Southern England snow 1946-78 (part 1)

[Methuselah]

1 minute ago, Weather-history said:

There were some snowfalls during early January 1967

 

The opening of May 1967, some places reported falling snow

I remember that day. I had to convince myself that the snowflakes I could see were not figments of my imagination!

[Summer8906]

51 minutes ago, A Face like Thunder said:

Not particularly relevant but 36 years ago, on 12th January 1987, the daytime temperature never got above -9.1C at Warlingham in Surrey and dropped to 1F (-17C) that night at nearby Coulsdon. That was a cold, snowy month in Surrey, as I well remember!  

More shocking than the temp statistics is that 1987 is 36 years ago.

Go back 36 years from 1987 and you end up in 1951. That really is scary.

[Summer8906]

7 minutes ago, Weather-history said:

There were some snowfalls during early January 1967

 

The opening of May 1967, some places reported falling snow

Thanks for that. Looks like this was in the Birmingham area; while this thread specifically focuses on southern England, it appears from the MWR that the Midlands got snow just about every year at some point.

[Weather-history]

 

4 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

Thanks for that. Looks like this was in the Birmingham area; while this thread specifically focuses on southern England, it appears from the MWR that the Midlands got snow just about every year at some point.

First two pictures are actually from Kent, so we can say parts of Kent had snow cover during early January 1967

Edited January 13, 2023 by Weather-history

[Sunny76]

8 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

More shocking than the temp statistics is that 1987 is 36 years ago.

Go back 36 years from 1987 and you end up in 1951. That really is scary.

Yeah, sort of like how 1980 was 35 years since the Second World War, and 35 years later it’s 2015.

Mind you, 35 years ago from today is 1988, and that feels like a lifetime ago for me.

[SilverWolf]

Have to chime in on this thread! Although I am ‘off topic’  as  I was born in ‘76. I grew up in Gloucester, I hope you don’t mind me sharing my experiences of snow in my early years.

I can’t remember specific winters in the early  80’s in terms of actual years/dates , but I do remember what happened in them. My primary school was approx a mile walk, and I remember several winters in a row it was closed for at least a day or 2, and there would be a number of days (sometimes twice in a winter) where I’d be walking in snow, or treacherously sliding on refrozen half melted or compacted snow. Interestingly I experienced just that for the first time since then really just a few weeks ago (I now live in Stroud). Pavements were lethal here for days! 

I remember at least 2 events early 80’s where heavy rain, even several hours worth, would slowly turn to sleet, and then to heavy snow, and finally it would settle and leave several inches laying . It’s why I always comment when forum users on here say that snow won’t settle after loads of rain. It certainly can! Lamp post watching was essential to see this change - I was doing that when I was prob 5 or 6 years old. 

I also remember snow showers were much more of a thing - these could happen for days in a row. Big snowflakes, sometimes with hail mixed in, sometimes very heavy leaving a covering (which would usually melt quickly if in the day). Also light snow (often big flakes) would fall from blue skies for ages until clouds ‘caught up’. 

It was a tease in Gloucester sometimes though (proper lowland) - some winter periods would be cold with persistent sleet, then you’d see the Cotswolds in the distance were white for days..

Feb 91 was a let down for me. It hammered it down with snow all day, was sent home from school. Went sledging up a local hill. But the snow depth topped out at about 3 inches, and never increased, even with several hours more. 

[Sunny76]

8 minutes ago, SilverWolf said:

Have to chime in on this thread! Although I am ‘off topic’  as  I was born in ‘76. I grew up in Gloucester, I hope you don’t mind me sharing my experiences of snow in my early years.

I can’t remember specific winters in the early  80’s in terms of actual years/dates , but I do remember what happened in them. My primary school was approx a mile walk, and I remember several winters in a row it was closed for at least a day or 2, and there would be a number of days (sometimes twice in a winter) where I’d be walking in snow, or treacherously sliding on refrozen half melted or compacted snow. Interestingly I experienced just that for the first time since then really just a few weeks ago (I now live in Stroud). Pavements were lethal here for days! 

