Winter 2008-09

[Summer18]

This winter has been overshadowed by following years but this was the first decent winter (for cold & snow) for years.

We had snow in the first week of December that set the ball rolling, it actually closed my school for the first time in years if I remember correctly. The end of December into January was really cold, dry and frosty. Can’t remember the rest of January but then of course we had really heavy snowfall at the beginning of February. We had showers of snow on Sunday 1st and overnight into the 2nd. It stayed on the ground for a good 10 days or so. I know In London this event  was really noteworthy. 

By historic standards it wasn’t really memorable but after so many mild years it started a change to colder weather which lasted until spring 2013. Interested to hear your memories from this year. Makes me feel old that it was 13 years ago already! 

[Summer8906]

Yes, the first winter to feature lying snow in the south for any length of time since, I think, 1995/96, so that was quite an event in itself. However 2005/06 was coldish at times too.

December was cold but uneventful, with three distinct periods: frosty and very sunny for the first week, then a mild cloudy middle third, before a dull but cold and dry final third. This produced a rare settled New Years Eve/Day as this weather continued into January, but it became sunnier and still colder.

Last cold day was the 10th - a Saturday - which was foggy with all-day frost, before a very sudden change to mild weather on the 11th. Initially mild and dry, it then became less mild but wet and windy for perhaps two weeks. I remember we dodged the bullet with a couple of very nasty storms going south over France and Spain, but we were on the northern edge here so we got the rain but not the wind.

At the end of January an easterly developed and pushed the active Atlantic back into, well, the Atlantic, and February 1st had the full on easterly. It was cold with snow flurries but on Feb 2nd we had proper settling snow in two waves, one in the morning and one late afternoon.

On the 3rd the easterly was replaced by an unusually cold SW-ly which I think had come all the way round a low just to the north, so was a modified easterly. This produced wet snow showers but these then melted the lying snow somewhat, and soon after that there was a thaw, here in south Hampshire at least. There was then a rather unsettled but still fairly cold period until mid-month with several cold rain episodes - but further north in Surrey for instance round Guildford there was extensive lying snow on Saturday 7th still.

Then a complete change for the second half of February, which was mild, bright and spring like. The sun was so strong, in fact, on Sat 21st that I felt its strength as late as 4pm, quite something for meteorological winter.

A good winter overall, and it was nice to have the most pronounced mild period (late Feb) where it could do the most benefit.

[Norrance]

My main memory of this Winter was the threatened red warning of snow for us on the 2nd Feb as a depression drifted northwards up the North Sea. The warnings said at least 30 cms but it picked a up a warm sector as it came up giving a mild layer above. It started briefly as snow then turned to heavy rain before finishing again briefly as snow Despite the heavy rain the snow that was ready lying did not all melt away. 
Conversely on the 12th Feb a snow quickly turning to rain forecast for us remained as snow all day in a small area of East Central Scotland giving us locally a fall of around 18cms. A small consolation for the big failure of the 2nd/3rd.

[MP-R]

On 14/12/2021 at 14:57, Summer8906 said:

 

On the 3rd the easterly was replaced by an unusually cold SW-ly which I think had come all the way round a low just to the north, so was a modified easterly. This produced wet snow showers but these then melted the lying snow somewhat, and soon after that there was a thaw, here in south Hampshire at least. There was then a rather unsettled but still fairly cold period until mid-month with several cold rain episodes - but further north in Surrey for instance round Guildford there was extensive lying snow on Saturday 7th still.

Then a complete change for the second half of February, which was mild, bright and spring like. The sun was so strong, in fact, on Sat 21st that I felt its strength as late as 4pm, quite something for meteorological winter.

A good winter overall, and it was nice to have the most pronounced mild period (late Feb) where it could do the most benefit.

Did you just get rain from the succession of Channel Lows after the initial easterly? We had two more snowfalls on the 05th and 06th and again on the 08th (the latter from the west).

The cold stormy first ten days of March were a bit of a shock after such a benign springlike spell in February. Another case of the strongest wind of the 'winter' here coming in early March, then a brief cold snap with some late snow falling (not lying) on the 04th.

