Southern England snow 1946-78 (part 1)

[Summer8906]

It's definitely been many people's observations that "proper" snow (with a good, reasonably thick covering and lasting at least 2 days) has become very rare in southern England since the winter of 1987/88, compared to the 9-year period between 1979 and 1987.

But following the 1958 thread, in which it has been discussed that an unremarkable winter produced two bouts of heavy snow for the south of England, I'm wondering how frequently good snow has fallen in a widespread area southern England (let's say the area south of the M4 east of Bristol, but west of Kent - as Kent does seem to get it more frequently).

The MWR (https://digital.nmla.metoffice.gov.uk/SO_7498a04d-6a40-4207-a27f-772663ffd2fc/)

provides quite a bit of detail for most years.

So I thought I'd produce a summary here (in instalments, with no guarantee of when it will be finished). If you have a personal first-hand memory of good Southern England snow from the winters of 1946 to 1978 (Jan/Feb year) here, feel free to share it. Also I am only covering the three core winter months, at least for now.

So I've looked at the four winters from 1946 to 1949 already, though one barely needs discussing of course.

1946 - a somewhat unremarkable winter with a mix of mild/wet and cold/dry. Feb the wettest month. Cold and dry at times in Jan but little snow out of it. However MWR does describe a heavy snow event towards the end of Feb. So this one is a Yes

1947 - Obviously a yes, I didn't even bother looking at the MWR

1948 - the main feature of this winter was the extremely wet, and also mild and dull January; it sounds very similar to that of 2014. Dec 1947 was a nondescript mild dull month. However Feb 1948 looks to have been the standout month of the winter for something other than mild and wet. First half mild and wet again, but rapid change to anticyclonic mid-month and then cold. Towards the end of the month, MWR mentions a short snowy period with a focus on the SE (Croydon being the most westerly place described, not sure how far west it got) - before a sudden change to warm and dry at the end. So a likely yes depending on how far west the snow got.

1949 - mild and wet December, mild and dry Jan and Feb. Sounds like, possibly, a less extreme version of 1988/89. No significant snow mentioned, so looks like a no for this one.

So a likely 3 out of 4 so far. To be continued.

Edited December 25, 2022 by Summer8906

[Sunny76]

Yes 1987/88 was a changing point in snowfall especially for London and southern regions of England. But, there were a number of snowless winters in the 1970s.

87/88 at the time was a shock, because almost every year since 1977, there were frequent snowfalls even in the south.

[SLEETY]

14 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

Yes 1987/88 was a changing point in snowfall especially for London and southern regions of England. But, there were a number of snowless winters in the 1970s.

87/88 at the time was a shock, because almost every year since 1977, there were frequent snowfalls even in the south.

if i had known after the big freeze up of 87 we would rarely get much snow after,then I would have moved to Tomintoul!

Growing up as a kid in the late 70s to late 80s I thought how great that it snows so much every year.What did I   know!

[A Face like Thunder]

Thanks for the post Summer8906, I shall be interested in seeing the subsequent parts as you post them.

Some snow events in Surrey:

26th April 1950 - an unusual heavy snow event around the North Downs (unusual for its lateness)

1960s - snow most years in what was termed the start of a 'mini ice age'. The exception was 1960/61 which was snow-less where we were in Surrey. 

28th December 1961 to 1st January 1962 - heavy snow where we were and more particularly in the northern Home Counties and Chilterns.

26th December 1962 to 2nd March 1963 -  beginning 60 years ago today, heavy and widespread snow throughout this 10-week period.

8th - 9th January 1968 - heavy and widespread snow, for which I have a photo outside our home in Surrey.   

 

 

[Summer8906]

Part 2 now and the first half of the 1950s.

An interesting bunch of winters by all accounts, none of them particularly well-known to those not around then, but 4 out of 5 had at least a strong possibility of significant southern England snow, and two were definites, according to the Monthly Weather Report. If we consider the spring as well, then all five featured potential snow interest.

Only one of these five winters could be called a mild zonal one and that was 1950.  December - mild, wet in north, dry in south; January dry and a month of two halves - first half mild, second half cold, but no snow. Feb mild and wet. This one looks like a no for snow but if we consider the entire snowy half of the year (Nov-Apr) we could perhaps say yes due to the April event mentioned above by @A Face like Thunder.

