Winter 2001/2002 : From Hero to Villian

[LetItSnow!]

Some recent talks and model output has brought forth this rather bizarre and extremely dissapointing winter to my mind.

 

The winter of 2001/2002 started with the coldest December for five years and a promising chance for a decent winter going forward. How wrong that was to be.

 

The winter began on a warm note (an omen?) with a minimum temperature of 13.6C at Buxton in Norfolk. The first six days were generally mild and changeable but things started to change by the 7th as high pressure rapidly built in from the southeast.

This began a spell of crystal clear skies and very cold temperatures, though not everywhere stayed blue. Freezing fog was common during this time with temperatures barely above freezing. Ringway had a high of just 0.2C on the 11th. Mild air aloft did keep Ireland and the far southwest much milder than the rest of the country and ironically on the same day Valentia was just 0.2C off the all-time December high at 14.8C.

Subtle changes in upper air temperatures lead to some wintry showers breaking out around mid-month. The temperature fell to -8.8C in Chipstead Valley, Surrey.

A retrogression of the high lead to a northerly flow and more unsettled conditions. By the 22nd more widespread wintry showers broke out, mainly on the east coast though even parts of the Midlands saw snow. More general snow fell in parts of the north on the 23rd. That day also saw the lowest temperature in Penzance since January 1997 with a relatively frigid -2.6C.

Christmas Day 2001 saw bands of snow showers push south across Scotland, Northern Ireland and into parts of northeast England too, even as far south as the Midlands. More general snow fell on the 26th across Scotland and Northern Ireland, widely falls of 10cm and fresh winds saw "treacherous" conditions in the latter country. Snow began causing problems to many places in Scotland by the 27th with Aberdeen Airport having to close as well as Inverness Airport. Further snow impacted Scotland on the 28th and blustery winds cut power to many parts of England.

Come the closing days of 2001 the snow began to affect more southern areas, though not to the extent it had done Scotland. The year ended on a very cold, frosty and sunny note with bits of snow here and there. The coldest daily C.E.T. of the month was recorded on the very last day of the month, -0.7C. On this day, Tulloch Bridge fell to -11.9C.

Overall, December 2001 was a cold month with a C.E.T. of 3.4, the coldest since 1996. More remarkably was how sunny it was, being the sunniest December on record, beating the previous record of December 1962 by 15 hours. The country averaged 2.4 hours of sunshine a day.

 

The new year began exceptionally cold, though aloft things were beginning to change. Alas, on the ground there was sharp frost and even freezing fog. Stratford Mortimer saw its lowest temperature since January 1987 with -8.5C.

The high began sinking into Europe even more by the 5th, though many areas of England and Wales remained very cold with only a gentle thaw. The first part of January 2002 was very cloudy with lots of mist and fog but generally remained cold. A shock from the abundant sunshine of December 2001.

The pattern of the winter began to show its hand by the 9th with the last of any remaining snow and frost clearing, though still remaining very cloudy, misty and even foggy at the surface with patches of rain. Oddly enough on this day a thunderstorm with hail struck Torquay.

By the 13th the winter was effectively over as winds from the Atlantic began to blow the mist and fog away and any remaining chill. The middle third of January 2002 was generally unsettled and mild but with a few chillier days here and there. The true nature of the winter was yet to arrive in full.

Very moist southwesterly winds began to dominate from the 20th. The final third of January 2002 was dominated by strong winds, often from the southwest, heavy thundery rain and gale force winds. A tornado damaged up to 100 homes in Alsager near Crewe at 7:30AM on the 26th. Reports in Alsager said a "wall of water" carved a pathway 20 yards wide through a housing estate in the Close Lane area. By the 27th nighttime temperatures were no lower than 12 or 13C in places. An unusual fall of maggots occured in the rain at Porthtowan in Cornwall also on the 27th leaving the town covered and water barrels filled with them. Nasty.

The 28th was a violent day with 8 people killed due to stormy weather and almost 100,000 UK homes without power. "At least it will be mild" as 15C was recorded in Gravesend on the 30th.

