Winter 1963/1964; the driest winter on record.

[LetItSnow!]

The winter of 1962/1963 gets deserved praise for its extreme cold but the the following winter set a record in its own right.

The winter of 1963/1964 is the driest winter on record going back to 1766 with a seasonal total of a paltry 88.9mm.

December 1963 had a C.E.T. of 2.6C and an average of 30.1mm, the driest for 30 years.

The month began with low pressure close to the south-west but high pressure quickly built. This period was generally very grey and misty and became gradually colder with freezing fog, though western areas saw some sunshine.

Colder mid-month with easterly winds. It remained mostly dry but sleet and snow showers peppered the south-east. A more substantial push of cold air on the 19th brought widespread snow with up to 3 inches of snow from "Aberdeen to Durham".

The run-up to Christmas was cold and frosty with lots of winter sunshine and harsh frosts, but the wintry theme wasn't to last for Christmas as winds returned to the west and it remained foggy, particularly in the south-east, with only light falls of rain and mild temperatures and anticyclonic gloom non stop from the 23rd to the 28th.

"Rainfall was less than 25 per cent of the average over some east coast areas of Scotland, south-west Scotland, North and West Wales, the Midlands and over parts of Sussex and Kent; many places in these areas had between two and three weeks without measurable rain from the 1st. It was the driest December at Edinburgh since 1908."

January 1964 was somewhat milder with a slightly cooler than average C.E.T. of 3.4C; the driest since 1880 with an average of 26.4mm. There wouldn't be a drier one until 1997.

The month began with rain restricted to the far north-west. The first ten days of January 1964 were generally very dull with lots of foggy anticyclonic gloom.

A slight change as a weak trough moving westwards with cold air aloft gave some snow and sleet in the south and though most places saw feeble amounts, the south coast did surprisingly well. Parts of the south coast saw up to 12 inches of snow with 6 inches covering the South Downs, but amounts were small further north. This quickly thawed but high pressure remained in control with cold but sunny weather.

Bright conditions were shortlived as anticyclonic gloom prevailed with the 19th to the 23rd being particularly foggy with unbroken fog for four days in the Yorkshire region. It eventually turned somewhat more unsettled at months end with the 29th and the 31st being the only days with widespread rain.

Northern and eastern Scotland as well as parts of northern England were sunny but elsewhere it was very dull. It was the dullest January since 1912 at Worthing.

February 1964 was the mildest month of the winter with a slightly mild C.E.T. of 4.5C and an average of 32.4mm.

The month began with something out of character; unsettled weather! It began changeable and unsettled with even the south having some heavy rain on the 3rd, but high pressure quickly built it turning it sunny and frosty, though cloud filled in eventually with a return to foggy conditions.

It remained generally dry until the 14th when a week of cold weather from the east followed bringing moderate snowfalls to the north of England from the 16th to the 19th. 10 inches lay at Forest in Teesdale and low-ground in the Midlands and north-east generally saw a 1-2 inches and 3-4 inches respectively. As milder air encroached from the south-west on the 22nd parts of south-west England saw about an inch of snow as did eastern Scotland on the 23rd.

The month ended mild with outbreaks of rain, fog and even some thunderstorms. Temperatures got up to 15C on the 24th and 27th.

 

Says a lot about our current climate that the driest winter on record had more snowfall than most winters since 1988!

Edited March 15 by LetItSnow!