I remember at least 2 events early 80’s where heavy rain, even several hours worth, would slowly turn to sleet, and then to heavy snow, and finally it would settle and leave several inches laying . It’s why I always comment when forum users on here say that snow won’t settle after loads of rain. It certainly can! Lamp post watching was essential to see this change - I was doing that when I was prob 5 or 6 years old. 

I also remember snow showers were much more of a thing - these could happen for days in a row. Big snowflakes, sometimes with hail mixed in, sometimes very heavy leaving a covering (which would usually melt quickly if in the day). Also light snow (often big flakes) would fall from blue skies for ages until clouds ‘caught up’. 

It was a tease in Gloucester sometimes though (proper lowland) - some winter periods would be cold with persistent sleet, then you’d see the Cotswolds in the distance were white for days..

Feb 91 was a let down for me. It hammered it down with snow all day, was sent home from school. Went sledging up a local hill. But the snow depth topped out at about 3 inches, and never increased, even with several hours more. 

Surprised 91 didn’t deliver, as that was probably the second heaviest snowfall event I’ve witnessed in London, next to the January 1987 snowfall.

February 2009, and December 2010 gave decent coverings, but didn’t match the longevity of the 87 or 91 dumps.

[SilverWolf]

2 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

Surprised 91 didn’t deliver, as that was probably the second heaviest snowfall event I’ve witnessed in London, next to the January 1987 snowfall.

February 2009, and December 2010 gave decent coverings, but didn’t match the longevity of the 87 or 91 dumps.

Yeah ‘91 was a disappointment. I know nothing of the synoptics of how it happened, but the problem in Gloucester usually for snow is the fact it’s a vale surrounded by hills, which is also influenced a lot by the Bristol Channel… it kinda stays warm and makes things marginal.
Interestingly the event in December was perfect for not just the Cotswolds where I am now, but also parts of Gloucester city (my parents still live there). The whole county was a few degrees below zero before the snow arrived - and I don’t know this for a fact, but I think the little system that dumped snow here in large volumes seems to be pulling in warmer air (and moisture) from the Bristol Channel. It literally stalled over Stroud and did a small pivot. It snowed for several hours, in a narrow band, which started just a few miles west of me, and stretched about 50 miles to the east. It was perfect! Perhaps that happened in the ‘better’ events I remember when I was very young… 

[Summer8906]

To continue here's 1965 to 1969.

Firstly, to quickly run through the Decembers of the first three years, all (1964, 1965, 1966) appeared to be varying degrees of mild and wet with little of interest in the south.

January 1965 was changeable with a mixture of cold and mild periods, the first few days being cold, then mild and wet from around the 6th to the 17th before becoming colder again for the rest of the month. Two events are mentioned by the MWR as bringing heavy snow to areas of south Wales and southern England, on the 19th (a location in south Wales is mentioned) and the 21st (heavy snow in the Chilterns). It's unclear how much of southern England was affected but quite possibly one or other of these events delivered.

February 1965 was very dry and rather cold. So overall probably yes though it's somewhat unclear exactly what areas the January snow covered.

January and February 1966 seemed to feature a battleground between very mild and wet southwesterlies and cold easterlies much of the time; in that respect there seems to be some similarity to February 1994. In particular the start of January 1966 sounds synoptically very similar to what happened in Feb 1994: Atlantic weather was in charge, but then a frontal system ground to a halt and retreated back westwards, with cold easterlies being in charge from around the 5th to the 20th. The notable event was on the 10th and 11th with a NW-SE moving low which produced heavy snow on Salisbury Plain and "as far east as Long Sutton" (Hampshire), which is roughly between Basingstoke and Farnham. Later in this spell Kent is mentioned as getting heavy snow. It's possible there was an area in between these two areas that got no snow, nonetheless one or other event suggests this is a likely yes.

In late January and in February the mild and wet dominated but there was a short intense cold easterly spell mid month, but not bringing snow to the south.

As noted already above winter 1966/67 seemed to be the mildest of the 60s, with all three months above average in the south. Nonetheless the first 10 days of January provided a little interest, with a northerly outbreak at the start (very similar sounding to that of 1995) followed by a dull cold easterly, which as noted above produced snow in Kent.