January 2002 overall was a mild month but not exceptionally so. This was down to very cold opening third. The C.E.T. to the 10th was 1.7C, for the remainder of the month it was a balmy 7.3C. The overall C.E.T. was 5.5. It was a very wet month in Scotland but closer to normal in England due to the anticyclonic first 11 days.

Misery from flooding rains and extremely strong winds opened up February 2002. A major storm battered the country on the 1st into the 2nd leading to disruption country-wide from the strength of the wind and the amount of rain. Cheltenham never fell below 11C on the 2nd. The River Wye burst its bank on the 4th.

Exceptionally mild, wet and windy just about prevailed into the middle third of the month. The period from the 13th of January to the 12th of February averaged a C.E.T. of a whoppinh 8.0, proving that an 8C January is possible one day. Most days in this period were between 11-15C by day and barely any lower by night. Further bouts of torrential frontal rain and gale force winds ravaged the country during this period. Parts of Yorkshire had already recorded over 150% of the monthly rainfall by the 11th. The C.E.T. up to the 12th was a remarkable 8.6C.

A change quickly came in time for Valentine's Day and the rest of February 2002 was much more down to earth. The 15th saw the first frost across England and Wales for over a month, a month and a half in places.

Unlike a usual February, temperatures generally declined the further into the month. The 23rd was a very stormy day with outbreaks of heavy snow in places across Scotland. A rare occurence of thundersnow took place in Felixstowe. Where the snow didn't fall came big hailstorms. It was severe enough to cause two pileups, one in Durham and another near Dishforth, the former sadly killing 1 person and the latter having a 23 car pile up.

The month ended generally cold in the north, mild in the south, unsettled everywhere. Multiple buildings had their rooves blown off on the 26th. It was generally a very thundery end to the month in places as well with particularly widespread thundery showers with hail in the south on the 28th. Penzance's high of 8.5C on the 27th made it the "coldest" day since the 10th of January.

February 2002 overall was an exceptionally warm and wet month, though temperatures were close to average in the far north. A less mild second-half was nowhere near enough to offset the freakish warmth in the first-half and overall the C.E.T. was 7.0. Rainfall was as much as three times the normal in many places.

Early March 2002 saw some quite chilly weather for a short time but it didn't last. Interestingly, the daily C.E.T. for the 2nd of March was 3.1C, the lowest mean since the 9th of January which was 2.5C. It didn't last as March 2002 would go on to be another very mild month, but less exceptional than January and February.

 

So what caused it to go wrong? Don't blame a cold American winter! They suffered with us too. The North American winter of 2001/2002 was remarkably mild and snowless, though punctuated by the occaisonal freak snow/icestorm. Their mild weather began in November though. The run of warmth they had from November 2001 to February 2002 may still be unmatched.

For the Northern Hemipshere it appears that 2002 was The Year without a Winter.

I hope 2023 doesn't follow in its footsteps! Share your memories of this winter if you have any. I certainly don't! I turned 1 in February 2002.

Edited December 24, 2022 by LetItSnow!

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Certainly remember it! Thurs 20th Dec, last ever show on Atlantic 252, presented by Enda Caldwell, then a week of just music until midnight on 3rd Jan 2002, crappy TeamTalk 252

very cold spell then too, very like Dec 2022

[LetItSnow!]

2 minutes ago, I remember Atlantic 252 said:

Certainly remember it! Thurs 20th Dec, last ever show on Atlantic 252, presented by Enda Caldwell, then a week of just music until midnight on 3rd Jan 2002, crappy TeamTalk 252

very cold spell then too, very like Dec 2022

From memory of you talking about it I'm assuming that was a dance radio station? Love some of those tracks from that era. Captured a vibe that you don't get anymore in most dance music.

 

Looking at the stats (my thing) I think December 2022 brought much more snow than 2001 did but I think the cold was more persistent during December 2001. December 2001 with some more blizzards and deeper cold would have been the perfect winter month for me. Less said about the other two months the better!