The winter of 1951 looked like it was very nearly an epic according to the MWR. December 1950 certainly was a notable month, very cold and the coldest since 1890 in many places. Significant and heavy Southern England snow mid-month and very limited mild weather.

Sadly in Jan and Feb the jetstream appeared to move just that little but too far north. Early Jan looked like it produced further Southern England snow but then it looks like the rest of the winter was mostly dull, wet, rather mild cyclonic SW-lies with huge amounts of rain, though places further north had it better. Nonetheless due to Dec and early Jan snow this one was a yes.

1952 was a very different sort of winter by the looks of things. Another nondescript mild but dry December, followed by a Jan and Feb notable for sunny weather, and both months cold. Some parts of the UK got much snow but the indication seems to be of only light snow for the south, mostly in late Jan. So a maybe for this one - would be interested to hear of anyone who can remember 1952.

1953 was another notable winter by the looks of things, with the emphasis on dry and cold. Notable non-snow features include frosty anticyclonic weather in Dec 1952 which produced the "pea-souper" smog episode, and the damaging storm at the end of January. All three months mention snow but it's unclear whether widespread significant snow fell in the south. So another maybe.

1954 was mixed with the emphasis more and more on cold as the season progressed. Dec 1953 was very mild but also dry, a recurring feature of odd Decembers in this period it seems. Jan 1954 was mixed both in terms of temperature and rainfall, but sunny and it ended up colder than average. MWR mentions heavy snow in the south in late Jan which persisted into Feb. Feb was dull and rather cold overall with possible further snow at the end of the month. So this one looks like a definite yes.

So far the 1950s are looking interesting, then. Moving forward I already know 1955, 1956 and 1958 delivered the goods to varying extent but more of this next time.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2022 by Summer8906

[Chesil View]

In lowland South  Dorset the turning point of winter 1987/88  had its biggest effect in the month of January indeed the county as a whole did not see a significant countywide January snowfall after January 87 until the Thundersnow event of 28th January 2004.  

[Summer8906]

2 hours ago, Chesil View said:

In lowland South  Dorset the turning point of winter 1987/88  had its biggest effect in the month of January indeed the county as a whole did not see a significant countywide January snowfall after January 87 until the Thundersnow event of 28th January 2004.  

You didn't get that heavy but short lived snow on 6 Jan 94? That one was considerably more impressive than the "thundersnow" event where I was, and there were also some light falls (comparable to the "thundersnow") in late Jan 1996.

Edited December 28, 2022 by Summer8906

[A Face like Thunder]

On 26/12/2022 at 11:06, A Face like Thunder said:

Thanks for the post Summer8906, I shall be interested in seeing the subsequent parts as you post them.

Some snow events in Surrey:

26th April 1950 - an unusual heavy snow event around the North Downs (unusual for its lateness)

1960s - snow most years in what was termed the start of a 'mini ice age'. The exception was 1960/61 which was snow-less where we were in Surrey. 

28th December 1961 to 1st January 1962 - heavy snow where we were and more particularly in the northern Home Counties and Chilterns.

26th December 1962 to 2nd March 1963 -  beginning 60 years ago today, heavy and widespread snow throughout this 10-week period.

8th - 9th January 1968 - heavy and widespread snow, for which I have a photo outside our home in Surrey.   

 

 

15th March 1964 - heavy rain turned to snow in the afternoon in Surrey and was thick on the ground for a few days.

Christmas Day 1970 - an unexpected White Christmas cracker, if you will pardon the pun. Most fell between midnight and 2am and caused chaos on the roads as Christmas revellers tried to get home. Also snow on the ground to a lesser extent, CD 1964 and 1968.

 

[Chesil View]

1 hour ago, Summer8906 said:

You didn't get that heavy but short lived snow on 6 Jan 94? That one was considerably more impressive than the "thundersnow" event where I was, and there were also some light falls (comparable to the "thundersnow") in late Jan 1996.

No we didn't. I know the incident your referring to. A very heavy evaporative cooling event which was very impressive in parts of Hampshire and the home counties but we were too far west to benefit.

