I reckon we see les snow falling here than we used to 30-40 years ago. It still might not have settled but we used to get days of wet snow more often. Now it is nearly always rain unless we have a colder ,drier continental influence.

Originally Posted by: bledur 

I think people have to take into consideration that major Atlantic systems engaging cold blocks that stall rarely effect the whole country anyway

Originally Posted by: KevBrads1 

Very good point.

I often find that here in low-lying NW England is not the best place to be, as can remember a few occasions of the front stalling to our east, leaving us in the mild air after a period of snow. Remember this happening in 1994 or 1995. Heavy snow started around 10am; two hours later the depth was at least 15cm. We'd had a call in the morning from our neighbours to say our front door was wide open - they'd looked in and nothing looked stolen (the catch stuck, so we reasoned we hadn't closed it properly), but we decided to nip home at lunchtime to check anyway, only 5 miles away. It took us half an hour to get about half way, gave up, and drove back to work, where we were met by most of the office leaving as the bosses had decided to close due to the weather, with the snow still coming down and approaching 20cm. By 3pm, the snow had turned to rain, and pretty much all disappeared by early evening. Further east, I understand it continued as snow for hours.

Then again, we had the opposite issue on the second weekend of March 2006, when the front stalled just on the coastline of the southern half of NW England . Cumbria and western Scotland got enormous amounts of snow, we got light snow for about 4 hours giving a couple of cm's. I'd watched the radar from early morning as it marched toward us, then ground to a halt, an agonising 10/15 miles to our west.

Originally Posted by: Saint Snow 

Aye - I remember that in 2006.  a very thin line of land along the north west coast delivered 5-6" snow for the Wirral.  Thats the last time i saw any snowfall over 10cm around these parts.

10cm seems to be our yearly limit.  Most ive ever seen was probably 6inches in 95 i think

Originally Posted by: Russwirral 

Yup, 2005 was the last decent easterly here - looking at my records 2012/3 delivered a little bit of slush but didn't even manage a covering of snow. 2005 was interesting here in that we had snow every single day for a fortnight, but as temperatures were above freezing during the day (and during most nights) it never managed to equal the classic easterlies of the mid 90s and earlier. The snow was heavy, wet stuff rather than dry powder snow.

Incidentally I asked at the post office earlier (as I've got the day off, I walked into the village) and the postmaster - who's been here longer than I have! - said that the council used to pay the farmers to put out snow fences each year, regardless of the long-term weather forecast. Funding for that stopped in the late 90s and as a result the farmers don't put them out. The council's been very lucky since then, as we've not had a proper easterly with drifting powder snow... but the next time we do, and there will be a next time, I'm sure, it won't be much fun on the roads!

1995 was the last time we had a foot of snow and was also the last time I saw icicles (which in one memorable case extended all the way from the eaves of a bungalow to the ground, creating a pillar of ice! I was really impressed by that). The winter of 96/97 was the last time a daytime high of -1C or less was recorded here.

It's remarkable that the UK can have such different weather within just 400 miles.

in Cumbria  February 2005 was a non event ( told you winter was over Lol) but in December 2010 we had the coldest MONTH ever recorded in a record going back to 1903 so here we can not say the old times were better.

However, between 1960 and 2000 the average number of days with snow lying per year in Penrith dropped from 21 to 12 so a massive reduction that continues (despite 2010) to this day.

andy

Originally Posted by: Retron 

Notwithstanding what I wrote at the start of this thread, reading through the posts there is clearly something that we have been missing.  It's not snow as such - half-a-dozen decent falls that stuck for a week or more since 2009 IMBY, and most others haven't had it too bad - but the lack of a true, sustained, deep cold easterly feed.  The last one I believe was in early 1997, some 18 years ago! 

OK, there as March 2013, but being March, the sun significantly reduced the impact.  As for 2005, the easterly flow lasted for nearly two weeks but it was hardly deep cold (in fact, it was one of the most dissapointing cold spells I can remember - I lived in Leamington Spa at the time and its must have snowed on 10 or so days, but any snow cover (when it did lie) was pathetically thin and melted within hours).   As for recent cold spells (i.e. 2009 onwards) they have been cold enough for decent snow for most, but coastal areas have tended to do very poorly... I have to say I feel sorry for those living in the likes of Bournemouth and Plymouth - often when 95% of use were celebrating cold and snow in the past few years the best they have had is a temporary slushy cover....  It's interesting to think that those under 20 living in the coastal south, west of say Southampton, may never have seen 'proper' snow, unless they happenned to venture inland during those snowy episodes.