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Dec 2001, not snowy here, or Jan '02, non stop rhythm and dance radio station, Feb 2000-Jan 2002

[Summer8906]

I remember this one very much as described.

Along with 1981, 1995, 1996, and 2010, in the top five Decembers of my lifetime. Very sunny, I remember that well. (And no, December 2022 will not be in that list, or even in the top 10).

Also notable for being only one of about three sunny New Year's Eves in my remembered lifetime (the others being 1979 and, to a degree, 1984), such is the tendency for dull weather as the year changes, even more so than earlier in December. Sunny, frosty and cold but ironically felt pleasant in the sun due to the lack of a wind. New Years Day was similar; the only other sunny New Year's Days in my remembered lifetime being 1980, 1985, 1995 (with snow showers) and 2010 - though 1994 and 2009 had duller New Year's Eves.

Down here the real cold only held on until Friday 4th Jan. The first three days were very sunny and frosty, the 4th was cold, dull and misty but from the 5th it became milder, probably marginally above average, and still dull and misty. It gradually, if I remember right, became milder and milder as time went on and I do seem to remember one day of a rogue convective shower, coinciding with that report from Torquay on the 9th. An upper cold pool, I presume. The misty if now mild weather lasted until about the weekend of the 12th/13th before the really unsettled weather moved in. One Saturday I remember having a strong cold front with strong winds in the morning followed by a drop to average and scattered heavy showers - I'd guess this was the 19th.

The worst phase of the winter, as you noted above, was end of Jan beginning of Feb, with almost permanent Tm dullness and a lot of drizzle and moderate rain. I'm actually surprised there was heavy rain in some locations in this setup, as the warm air was so dominant and there were no polar outbreaks which ought to have been necessary to produce heavier rainfall.

I think things got a little better as early as around Feb 6th down here as I do seem to remember the wind shifting a little more WNW-ly with brighter and less mild weather. There was a mid-month anticyclone with frosty nights but somewhat mild days, peaking around the weekend of the 16th/17th. I do then remember a deterioration to more unsettled weather at the end though don't remember any specific events.

As for spring, I remember March was mild and cloudy but turned sunnier and drier at the end, April was sunny and dry until the very end when it became cool, dull and wet, and May had a dry first 12 days followed by a pretty dire cool and very wet period until almost the end of the month.

So definitely the winter of disappointment overall, though the warm uppers in the charts around the new year show that warm uppers can still produce cold and frosty at the surface. With recent GFS runs possibly showing this tendency early in the new year, this gives us some hope, perhaps.

Edited December 24, 2022 by Summer8906

[Summer18]

Memories are quite sketchy but I remember the cold and sunny weather before Christmas. We had a few snow showers when I broke up for the school holidays on the 21st. The Saturday before Christmas was a very snowy day and it stuck on the ground until around Boxing Day. New Years Day I do recall being freezing.

The rest of the winter was really wet, I think around early February the river Wharf in Otley burst its banks near my school. I used to play a lot of football that winter and all I remember is playing in complete mud baths. It was around this time I started becoming interested in the weather, can’t believe it’s 21 years ago! 

[SqueakheartLW]

I remember this one well and the period between 19th December 2001 and 5th January 2002 was the only real cold highlight of the winter although the December was very sunny for a winter month.

After a milder first half to the month in general it was after mid month when the fun and games started for cold.

19th December 2001

This was the opening "teaser" Arctic northerly that set up mid week on Wednesday 19th December 2001. Although I remember no real precipitation at this stage there was a brief cold snap that was probably about 24 hours long at most which gave a few isolated snow showers near the east coast and a cold frosty night between 19th and 20th.

20th December 2001

It turned briefly less cold as the winds switched back to off the N Atlantic once more but it was only around 6 or 7C as a max but changes were showing to the north as the main pre Christmas Arctic shot was brewing up ready to pounce.

21st December 2001

Temp changes during 21st December 2001

Transition day as I recall as the cold front came south, introducing the Arctic air. Although I personally had no snow on this day I think some areas in the north did. It unusually started mildest in the north and slightly frosty in the south but by the end of the day central and northern parts were at or below freezing whist it was relatively mild in the south still in the warm sector.

