Favourite Januaries

[damianslaw]

I posted a thread about favourite Novembers, so why not Januaries, a month that with November probably tops the league of most people's lists of least favourite months overall from a general perspective.. Feb probably beats Nov into second place, January I expect tops most lists.

January gets a bad wrap, and along with December can be thoroughly wet grey and often very mild.

Jan 2010 was the last true cold January, Jan 13 produced a 2 week cold spell, but otherwise most Januaries since 1987 have brought minimal severe cold or much snow, late Jan 96 excepted.

Anyhow some people may like Jan to be mild or wet or sunny or cold or dull or dry or snowy ..

I do prefer Jan to be the king winter month with frost snow and cold, Jan 10 has to be top of the list for me.. slightly too young to remember 85 or 87, the cold zonal Jan 84 looked very memorable.

Honourable mentions to 1991, 1996 ( 21st onwards), 97 ( first 10 days), 2001, 2009, 2013 and 2021.

Interested to read views and perspectives. 

Edited January 7 by damianslaw

[reef]

January is perhaps the most disappointing of the winter months for me nowadays. If you take out 2010 and 2013, there have only been four days of lying snow in the last 20 years here - one each in 2007, 2008, 2017 and 2019. All of these were less than 1cm. Even with 2010 and 2013 included, that's only a third of the years with lying snow. The average number of days with snow lying at 0900 has dropped to just 1.5 days in January now. For some reason it is the least snowy of the three winter months.

Its slim pickings but 2010 is probably my favourite, closely followed by 2004. 2022, though snowless ranks highly as it was cool, dry and sunny with few gales.

 

[Frigid]

Jan 2010, 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2021 all brought great snow events for here. 2010 was brutally cold. The 5th was incredibly snowy. The 7th saw lows around -15C and highs at -6C. After that, it pretty much stayed cold but not severely. 2013 was a pretty snowy, cold month with a two week spell of below average temperatures. 2015 was quite westerly but strangely had a lot of cold, frosty nights. The 29th saw a pretty major snow event from a north-westerly. 2019 was pretty chilly after a mild December, with a very cold final week. The 30th saw a great snow event, with accumulations totalling 5-10cm. 2021 saw many frosts and snow days, most notably the 20th and 23rd. The 20th started off very mild with morning temps around 10C, by the time it got to 9PM it rapidly dropped to 0C and with it came an intense snow event. 23rd was another pretty good event, with a few hours of continuous snowfall. 

If I was to rate these years it'd go like this. Best to worst

1. 2010

2. 2021

3. 2013

4. 2019

5. 2015

[cheeky_monkey]

why would Jan top peoples list of favourite months?..has to be my least favourite..horrible month cold dark and cold 

[Methuselah]

I guess my favourite Januarys would be 1963 and 1985. 

[damianslaw]

24 minutes ago, cheeky_monkey said:

why would Jan top peoples list of favourite months?..has to be my least favourite..horrible month cold dark and cold 

Ah yes not well worded, I meant in terms of general feel it would be top worse month.. Ive probably confused people. 

[Somerset girl]

January weather wise can be disappointing,  but today isn't ( its my birthday today) .

The sun has been shining and it has a wintery feel to it. 

I love crispy cold January's,  offhand can't remember which year I m afraid , but I do love a good gale in January,  1990 springs to mind , lights went off and had tea by candlelight :-) .

1987 was raw with wind chill factor , I remember mid January 2002 or 2004 being sunny as well . 

 

[A Face like Thunder]

1962 - first snow for 5-6 years largely spent in the Tropics

1963 - need I say more!

1987 - walking along a S London main street in the snow with not a car in sight

2010 - a winter wonderland in S Cheshire.

Edit - agree with you Somerset girl, January 1990 and the Burns Day gale, my first taste of gales in my new home at Blackpool. The waves from the seafront were spectacular and frightening.