I know there's no such thing as fairness when it comes to weather, but surely we're due a really easterly soon!

Originally Posted by: Chiltern Blizzard 

Notwithstanding what I wrote at the start of this thread, reading through the posts there is clearly something that we have been missing.  It's not snow as such - half-a-dozen decent falls that stuck for a week or more since 2009 IMBY, and most others haven't had it too bad - but the lack of a true, sustained, deep cold easterly feed.  The last one I believe was in early 1997, some 18 years ago! 

OK, there as March 2013, but being March, the sun significantly reduced the impact.  As for 2005, the easterly flow lasted for nearly two weeks but it was hardly deep cold (in fact, it was one of the most dissapointing cold spells I can remember - I lived in Leamington Spa at the time and its must have snowed on 10 or so days, but any snow cover (when it did lie) was pathetically thin and melted within hours).   As for recent cold spells (i.e. 2009 onwards) they have been cold enough for decent snow for most, but coastal areas have tended to do very poorly... I have to say I feel sorry for those living in the likes of Bournemouth and Plymouth - often when 95% of use were celebrating cold and snow in the past few years the best they have had is a temporary slushy cover....  It's interesting to think that those under 20 living in the coastal south, west of say Southampton, may never have seen 'proper' snow, unless they happenned to venture inland during those snowy episodes.

I know there's no such thing as fairness when it comes to weather, but surely we're due a really easterly soon!

Originally Posted by: Chiltern Blizzard 

Notwithstanding what I wrote at the start of this thread, reading through the posts there is clearly something that we have been missing.  It's not snow as such - half-a-dozen decent falls that stuck for a week or more since 2009 IMBY, and most others haven't had it too bad - but the lack of a true, sustained, deep cold easterly feed.  The last one I believe was in early 1997, some 18 years ago! 

OK, there as March 2013, but being March, the sun significantly reduced the impact.  As for 2005, the easterly flow lasted for nearly two weeks but it was hardly deep cold (in fact, it was one of the most dissapointing cold spells I can remember - I lived in Leamington Spa at the time and its must have snowed on 10 or so days, but any snow cover (when it did lie) was pathetically thin and melted within hours).   As for recent cold spells (i.e. 2009 onwards) they have been cold enough for decent snow for most, but coastal areas have tended to do very poorly... I have to say I feel sorry for those living in the likes of Bournemouth and Plymouth - often when 95% of use were celebrating cold and snow in the past few years the best they have had is a temporary slushy cover....  It's interesting to think that those under 20 living in the coastal south, west of say Southampton, may never have seen 'proper' snow, unless they happenned to venture inland during those snowy episodes.

I know there's no such thing as fairness when it comes to weather, but surely we're due a really easterly soon!

Originally Posted by: Chiltern Blizzard 

Another exceptional event occurred locally on the night of 5th Jan, 2010. A trough moving N to S in the cold flow deepened as it engaged with the warmer surface air over the English Channel forming a closed circulation and wrapping colder, dryer air into itself. Sleet and snow had already fallen during the day in the Midlands, and as the low deepened and moved more or less down the A34 and exited the coast in Dorset it picked up extra moisture and started to slow.
At 3.35pm the Met Office issued a rare RED warning for exceptional snowfall for Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire , Surrey and Berkshire with a forecast of 30 - 40 cm overnight.
At 4pm just north of Portsmouth the temperature was +6C and rain was moving in from the North. In Newbury it was already below freezing with snow. I issued a severe alert to my local network by email at 4.15pm, and many colleagues took the advice and got their cars from the hospital car park situated up the hill above the hospital. Those that didn't were unable to retrieve their cars for three days.
At 5pm the heavy rain turned to snow and continued well into the evening. It was quite frankly one of the longest continuous periods of persistent very heavy snow I've ever seen. By 9pm I measured a level 12cm. Local roads had become blocked. The A3 between Portsmouth and Petersfield was blocked with abandoned cars, and the authorities initiated a red alert emergency plan to recover people stranded in the snow.
The snow continued into the following morning. By the time it petered out I had amassed a level 21cm although areas towards Berkshire (Farnborough for instance) achieved u to 40cm level.