February was mostly mild but with some interest mid month, and once again Salisbury Plain and Kent are mentioned as receiving snow, around 3-6cm deep. It's unclear how widespread this was, so one to put down as a maybe.

The 60s ended with two generally cold winters, but in each case there was a rather mild January sandwiched between cold Decembers and Februaries. (The same was also true of 1970).

December 1967 was sunny and generally cold, with occasional wet periods, it appears there was a northerly bias to the wind. Heavy snow is mentioned in the Midlands, Wales and Devon but nothing is mentioned for the south and southeast.

January 1968 was the mildest month of that winter but ironically the only one to deliver definite snow in the south (as already noted above by @A Face like Thunder). The first 12 days were cold and a notable southern England snowfall occurred on the 10th. The rest of the month was mild but not unduly wet, and overall the month was somewhat drier than average.

February 1968 was a persistently cold month and snow is frequently mentioned but not so much in the south. There are no specific southern England snowfalls mentioned, maybe the temperature was marginally too high.

But this winter is a yes due to the event on Jan 10th.

Finally winter 1968/69 and this seems to have been the snowiest to occur between 1963 and 1979. Overall December 1968 was cold and dull with rainfall slightly below average, but the notable event appears to have been Christmas Eve snowfall which appeared to produce a true White Christmas with lying snow. Temperatures remained below average for the remainder of the year.

January 1969 was completely at odds with the character of the winter as a whole. It started cold and anticyclonic for about three days before becoming notably mild and wet. The weather seems to have been rather reminiscent of this month so far!

It does then appear that the weather suddenly changed again going into February, which seems to have been a notably easterly month with low pressure close to the south of England. This meant Scotland was very dry, while southern parts of the UK frequently got snow, though in the south this sometimes fell as rain. Overall the month seemed to be reminiscent, to what I can make out, of December 1995. The heaviest snow was around the 19th, a few days before a temporary thaw occurred.

So 1968/69 is a clear yes with a Christmas taster and an epic spell, at times, in February.

So that's the 60s done (Dec 1969 will be included in the early 70s). From what I gather 1971-76 will be nothing like as interesting but there might be some surprises, I guess.

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by Summer8906

[A Face like Thunder]

Thanks for all your research Summer8906, I've really enjoyed reading about and discussing snowfall in S England, where I lived, in the 1960s. 

As you say, the early 1970s may not be so interesting but here are a few pointers from Philip Eden:

12th Feb and 4 March 1970 - heavy snowfall over S and SE England. I don't remember these specifically but I think we must have been affected in Surrey by one or both of these snowfalls.

25th December 1970 - a memorable White Christmas, with heavy overnight snow (24th/25th)  in Surrey which lay until 28th December.  

1971 - 74 - nothing!

1975 - a memorable Easter with lying snow in Surrey throughout the Easter period from 28th to 31st March. Presumably the memorable 'snow' event on 2nd June 1975 won't count as 'winter' and anyway, it was only sleet in Central London!

1976 - nothing!

  

[Weather-history]

4 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

 

 

December 1967 was sunny and generally cold, with occasional wet periods, it appears there was a northerly bias to the wind. Heavy snow is mentioned in the Midlands, Wales and Devon but nothing is mentioned for the south and southeast.

 

 

Almost a foot of snow at Brighton and the article I posted recently with the photo montage, snow cover was evident in other parts of the south. 

[Summer8906]

1 hour ago, Weather-history said:

Almost a foot of snow at Brighton and the article I posted recently with the photo montage, snow cover was evident in other parts of the south. 

Thanks, sorry must have missed your article, do you have the link?

If so it does indicate that the MWR sometimes does miss detail.

I'm finding the MWRs of 1969 briefer than previous years, and miss out a lot of detail on the movement of weather systems.

Edited January 14, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

4 hours ago, A Face like Thunder said:

Thanks for all your research Summer8906, I've really enjoyed reading about and discussing snowfall in S England, where I lived, in the 1960s. 