 

Edited January 8 by A Face like Thunder

[Rob 79812010]

1979 and 2010. 79 got an extra 3 weeks off school. Yes schools did close in the 'good old days' contrary to what some claim. Jan 5th 2010 working from home followed by the biggest freeze I've ever known. Minus 18 at night. And snow on ground for a week. Might not sound amazing but believe me it us for Manc

[Rob 79812010]

57 minutes ago, Frigid said:

Jan 2010, 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2021 all brought great snow events for here. 2010 was brutally cold. The 5th was incredibly snowy. The 7th saw lows around -15C and highs at -6C. After that, it pretty much stayed cold but not severely. 2013 was a pretty snowy, cold month with a two week spell of below average temperatures. 2015 was quite westerly but strangely had a lot of cold, frosty nights. The 29th saw a pretty major snow event from a north-westerly. 2019 was pretty chilly after a mild December, with a very cold final week. The 30th saw a great snow event, with accumulations totalling 5-10cm. 2021 saw many frosts and snow days, most notably the 20th and 23rd. The 20th started off very mild with morning temps around 10C, by the time it got to 9PM it rapidly dropped to 0C and with it came an intense snow event. 23rd was another pretty good event, with a few hours of continuous snowfall. 

If I was to rate these years it'd go like this. Best to worst

1. 2010

2. 2021

3. 2013

4. 2019

5. 2015

Its weird isn't it, I'm sure Manchester now has more snow events than the past. Rarely spectacular but then again, we can count them on one hand for Manc. 80's rarely delivered apart from 81 and maybe one ot two more. Cold decade yes, bit not particularly snowy

[damianslaw]

29 minutes ago, Rob 79812010 said:

1979 and 2010. 79 got an extra 3 weeks off school. Yes schools did close in the 'good old days' contrary to what some claim. Jan 5th 2010 working from home followed by the biggest freeze I've ever known. Minus 18 at night. And snow on ground for a week. Might not sound amazing but believe me it us for Manc

The 5th Jan 2010 ushered in quite a severe cold period lasting until 15 Jan, there was a run of ice days 5-9 Jan and many lakes froze over. I went for a walk near Derwent Water on 9 Jan and it looked alpine/arctic. Only time since we've had such depth of cold was early Dec 10 and the 18-26 Dec. We were spoilt in 2010.

Edited January 8 by damianslaw

[Rob 79812010]

26 minutes ago, damianslaw said:

The 5th Jan 2010 ushered in quite a severe cold period lasting until 15 Jan, there was a run of ice days 5-9 Jan and many lakes froze over. I went for a walk near Derwent Water on 9 Jan and it looked alpine/arctic. Only time since we've had such depth of cold was early Dec 10 and the 18-26 Dec. We were spoilt in 2010.

We really were. To me, it was reminiscent of 79. That's not from a technical point of view. Just remember quite a few snow events, staying on ground for a while and short periods of milder weather. Also, both winters had one mega snow event in manc as well as some lesser ones. They weren't the snowy break down types either which are dire for Manchester. Brilliant for Yorkshire though. Can they be good for your neck of the woods at lower levels??

[LetItSnow!]

January isn't a month I have many fond weather memories of. My memories of 2010 are patchy at best and oddly 2013 is too. I remember January 2017 was quite nice in NW Kent. There was a lot of controversy at the failed cold spell early in the month but I actually had heavy, settling snow on the 13th. There seemed to be quite a lot of cold and frosty weather that month. January 2021 was quite frustrating; the north was cold and where I had previously lived saw snow with those tepid easterlies early in the month, but I'd moved location so it ended but being cold rain. January 2022 was enjoyable with lots of frost and seasonable weather but also a lot of sunshine. Wasn't a drop of rain all month after the warm spell at the start. Didn't really feel like winter because there was so much light.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I can't think of many Januaries that I particularly enjoyed. I sometimes look back with interest on some Januaries that happened prior to me recording the weather (1993), and the list is quite long - 1952, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1963, 1968, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1985 and 1987.

