early Dec 2010 (although one could also make a case for January 2013), and for Norwich we're probably going back a lot further than that.  For the Thirsk area, again late Nov/early Dec 2010.

This synoptic setup in terms of depth of cold and the frontal attack from the SW has been a throwback to the winters of 1978 and 1979, and the easterly has been the coldest (at least in terms of depth of cold) since 1987, taking the country as a whole (since 1991 in the south), but the November/December 2010 spell exceeds this one for notability given its combination of severity and greater duration.

Edited by Thundery wintry showers
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Posted
  • Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear - 320ft ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold snowy weather in winter. Dry and warm in summer.
  • Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear - 320ft ASL

Obviously depends on your location nationally and even locally things can be very different within a couple of miles.

Its still snowing here in Gateshead and has snowed everyday since last Sunday.

In terms of duration it hasnt matched Feb/Mar 05, Dec/Jan 09/10, Nov/Dec 10, Jan 13 or Mar 13.The days leading up to Sunday 25th were chilly and it was a gradual build up to the main event which was something I enjoyed. It has been a quite severe few days here in Gateshead especially Tuesday and Wednesday, a respectable amount of snow and drifting even at very low elevations. Even roads around Gateshead have been closed because of snow due to the wind. The cold has been notable with three consecutive ice days on Tues/Wed/Thur. 

For this location I would rank it behind Nov/Dec 10 and Dec/Jan 09/10 as they both had the duration, depth of cold and lots of snow. Jan 13 lasted nearly two weeks and was very snowy here but it was very marginal with temps just above freezing a lot of the time and didnt have the potency of this current spell. I would have this spell just ahead of Jan 13, it may not have the duration but it packed more of a punch. Feb/Mar 05 would be next with Mar 13 last. We were just a little bit low and close to the coast in that spell.

One event that rarely gets mentioned but proves its all about right time and place was the northerly of late Feb 04. Here in Gateshead there was around 20cm from a single event during the night Fri 27th. 

 

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Posted
  • Location: South Norfolk, 44 m ASL.
  • Weather Preferences: Varied and not extreme.
  • Location: South Norfolk, 44 m ASL.

In terms of longevity, this was shorter than 2013 and around the same length as 2010; in terms of amount of snow, it's closer to 2004 (though that didn't last as long IIRC).

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Posted
  • Location: Powys Mid Wales borders.
  • Location: Powys Mid Wales borders.

This exceeds even February 1985 for the severe drifting blizzards,biggest drifts on record even surpassing January 1982.

12/10.

Edited by Snowyowl9
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Posted
  • Location: Carmarthenshire
  • Location: Carmarthenshire

For my area I've known it much colder (also cold spells that lasted for much longer) and also with far more snow. However this was the first time that I've seen drifting snow in this area for a long time - even though my area only got around 3 inches there's some very good drifts about. But, generally speaking, it was very average compared to some of the excellent blizzards that I've experienced over the past few decades.

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Posted
  • Location: Saltdean,Nr Brighton,East Sussex,Hither Green,SE London.
  • Location: Saltdean,Nr Brighton,East Sussex,Hither Green,SE London.

The best since 2010 for longevity and depth of cold.

However a shorter burst of cold and snow in January 2013 provided more snow in the South East of England.

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Posted
  • Location: Tunbridge Wells, Kent
  • Location: Tunbridge Wells, Kent

I rate this spell 7th or 8th in my memory, which goes back to 1979. All a bit subjective because there are very few times the whole country gets battered so a lot of the time it depends on location. 

Jan 1987 was the best for me. It was the not the longest spell but it was the most brutal. In some ways 2018 was like a inferior cousin of 1987. A fairly short spell, unprecedented uppers and daytime temperatures, very locally as much snow as 1987 but nowhere near as widespread an event and not quite as severe.

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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.

In this area the most notable feature of the current spell was the severity of the cold so late in the season, at least on Feb' 28th and March 1st. The maximum of -4.2c on  Feb 28th was comparable with the coldest days in any of the winters on my records apart from 1987 the main difference being that the cold spells in winters such as 1979, 1982, 1985 and 1986 lasted much longer.

With regard to snowfall, although there was a lot of drifting in the easterly gale, there have been many much heavier falls and the amount of snow was far less than in Feb' 1956 or 1979, January 1987 or April 1981 to name just four. Overall, if I can make a football analogy, this spell was towards the top of the Championship or at the bottom of the Premiership.

 

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