10 years ago!

I remember the excitement on the weather forums generated on what look like it could be the most notable wintry episode from the east for some years.

Countryfile forecast for that week of the 20th February 2005

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKd-cOUffjs

It snowed on a number of days here in West Manchester but lying snow didn't last long though. Thursday was a disappointing day, the snow turned to rain and sleet about 9am here and then it turned mostly dry for much of the day. It was strange hearing snow reports from eastern parts of Manchester, yet here it was largely dry.

Showed the dearth of wintry spells during that period that it generated such excitement. It pales in comparison to 2009-10 and December 2010 at least around here.

It was OK overall, decent for that period. 

BBC forecasts 

21st February 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwfruVFFbNQ

22nd February

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By-h-weqKQo

23rd February

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loDYFfzuztk

24th February 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzKRTH2o6hE

25th February 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIWr0mffnMM

26th February

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhcuQtNUZbo

27th February 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXXVva5O2fA

28th February

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnegc8Nx3Ro

1st March

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embJNOAjnRg

2nd March

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVM5J2BNpTU

3rd March

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vky_elhS_bc

14 days of consecuitive snowfall, a peak depth of 8 inches (effortlessly beating 2010, which was a damp squib given the potential on offer) and the last proper easterly down here.

One day it'll happen again, one day...

I was living in west London at the time and have no memory of this event doing much if anything at all down there. Haven't heard about it for here either so have no idea if they (easterlies) really deliver here or not.

I am amazed to be honest that you don't remember this.

I am pretty sure that snow was recorded in London falling on 16 consecutive days during that period.

Yes it is odd as i have a good memory. I remember the 2 snowfalls about 10 days apart in 2003 and the thundersnow in 2004. I'm usually pretty good at remembering the decent events seeing as they are so rare around me and at the time i did nights and had to travel to and from work and don't recall any problems at all. Maybe East London faired better, because if there was any snow on the ground it wouldn't have been much at least that side of the capital.

Dec 2010 although had some snow where i live now wasn't 'all that' when all was said and done. maybe 10cms at most, although impressive night time minima.

Yes it was amazing to see snow falling  on 16 consecutive days. I was on placement in Kingston  upon Thames at this time! Most days it snowed but did not leave any cover, but we had about 3 or 4 mornings with cover, but generally all melted by the afternoon.

Continuous cover, however, over the North Downs for most of the period, that little bit of extra altitude really helped😀

Here is an excerpt from one of my web sites.

The late Kent snow event of 2005.

Finally, after a series of mild winters, the snows arrived . . . albeit in a rather last-minute fashion. I was fortunate enough to be armed with a digital camera at all times, so that I could capture the moment.

    As the wind began to swing in from the North East on the 24th February, snow flurries began to roll in from the North Sea, and as the day went on, they progressively got heavier. As a result, I was greeted with these kind of sights on the way to work . . .

  As that north east wind continued to bring snow and sleet to Kent, seeing this kind of thing upon arriving at my workplace became a regular thing almost every morning for a week!

   But, as the wind backed to south west on the 2nd of March and it got milder with some rain, we thought it was all over . . . wrong! Suddenly, overnight, the wind veered back into that north east direction once again and the snow came back with a vengence . . .

The wind picked up to gale force and allowed any loose lying snow to be blown into drifts such as this one.

  Looking like a scene straight out of "The Day After Tomorrow".

     

Shortly after the last photo was taken, it had stopped snowing and the inevitable thaw quickly ensued.

Mind you, it has to be said that all of those photos were taken at my former tomato greenhouse workplace at Farthing Common which was situated at 150 meters above sea level, while there were much less snow at sea level (my home location).

For me this spell of weather eclipsed 2009 and 2010. The variability within this locked cold pattern was awesome. The first snow shower fell on Sunday 20th February as the wind veered NNE'ly. The last snow flurry occured on Monday 7th March at 5am as the high finally collapsed cutting off the easterly feed.

Snow fell every day here for 16 consecutive days. It was frequently heavy and convective. Due to the time of year below 80m the snowcover during the daytime was temporary but overnight it stuck and there were many mornings in this period when I would wake up to a 4-8cm snow cover.

There were brief less cold periods that were swept away by a renewed easterly surges...as Darren just stated it was the last true easterly. There was also a low pressure system that swept across Kent and delivered a phenomenal wet snow event to the north of the county while to the south it reamined as rain and sleet. During the evening the low pressure pulled away into the continent and from memory the Met Office put a red warning out for blizzards across our part of the world.

Over the Downs just to the north of town the snow continued to pile up regardless. I shall put on some photo's on in the next couple of days of drifts literally metres high.

It did here but cam to nothing on each occasion

In terns of the longevity of the event and sheer overall volume of snow that fell, this was certainly the most impressive period of sustained snowy weather I can remember.

Did anyone tot up the overall totals that fell in Kent? As pointed out, it was melting as fast as it fell much of the time. But if it had been colder, would as much snow have fallen?

There were two days that we got a real pasting, the second being 5 March, I believe. Even the beginning of the end, a low pressure system from the SW, brought several hours' continuous heavy snow.