Edited December 28, 2022 by Chesil View

[Summer8906]

57 minutes ago, A Face like Thunder said:

Christmas Day 1970 - an unexpected White Christmas cracker, if you will pardon the pun. Most fell between midnight and 2am and caused chaos on the roads as Christmas revellers tried to get home. Also snow on the ground to a lesser extent, CD 1964 and 1968.

I've heard of the 1970 event. Perhaps the last "real White Christmas" in the south? If I remember right there was still a little snow on the ground in 1981 but not enough for a real classic "white Christmas". Nonetheless the sunny cold weather was a rarity in itself, the first time I'd experienced such weather on Christmas Day, and would not be repeated until 1992. (That said, the nineties were, as a whole, better for Christmas weather, with decent seasonal conditions also in 1993, 1995 and 1996).

Edited December 28, 2022 by Summer8906

[Methuselah]

15 minutes ago, Chesil View said:

No we didn't. I know the incident your referring to. A very heavy evaporative cooling event which was very impressive in parts of Hampshire and the home counties but we were too far west to benefit.

If that were a Sunday, I might even remember it too (snow events these days are nothing like what they used to be?) ... A few blobs of sleet when I woke up at eightish; but, by the time we'd had breakfast there must have been two-inches of snow on the ground... There was no way we were going to visit my uncle in Chesham that day!

[Summer8906]

1 hour ago, Ed Stone said:

If that were a Sunday, I might even remember it too (snow events these days are nothing like what they used to be?) ... A few blobs of sleet when I woke up at eightish; but, by the time we'd had breakfast there must have been two-inches of snow on the ground... There was no way we were going to visit my uncle in Chesham that day!

That must have been another event, as it was a Thursday.

[Don]

2 hours ago, Chesil View said:

No we didn't. I know the incident your referring to. A very heavy evaporative cooling event which was very impressive in parts of Hampshire and the home counties but we were too far west to benefit.

What about February 15th 1994, when that front moved up from the south giving a period of heavy snow before introducing milder air?  I remember photos of snowmen on Bournemouth beach that day!

The evening of 6th January 1994 IMBY was around 2 inches of snow, but far western parts of Surrey and Hampshire had significantly more!

Edited December 28, 2022 by Don

[Chesil View]

1 hour ago, Summer8906 said:

That must have been another event, as it was a Thursday.

And early evening as played havoc with the rush hour traffic west london and the home counties Ias I recall..

[Summer8906]

4 hours ago, Don said:

What about February 15th 1994, when that front moved up from the south giving a period of heavy snow before introducing milder air?  I remember photos of snowmen on Bournemouth beach that day!

That was a Tuesday. I remember the Sunday was dull and very cold but dry (I was in Bath at the time), then Monday there was some moderate snow before the event you mention came in on the Tuesday. This unexpectedly cut short the cold spell (it was expected to persist all week) though it remained dry with close to average temperatures before a further brief spell of intense cold developed around the 20th-22nd.

A mild and very wet winter overall that one, but notable for these two brief snowy spells. It wasn't until 1995/96 that we got a really good snowy spell, though.

4 hours ago, Don said:

The evening of 6th January 1994 IMBY was around 2 inches of snow, but far western parts of Surrey and Hampshire had significantly more!

I was in east Hampshire on that day, it was very heavy while it lasted, however the air following wasn't especially cold, the temperature perhaps reached 6c or so on the 7th and 8th so it thawed fairly quickly, though not totally until a major storm came through on the 9th.

[Don]

39 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

That was a Tuesday. I remember the Sunday was dull and very cold but dry (I was in Bath at the time), then Monday there was some moderate snow before the event you mention came in on the Tuesday. This unexpectedly cut short the cold spell (it was expected to persist all week) though it remained dry with close to average temperatures before a further brief spell of intense cold developed around the 20th-22nd.

A mild and very wet winter overall that one, but notable for these two brief snowy spells. It wasn't until 1995/96 that we got a really good snowy spell, though.

Yes, the cold really did set in on Sunday with some light flurries during the afternoon where I was in the south east.  However, I'm sure the cold spell was not cut short unexpectedly by the Tuesday event as I remember the Countryfile forecast on Sunday going for less cold weather by mid week.  As you say though, the cold did briefly return the following week.