Talking of parallels between 1979 and 2010, I remember that during January and February 2010 I thought of winter 2009/10 as "the large teapot of discontent" (referring back to 19878/79's label as "the winter of discontent"), as there were political as well as meteorological similarities.

As with Reef, I find it slim pickings, but there are three in quick succession that stand out as having been quite enjoyable for me - 2010, 2013 and 2015. 2010 and 2013 mainly for the snowy spells, and 2015 mainly for the dominance of polar maritime westerlies and north-westerlies.

[damianslaw]

43 minutes ago, Thundery wintry showers said:

I can't think of many Januaries that I particularly enjoyed. I sometimes look back with interest on some Januaries that happened prior to me recording the weather (1993), and the list is quite long - 1952, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1963, 1968, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1985 and 1987.

Talking of parallels between 1979 and 2010, I remember that during January and February 2010 I thought of winter 2009/10 as "the large teapot of discontent" (referring back to 19878/79's label as "the winter of discontent"), as there were political as well as meteorological similarities.

As with Reef, I find it slim pickings, but there are three in quick succession that stand out as having been quite enjoyable for me - 2010, 2013 and 2015. 2010 and 2013 mainly for the snowy spells, and 2015 mainly for the dominance of polar maritime westerlies and north-westerlies.

Yes strong comparisons with the political times.. interesting the first half of winter 96-97 was cold as well, and was followed by political change.. with a possible election and political change this year.. can winter 23-24 follow suit? Probably not and would take a very cold coming 7 weeks or so to do, the comparisons also unlikely as I expect an election most likely Autumn rather than May.. but interesting all the same! and given we do appear to be in a place more primed for cold in north hemisphere going forward than anytime since 09-10 which is quite uncanny.

Edited January 8 by damianslaw

[Optimus Prime]

8 hours ago, reef said:

January is perhaps the most disappointing of the winter months for me nowadays.

 

That's surprising considering February is an absolutely atrocious winter month really since 1996. 

[Metwatch]

January is usually the darkest month of the year, but when it snows it can make it one of the best parts of the cold season.

Best memory of snow is from January 24th 2021 which gave about 5-6cm. That was quite welcome as I missed out here through late December 2020. 

 

I have some memories of January 2013 which brought 15cm of snow, and found photos recently of January 2010 around here with about 7-8cm and that was longer lasting. 2021 and 2013 are my current favourites with decent snowfalls.

January 1963, 1979, 1982, 1985 and 1987 would be my top 5 If I was alive to experience them.

Edited January 8 by Metwatch

[Squally77]

My personal favourite January has to be 1987 as I was too young to remember 1979 but do have vague memories of walking to play group aged 4 in the snow in 1982. We didn't have anywhere near as much snow as the South East in Jan 87 but must have been over 15cm easily and a -5c max on the 12th was epic!  I was a bit disappointed by January 2010 here to be honest in terms of snow depth but had several ice days. Nothing is ever mentioned about January 1980, with a CET of 2.3c it would be classed today as a very cold month. Did any noteworthy snow events occur during that month?

 

 

[John88B]

As a 13 year old living in the west country near the coast of the Bristol channel it's January 1982 for me that sticks in the memory. We'd already had a fairly snowy December and then more bitter cold set in early January leading to a huge two day blizzard starting on January 8th.

We ended up with 60cm of level snow with huge drifts completely covering the hedgerows down the lane we were living in. Bitter temperatures continued for a week after. We were snowed in for days and I loved every minute of it

I'm hoping to see the like of it again

[hillbilly]

Where do we start,yes no introduction needed.

January 1979,the mother of all winter months,monster snow,the biggest drifts i have ever seen,severe cold.

1982 had it not been a milder start and finish it could have rivalled 1979 but the middle 2 weeks were as cold as Britain could get and monster snow.

