Need help remembering this April snowfall...

[LetItSnow]

This has evaded me for many years but has been brought back into my memory this morning. I remember a very heavy & (at least to me) very unexpected snowfall occuring in April when I was a young child. I was living in New Ash Green (Northwest Kent) then and remembering it being after dark, so it was late. Heard some commotion from my parents about the weather outside, so I looked out the window only to find a thick covering on everything. It was deep enough that we didn't even have a TV signal! I've heard both 2006 and 2008 had snow events in April so I imagine it must have been these years? I do remember being young, and I was born in 2001. I also remember looking at our old tree (before it got cut down in 2009) in our back garden, and somehow I remember it not really having any leaves on it yet which may support these years as neither had mild Marches. It ranks as one of my most memorably snowy spells as a child. This is the only memory I have of it so it musn't have lasted very long.

[Weather-history]

2 hours ago, LetItSnow! said:

This has evaded me for many years but has been brought back into my memory this morning. I remember a very heavy & (at least to me) very unexpected snowfall occuring in April when I was a young child. I was living in New Ash Green (Northwest Kent) then and remembering it being after dark, so it was late. Heard some commotion from my parents about the weather outside, so I looked out the window only to find a thick covering on everything. It was deep enough that we didn't even have a TV signal! I've heard both 2006 and 2008 had snow events in April so I imagine it must have been these years? I do remember being young, and I was born in 2001. I also remember looking at our old tree (before it got cut down in 2009) in our back garden, and somehow I remember it not really having any leaves on it yet which may support these years as neither had mild Marches. It ranks as one of my most memorably snowy spells as a child. This is the only memory I have of it so it musn't have lasted very long.

Sounds like 5th/6th April 2008

 

[Summer8906]

Indeed, settling snow even in the far south on the Sunday morning -  the only snow of that autumn-winter-spring season, in fact.

Enough snow to produce completely covered ground though the (strong) sun came out from mid-morning so it thawed rapidly, though it was still cold for the time of year with single-figure temps.  Just two days before we had a three-day fine spell with the temps approaching 20, before a very sudden change Friday into Saturday.... precisely why spring is (in the NW European climate) my favourite time of year. Spring 2008 had its issues (March was very windy and zonal - not at all springlike - and we had to wait until the 31st before the clocks went forward)... but this was an interesting spell and the rest of the spring was generally better than what had gone before.

Edited October 17, 2021 by Summer8906

[LetItSnow]

Thanks for this. This sounds about right. I seem to hold more weather memories of 2008 than any other year from my very young childhood.

Indeed there is another weather event that happened during this year which I remember very well but not sure if it deserves its own thread, maybe you could help. Some vicious thunderstorms in what I believe to be August. I was at my aunts house (in the same area)  and remember it being a warm but not overly hot day when in the evening a massive dark cloud to the north of us loomed over the sky. What’s weird about this one is that I think the storm was moving north to south. It started in the evening but I remember storms rumbling on through until after dark. I seemed to think it was the same storm as in the evening but it may have been a different one. Always struck me as unusual as the storm was coming from the north, and I don’t remember it being a hot day at all. In my head I have this date of Aug. 7th but that could be completely wrong. 

It wasn’t the favourite of all but I think 2008 was quite an enjoyable and interesting year for weather. Indeed, fond memories of the weather from 2008-2013.

12 hours ago, Weather-history said:

Sounds like 5th/6th April 2008

 

 

[MP-R]

Could also have been April 2006 - an area of snow affected that area overnight 09th/10th.

British Isles weather diary

WWW.MET.READING.AC.UK

---

weather observations

'During the early hours of the 10th a small trough over SE England brought some snow to areas between Hampshire and Kent; in parts of Kent and Sussex as much as 15cm fell in places. 23.9mm of precipitation fell in the 24 hours ending at 0900GMT at Benfleet (Essex)'

[LetItSnow]

Thanks. I’m actually slightly inclined to go with 2006 as reports from 2008 say the snow arrived by dawn but if memory serves me correctly this was somewhere between 8-11pm at night. So I actually think it was Apr. 2006!

3 minutes ago, MP-R said:

Could also have been April 2006 - an area of snow affected that area overnight 09th/10th.

British Isles weather diary

WWW.MET.READING.AC.UK

---

weather observations

'During the early hours of the 10th a small trough over SE England brought some snow to areas between Hampshire and Kent; in parts of Kent and Sussex as much as 15cm fell in places. 23.9mm of precipitation fell in the 24 hours ending at 0900GMT at Benfleet (Essex)'

 

[Summer8906]

On 17/10/2021 at 19:14, LetItSnow! said:

Thanks for this. This sounds about right. I seem to hold more weather memories of 2008 than any other year from my very young childhood.

Indeed there is another weather event that happened during this year which I remember very well but not sure if it deserves its own thread, maybe you could help. Some vicious thunderstorms in what I believe to be August. I was at my aunts house (in the same area)  and remember it being a warm but not overly hot day when in the evening a massive dark cloud to the north of us loomed over the sky. What’s weird about this one is that I think the storm was moving north to south. It started in the evening but I remember storms rumbling on through until after dark. I seemed to think it was the same storm as in the evening but it may have been a different one. Always struck me as unusual as the storm was coming from the north, and I don’t remember it being a hot day at all. In my head I have this date of Aug. 7th but that could be completely wrong.

 

I do remember there was one brief warm day on (I think) August 6th 2008 in what was a poor month overall, at least up to the 20th. I seem to remember polar maritime air came in after the warm weather, and that such weather was present on Aug 7th. Here, I recall it being a dry and fairly sunny day but it's certainly conceivable that thundery showers and storms developed further north.

 

Edited October 19, 2021 by Summer8906

[damianslaw]

Enjoyed the last 4 months of 2008 but the rest not so.. often very wet, Jan very mild and Feb, summer a write off.

April 06 brought a wintry spell early in the month it came in the back of a very cold March up until the last week or so. Quite enjoyed winter 05-06 dry sunny and often cold, very frosty. Had a run if years ending in 6 that have brought often settled cold conditions first 4 months, 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2016.

[LetItSnow]

36 minutes ago, damianslaw said:

Enjoyed the last 4 months of 2008 but the rest not so.. often very wet, Jan very mild and Feb, summer a write off.

April 06 brought a wintry spell early in the month it came in the back of a very cold March up until the last week or so. Quite enjoyed winter 05-06 dry sunny and often cold, very frosty. Had a run if years ending in 6 that have brought often settled cold conditions first 4 months, 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2016.

The exceptional second half of 2006 must have come as a shock as up until May I think it was the coolest start to a year since 2001. It even took until the 3rd of May that year to reach 20degC, then the following day was the earliest 27degC reading since 1995; a sign of things to come... Will do a historic thread on this exceptional warm spell of 2006/2007.

Edited October 19, 2021 by LetItSnow!

[Summer18]

I remember we had snow showers in April 2005, it was really fleeting (possibly around the 8th?). We had more substantial snow in April 2006, a Sunderland match was abandoned because of heavy snow that month. 2008 I can’t remember April at all but the heavy snow Easter that year which was in March stands out.