22nd December 2001

 

My snowiest day of the whole of winter 2001/02 was this day with the 30th a close 2nd. The precipitation chart doesn't really do this day much justice to be fair and the snow got a lot further inland than that chart suggests.

23rd December 2001

 

A pre Christmas transitional snow event fail as far as I was concerned. Remember the forecast showing snow for my region late on 23rd December into the overnight period but it just rained instead and I was disappointed.

24th December 2001

 

Yet another of those less cold, relatively brief "milder" interludes dominated Christmas Eve but the 3rd and most long lived cold shot was about to arrive just in time for Christmas Day

25th December 2001 to 30th December 2001

Generally a cold or very cold period with the only snow for me coming with that trough that pushed down the North Sea on the 30th, arriving in my area during the evening, otherwise a lot of cold and sunny days with frosty nights and I think some were double digit negative minimums as well.

 

THE WINTER KILLER AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED IS COMING UP

SSW event late December 2001

All whilst the fun and cold games were going on at the surface and the trop pattern was very much set up to deliver shots and spells of cold another significant event was taking place much higher up.

Normally we would be seeing this and thinking hurray, this is winter guaranteed now until at least March and with such a good start what could possibly go wrong.

Well everything did after this and generally if we have a blocking pattern in place when the SSW hits we are much more likely to revert back to the default zonal pattern. What we didn't need during this stage of December 2001 when everything was set up for cold was the SSW to come along and shake up the pattern.

It did just that and shuffled everything in a bad way for us and set us up for the mild borefest of January and February 2002.

 

31st December 2001 to 5th January 2002

The last proper cold part of this winter was to see in the new year. Despite uppers getting some way above freezing it remained cold at the surface under the inversion and it struggled to get above freezing really until the 5th when the milder air started to arrive.

6th January 2002 to 23rd January 2002

Generally mild and unsettled. Not much to say about this really other than winter was very much over with.

24th and 25th January 2002

 

 

I only included these 2 days specifically as transitional snow was predicted to fall from a passing warm front as the next system came in from the west. I think it delivered for Scotland and the far NE of England but other eastern areas of England were also expected to get some snow from this event in the morning but it was a big fail and a disappointment.

26th January 2002 to 19th February 2002

The most mild borefest part of the winter was this period with insane maximums and minimums really throughout. 2nd half of December 2001 and early January 2002 were fast becoming a forgotten element of the winter.

20th February and 23rd February 2002

  

Winter 2001/02's last hurrah happened on these 2 specific days when we saw 2 very brief Arctic shots to remind us that we were still in winter and not autumn.

The first and less potent of the 2 brief Arctic shots was midweek and produced a day with a mix of rain, sleet and wet snow in an area of showers that pushed down eastern areas.

After a relatively brief warm up on the 21st and 22nd the more potent of the brief northerly shots arrived. This one sent a band of snow south which deposited a temporary slight covering.

That was it for winter after this and I saw no more snow until just into the new year of 2003 after this event.

Edited December 30, 2022 by SqueakheartLW

[LetItSnow!]

Looks as the mention of it has jinxed this winter as we appear to following a similar route! 

[Weather-history]

7 hours ago, LetItSnow! said:

Looks as the mention of it has jinxed this winter as we appear to following a similar route! 

Temperature wise maybe but for a lot of other things, we have gone the opposite route.

Rainfall, storminess, pressure anomalies. The complete opposite. 

[A Face like Thunder]

On 24/12/2022 at 10:17, I remember Atlantic 252 said:

Certainly remember it! Thurs 20th Dec, last ever show on Atlantic 252, presented by Enda Caldwell, then a week of just music until midnight on 3rd Jan 2002, crappy TeamTalk 252

very cold spell then too, very like Dec 2022

Ah yes, Atlantic 252, I remember it well. "A Proton car for caller 25 providing they remember the slogan, I listen to Atlantic 252".  I'm sure I was caller 26!