1985 very cold,lots of snow and big drifts

1984 Mild to start with a severe destructive gale on friday 13th and a severe blizzard on the 3rd week,just how good was the 80s for snow!

1987 We didnt get the severe cold as the that in the South but it was still amazingly cold and a reasonable amount of drifting snow

1990 Burns day storm,tried to blow the house roof off and they were very heavy Yorkshire stone slates.

1991,1993 and 1995 all gave good snow events

The best in recent times were 2009,2010 and 2013,such a shame 2010 didnt deliver the wind but great for snowdepth and cold

Honarable mentions to 1977,1978,1986 and 2003

[damianslaw]

2 hours ago, hillbilly said:

Where do we start,yes no introduction needed.

January 1979,the mother of all winter months,monster snow,the biggest drifts i have ever seen,severe cold.

1982 had it not been a milder start and finish it could have rivalled 1979 but the middle 2 weeks were as cold as Britain could get and monster snow.

1985 very cold,lots of snow and big drifts

1984 Mild to start with a severe destructive gale on friday 13th and a severe blizzard on the 3rd week,just how good was the 80s for snow!

1987 We didnt get the severe cold as the that in the South but it was still amazingly cold and a reasonable amount of drifting snow

1990 Burns day storm,tried to blow the house roof off and they were very heavy Yorkshire stone slates.

1991,1993 and 1995 all gave good snow events

The best in recent times were 2009,2010 and 2013,such a shame 2010 didnt deliver the wind but great for snowdepth and cold

Honarable mentions to 1977,1978,1986 and 2003

1996 not mentioned or 1991, cold featured in both, 1996 only last 10 days but gave a decent fall on the 27th here from a biting easterly. 1991 was cold and frosty with some snow showers.

1995 gave a significant localised fall in parts of Yorkshire about 40cms.

We received a few inches on 29th then it rained. The 90s produced lots of snow to rain events. 

[Shaunado]

Driving in heavy snowfall on the A20 nr Ashford on this day 14 years ago. 

[cheeky_monkey]

On 08/01/2024 at 09:00, Rob 79812010 said:

1979 and 2010. 79 got an extra 3 weeks off school. Yes schools did close in the 'good old days' contrary to what some claim. Jan 5th 2010 working from home followed by the biggest freeze I've ever known. Minus 18 at night. And snow on ground for a week. Might not sound amazing but believe me it us for Manc

my school never closed in the good old days..let alone 3 weeks ..sometimes we got sent home early if it was snowing heavily ..more for the benefit of teachers than anything else.

[hillbilly]

18 hours ago, damianslaw said:

1996 not mentioned or 1991, cold featured in both, 1996 only last 10 days but gave a decent fall on the 27th here from a biting easterly. 1991 was cold and frosty with some snow showers.

1995 gave a significant localised fall in parts of Yorkshire about 40cms.

We received a few inches on 29th then it rained. The 90s produced lots of snow to rain events. 

I mentioned 1991 similar to 1993 and 1995,yes should have added 1996 but both 1991 and 1996 main events were in February even though it was cold with some snow in January.The January 1995 snow event was a very good one here,should have made more about it.

[damianslaw]

6 hours ago, cheeky_monkey said:

my school never closed in the good old days..let alone 3 weeks ..sometimes we got sent home early if it was snowing heavily ..more for the benefit of teachers than anything else.

Only time I recall a long period our school closed was Feb 96, closed early afternoon 5 Feb, a Monday ! and shut rest of week, the following week was half term.

I remember the junior school kept open in the freeze of Jan 87, but most kids were off with colds, but not me!

The secondary school nr Windermere covers a large rural catchment, and windermere residents were always the last to be sent home as we could walk, being only 25 min walk! Used to be envious of the Langdale, Kentmere and Troutbeck kids! who were sent home first often at lunchtime.

Edited January 10 by damianslaw