[damianslaw]

First fairly cold winter since 95-96 overall, though first 6 weeks of 96-97 were cold. Three distinct cold periods, very end November to mid December, late Dec to about 11th Jan, first half of February. Not much snow here though, the most we had was a couple of inches at best - but very frosty. Mid Dec was very wet and mild, second half of Jan average temps and quite wet, fair bit of snow on the fells, second half of Feb remember being very mild. A very topsy turvy interesting winter. 

[Summer8906]

13 hours ago, MP-R said:

Did you just get rain from the succession of Channel Lows after the initial easterly? We had two more snowfalls on the 05th and 06th and again on the 08th (the latter from the west).

Yes, just rain after the initial snow. Two snowfalls on Monday 2nd, wet snow showers from that strange easterly-returning-as-a-southwesterly on the 3rd, and then a thaw though I can't remember the exact date of the thaw. One rain episode I do remember was the 8th (which you mention) because that was a Sunday so I can remember what I was doing. There was another as well, the following week I think, accompanied by strong winds, which I do remember giving a snowstorm on the hills above Exeter and blocked the A30. Sat 14th was the last coldish day (but fine) and then spring arrived on the 15th.

It looks like the Surrey and north Hampshire area did get snow on the 5th/6th as there was snow cover on Saturday 7th.

13 hours ago, MP-R said:

The cold stormy first ten days of March were a bit of a shock after such a benign springlike spell in February. Another case of the strongest wind of the 'winter' here coming in early March, then a brief cold snap with some late snow falling (not lying) on the 04th.

I often forget about that episode, as it was transient and was a brief interruption to otherwise near-constant fine, warm weather which prevailed from mid-February until late April.

Edited December 15, 2021 by Summer8906

[reef]

2008/09 was notable for being the coldest since 1995/96 here, but was a poor winter for snow in this neck of the woods. Apart from a dusting on the 2nd December there was no snow at all until 1st February. January had no falling or lying snow whatsoever. The first half of February was decent, but only had a 0.5cm covering on the 1st and then a 4cm cover on the evening of the 12th which lasted less than 12 hours as milder air came in. The second half of February started a spring that was the most homogenously above average I can remember but never really warm. Indeed we didnt reach above 21C until 23rd June!

I think the winter is more highly regarded in southern areas due to the easterly in first half of February, but here it was a dud.

Edited December 15, 2021 by reef

[Billy Hicks]

From a London perspective 2nd February 2009 really did feel like a once-in-a-generation event at the time, the most snow in the capital since February 1991 and a time when the weather itself was the headline story of the day. I recently uploaded a photo of Wembley from the day on social media, and from the comments it was striking how many remember this exact day and what they did - it's the extreme opposite of 25th July 2019, which is equally one many will recall for some time for different reasons.

The next two winters receiving significant snow flurries of their own was utterly astonishing after a run of comparatively mild winters in the 2000s, to the point where it almost seemed a shame when 2011 bowed out with no snow event at all (to the point I genuinely don't remember seeing a single flake that year). Then from memory an extremely long snowless gap after the infamous arctic winter of early 2013 - winters in the mid-2010s were instead wet and windy, and I can't remember another day of significant snow until December 2017, a precursor to the more widely-remembered BftE a couple months later.

[HafrenLMP1]

Overshadowed by the following winters, but produced a few snow events. I can recall three, and they're all connected to me spectating at car rallies. 

The first was early November in Clocaenog forest - a a normal drive from the North West into North Wales, and everything normal, until you see the hills completely white - the forest was like a winter wonderland.

Then Rally GB in early December and mid and south Wales had a decent amount of snow; in fact, a few stages were cancelled due to the safety vehicles being unable to get through the stages - yet at home in the North West it was snow free as usual. 

Finally, early February, and a trip to the Forest of Dean - and again it was only on the drive down the M6/M5, that the snow appeared - and again it was like a winter wonderland; I can recall the drive home and England being bowled out for 55 by the Windies in Jamaica.

[shunthebartlett92]

I remember having some decent snowfall in the midlands during this winter, possibly in december time whilst at sixth form, and getting sent home early. Circa December 08 but i'm sure someone can verify this? We had a good 10cm snowfall one of the days anyway. But yes, i do remember it was better than some of the winters that had preceded it, although February 07 from a midlands pov will always live long in my memory, one of the best snowfalls ive seen in this region.