A truly remarkable event remembered not only for the depths but for the rapid transition from a 'mild' dry afternoon to deep snow and chaos just a few hours later.

Originally Posted by: nsrobins 

Another exceptional event occurred locally on the night of 5th Jan, 2010. A trough moving N to S in the cold flow deepened as it engaged with the warmer surface air over the English Channel forming a closed circulation and wrapping colder, dryer air into itself. Sleet and snow had already fallen during the day in the Midlands, and as the low deepened and moved more or less down the A34 and exited the coast in Dorset it picked up extra moisture and started to slow.
At 3.35pm the Met Office issued a rare RED warning for exceptional snowfall for Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire , Surrey and Berkshire with a forecast of 30 - 40 cm overnight.
At 4pm just north of Portsmouth the temperature was +6C and rain was moving in from the North. In Newbury it was already below freezing with snow. I issued a severe alert to my local network by email at 4.15pm, and many colleagues took the advice and got their cars from the hospital car park situated up the hill above the hospital. Those that didn't were unable to retrieve their cars for three days.
At 5pm the heavy rain turned to snow and continued well into the evening. It was quite frankly one of the longest continuous periods of persistent very heavy snow I've ever seen. By 9pm I measured a level 12cm. Local roads had become blocked. The A3 between Portsmouth and Petersfield was blocked with abandoned cars, and the authorities initiated a red alert emergency plan to recover people stranded in the snow.
The snow continued into the following morning. By the time it petered out I had amassed a level 21cm although areas towards Berkshire (Farnborough for instance) achieved u to 40cm level.

A truly remarkable event remembered not only for the depths but for the rapid transition from a 'mild' dry afternoon to deep snow and chaos just a few hours later.

Originally Posted by: nsrobins 

It's worth remembering that, without all the info and forecasts we have nowadays, most of the "failed snow events" and "non events" of the past would just have been... rainy days. 

Originally Posted by: Rob K 

In terms of non-events where the Atlantic easily won-out when not forecast to do so, 31/12/00 is fairly fresh in the mind.

We'd had around 12cm of snow fall on the 29th December, which then froze a bit and stayed around with minimal meltage. A front was forecast to move in from the west on the evening of the 31st  bringing a period of heavy snow.

Without TWO, it was difficult to get to see accurate discussion of what was likely/unlikely to happen, but I do remember reading bits and bobs on the net that there was a chance this front could stall and not bring through milder air. However, the very least that seemed to be in offing was 1-2 hours of heavy snow falling on a base of frozen snow (instant depth increase).

This to happen on New Year's Eve. I was really looking forward to not just a rare 'snow on snow' event that had the potential to add a further 12cm to a good depth already in place, but also, as we weren't going out that NYE (I personally hate NYE), looking forward with mischievous glee to the absolute chaos in towns and cities that the snow would bring (especially if the snow could continue to midnight).

Around 9pm, the snow began. Lovely big flakes.

By 9.15 it was turning very sleety, and all rain by 9.30.

When the clocks struck midnight, all the snow had gone, barring the sorry remains of snowmen, along with the remnants of snow piles where people had cleared drives/paths.

There was no chaos, no stories of people having to sleep in pubs/nightclubs, etc

All in all a most disappointing failed snow event

Originally Posted by: Saint Snow 

Was disappointing that but I am not sure by your timing, Saint. It started snowing here in the early afternoon and was wet in nature. I think had all cleared through by the time you said it started?!

Originally Posted by: KevBrads1 

Really? My memory's not always great on specifics, but I could have sworn it was an evening event.

BTW, in a remarkable coincidence, we also got snow on 29/12/01. Not nearly as deep (little more than a thin covering, perhaps 1-2cm deep), but it froze solid and lasted past NYE. We actually went out that NYE with some friends, to a lovely country pub for a meal & disco thing. When everyone piled outside for the midnight fireworks, people were slipping on their arses all over the place

Originally Posted by: Saint Snow 

When was the last time multiple low pressure systems dumped snow over Most of the uk?

Originally Posted by: Snowedin3 

1671

Originally Posted by: nsrobins