As you say, the early 1970s may not be so interesting but here are a few pointers from Philip Eden:

12th Feb and 4 March 1970 - heavy snowfall over S and SE England. I don't remember these specifically but I think we must have been affected in Surrey by one or both of these snowfalls.

Thanks for that, as it happens I've already looked at 1970 but won't include it until I get to 1974. I did note the Feb snowfall and I'd heard previously about the early March snowfall. Feb 1970 seemed to be an unusual month in the sense that it was unsettled but also snowy at times, suggesting a NW-SE flow. Perhaps not unlike Nov 1996, but being nearer the peak snow season was a good deal more snowy.

4 hours ago, A Face like Thunder said:

25th December 1970 - a memorable White Christmas, with heavy overnight snow (24th/25th)  in Surrey which lay until 28th December.  

Had heard of that one too. I seem to remember that for four consecutive years (1968/9 to 1971/2) we had a cold spell over Christmas but January quickly became mild.

4 hours ago, A Face like Thunder said:

1971 - 74 - nothing!

That's kind of what I gathered though Christmas 1970 would count as part of Winter 1970/71 so that cuts down the snowless winters to three. I think January 1974 was one of those extreme wet months of the 1948 and 2014 type, and what this month was threatening to become before the pattern change for this week started appearing in the models. (Incidentally the last time a January of a year ending in '4' was not mild and wet in the south was 1964. I wonder what will happen in 2024?)

4 hours ago, A Face like Thunder said:

1975 - a memorable Easter with lying snow in Surrey throughout the Easter period from 28th to 31st March. Presumably the memorable 'snow' event on 2nd June 1975 won't count as 'winter' and anyway, it was only sleet in Central London!

1976 - nothing!

  

So for winter proper, that will presumably be five consecutive snowless winters in southern England, 1971/2 to 1975/6.

It's still incredible even sleet fell in London in June 1975. That would presumably indicate that proper heavy, lying snow is theoretically possible in the south of England in May. The latest I have ever seen heavy lying snow is just before mid-April: I was exceedingly unlucky to be in the wrong part of the country on 26 April 1981 when there was an epic snowfall in all areas apart from the SE, which I only learnt of many years later.

Edited January 14, 2023 by Summer8906

[Weather-history]

4 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

 

So for winter proper, that will presumably be five consecutive snowless winters in southern England, 1971/2 to 1975/6.

Mid February 1973 had snowfalls which hit the south. Apparently parts of Sussex had their heaviest snowfalls for seven years from one report  I have seen photos of Kent with snow cover. 

Edited January 14, 2023 by Weather-history

[Summer8906]

Just now, Weather-history said:

Mid February 1973 had snowfalls which hit the south. Apparently parts of Sussex had their heaviest snowfalls for seven years from one report  I have seen and photos of Kent with snow cover. 

Thanks, let's see if the MWR describes this. Given winters 1968-70 produced heavy snowfalls, it must have been quite a significant event.

[A Face like Thunder]

The latest snow fall I remember in Surrey was on 1st/2nd May 1979 which followed a long cold, snowy winter. Ian Currie described it thus:

'On 2nd May 1979, winter had one last fling. Two inches of snow lay at the top of Reigate Hill for a time, after a cold night with snow showers and, at Old Coulsdon, tulips were weighed down by the weight of snow'.

I lived near Old Coulsdon on the North Downs and can confirm the snowfall on the evening of 1st May 1979.

[Summer8906]

On 15/01/2023 at 12:05, A Face like Thunder said:

The latest snow fall I remember in Surrey was on 1st/2nd May 1979 which followed a long cold, snowy winter. Ian Currie described it thus:

'On 2nd May 1979, winter had one last fling. Two inches of snow lay at the top of Reigate Hill for a time, after a cold night with snow showers and, at Old Coulsdon, tulips were weighed down by the weight of snow'.

I lived near Old Coulsdon on the North Downs and can confirm the snowfall on the evening of 1st May 1979.

Thanks. We moved down south in August 1979 so would have just missed this! Hence, I can say to this day that I have never seen snow falling in May.

Edited January 22, 2023 by Summer8906