[I remember Atlantic 252]

5 hours ago, Don said:

What about February 15th 1994, when that front moved up from the south giving a period of heavy snow before introducing milder air?  I remember photos of snowmen on Bournemouth beach that day!

The evening of 6th January 1994 IMBY was around 2 inches of snow, but far western parts of Surrey and Hampshire had significantly more!

Feb '94 was class! a lot of snow here between 23rd and 25th, as well as 13th to 15th, and classic 90's snow to rain event on 3rd

[Don]

20 minutes ago, I remember Atlantic 252 said:

Feb '94 was class! a lot of snow here between 23rd and 25th, as well as 13th to 15th, and classic 90's snow to rain event on 3rd

Yes, February 1994 was a decent month for the Midlands northwards.  However after the largely snowless winters of 1991/92 and 1992/93 it wasn't bad for the south either!

[Relativistic]

On 25/12/2022 at 16:26, Sunny76 said:

Yes 1987/88 was a changing point in snowfall especially for London and southern regions of England. But, there were a number of snowless winters in the 1970s.

87/88 at the time was a shock, because almost every year since 1977, there were frequent snowfalls even in the south.

Sounds like a more-protracted version of my experience as a teenager. I missed the snow in April 2008 as I was abroad, but every year from 2009 to 2013 featured excellent snowfalls. Then 2013/14 came as a massive shock.. especially after 2012/13 spoilt us with five notable snow events (early December, mid-January, early February, early March, late March). I was 17 when 2013/14 rolled around and all I had known through my years at secondary school was winter = snow. I was gutted.

Edited December 30, 2022 by Relativistic

[Chesil View]

On 28/12/2022 at 14:23, Don said:

What about February 15th 1994, when that front moved up from the south giving a period of heavy snow before introducing milder air?  I remember photos of snowmen on Bournemouth beach that day!

The evening of 6th January 1994 IMBY was around 2 inches of snow, but far western parts of Surrey and Hampshire had significantly more!

Yes we did get that. But I was talking about  the demise of January snowfall. Between the exceptional Jan 87 event  and the Thundersnow event of Jan 2004  Dorset did not receive a significant countywide snowfall in the month of January

[Don]

2 minutes ago, Chesil View said:

Yes we did get that. But I was talking about  the demise of January snowfall. Between the exceptional Jan 87 event  and the Thundersnow event of Jan 2004  Dorset did not receive a significant countywide snowfall in the month of January

Just out of interest, do you remember roughly what the snow depths were for you in January 1987?

[Chesil View]

34 minutes ago, Don said:

Just out of interest, do you remember roughly what the snow depths were for you in January 1987?

Down near Coast where I was around about 6 inches but further inland it was drifting through the hedges and I distinctly remember driving to a job north of Wimborne and having to swerve out around drifts several feet deep that were sticking out into the road between Wimborne and Cranborne.

[Don]

1 minute ago, Chesil View said:

Down near Coast where I was around about 6 inches but further inland it was drifting through the hedges and I distinctly remember driving to a job north of Wimborne and having to swerve out around drifts several feet deep that were sticking out into the road between Wimborne and Cranborne.

I had about 6 inches where I was too, so a substantial amount but fell short of the totals in February 2009, January and December 2010.  However, for more eastern parts of Surrey and Kent, it was a different story!

[Bristawl Si]

45 minutes ago, Don said:

Just out of interest, do you remember roughly what the snow depths were for you in January 1987?

Bristol really copped it during the Jan 87 blizzard. I walked into work, about 4 miles; walked back home as the blizzard returned that afternoon. I lived on the Eastern fringe of Bristol, back then; by evening time prob 9-10 inches lying but drifts were huge.

As for the other years, wasnt there 2 weeks of snow on and off during Feb 94 or was it 95? V cold temps as well, so it lay for around 6/7 days i reck.

[Don]

6 minutes ago, Bristle Si said:

Bristol really copped it during the Jan 87 blizzard. I walked into work, about 4 miles; walked back home as the blizzard returned that afternoon. I lived on the Eastern fringe of Bristol, back then; by evening time prob 9-10 inches lying but drifts were huge.

As for the other years, wasnt there 2 weeks of snow on and off during Feb 94 or was it 95? V cold temps as well, so it lay for around 6/7 days i reck.

You're thinking of 1994 as February 1995 was mild, especially in the south.