The only down side - and it was a major down side much of the time - is that it was rarely anything other than marginal. Without the milder air in the mix, you have to wonder how much would actually have piled up IMBY. I would hazard a guess at 60 cm. - and possibly 80 cm. in some spots.

It was rubbish with no more than 5cm here and it barely got below freezing at night so akin to the lame and inadequate cold spells experienced in this current winter

It was a very poor effort compared to the wintry spells at the same stage of 2004 and 2006 which managed 15cm and 26cm, respectively

2004/05 was certainly one of the least snowy winters of the 1999-2006 period but more snowy than most of the pathetic offerings since.

Hands down my favourite cold spell of all time. I think I did particularly well out of it, particularly on the Monday morning and the wednesday morning. Maximun depth was just over a foot. Okay we had nearly double that during 2010, but from having nothing on the sunday night to several inches on the monday morning was amazing. 

The reason why you don't remember this is because it was really only an "East of London" event for the south. I was living a few miles away from you in Slough at the time (you were in Feltham) and we had about 3 light coverings, none greater than 1 cm (22nd Feb, 25th Feb, 4th Mar). On the 25th Feb there was more snow around the Ascot area, possibly up to an inch, as that was my drive to work.

That was my last winter in Slough. Winter 2005/6 was very poor with one single dusting, but every winter from 2006/7 to 2012/3 inclusive delivered more snow than Feb/Mar 2005 did.

I remember this as the most frustrating wintry spell I can remember... I lived near Leamington Spa at the time and it snowed on about 10 or so days, but it only laid down the thinnest, briefest of coverings at best.... All falls we're very light and most melted on contact with the ground or gave a light covering on favoured surfaces...

Some areas did very well, but only 2-3% of the UK (interesting that these were mainly some of the very few parts that didn't have notable December 2010 snow).

Thanks Darren, I knew I wasn't going mad.

Just for you Deep Powder. 

I have copied my weather diary notes from this special period of weather.

Sunday 20th February - Max 4.6c, Min -0.1c - Sunny spells am, sleet and snow showers pm - Rain 1.4mm

Monday 21st February - Max 5.1c, Min 1.1c - Sunny spells, snow showers pm, fall of 1cm by evening. Rain 1.2mm

Tuesday 22nd February - Max 4.4c, Min 0.6c - Sunny. Heavy snow showers late afternoon, 3cm depth. Rain 3.8mm

Wednesday 23rd February - Max 2.4c, Min -0.8c - 9am snowcover of 7cm; Bright spells and snow showers, some heavy. Rain 4.2mm

Thursday 24th February - Max 1.4c, Min -0.4c - 9am snowcover 3cm, 20cm at  Capel140m asl. Wet snow am, cloudy pm. Rain 11.6mm

Friday 25th February - Max 2.8c, Min -0.8c - 9am snowcover 2cm, Snow shower at 8am then continental air and sunny. Rain 2.4mm

Saturday 26th February - Max 8.7c, Min -3.4c. 2cm snowcover 9am. Snow then drizzle 2am. Milder/bright, much colder snow shower 11pm. Rain 2.5mm - Dry in Worthing

Sunday 27th February - Max 2.8c, Min -1.1c - 3cm snowcover at 9am. Heavy snow showers am, sunny pm (-13c 850Hpa air, pm), Rain 4.8mm - snow flurry 9am in Worthing !

Monday 28th February - Max 2.4c, Min -3.8c - 6cm snowcover at 9am. Heavy snow showers 1am-11am giving 4cm overnight. Sunny pm, cloudy evening.Rain 3.8mm

Tuesday 1st March - Max 4.9c, Min 0.0c - 1.5cm snowcover at 9am. Early light snow followed by a cloudy day. Heavy rain in evening turning sleety by 11pm. Rain 8.4mm

Wednesday 2nd March - Max 3.3c, Min 1.0c - 0.5cm snowcover at 9am. Early snow then rain/sleet during the day, snowy by evening. Rain 16.0mm (12cm fall at Hawkinge 140m asl)

Thursday 3rd March - Max 2.9c, Min -0.4c - 3cm snowcover at 9am. A day of sunshine and heavy snow showers, 15cm depth at Hawkinge at 3pm - Rain 8.2mm

Friday 4th March - Max 3.9c, Min -5.7c - 3cm snowcover at 9am. Heavy snow for a time am after an exceptionally cold night. Milder with rain pm. Colder air again by late evening - Rain 5.0mm

Saturday 5th March - Max 6.4c, Min 0.7c - 3cm snowcover at 9am. Bright start. Rain,sleet and snow showers 11am-7pm - Rain 4.6mm

Sunday 6th March - Max 4.3c, Min -0.3c - No snowcover at 7am but 2cm at 9am. Heavy snow showers am, drier brighter pm. Rain 3.2mm

Monday 7th March - Max10.6c, Min 0.3c - No snowcover at 9am - A light snow flurry at 6am then dry, bright and mild..the end is here. Rain 0.2mm

Photo's to follow :

Just shy of 80mm rain fell or 3 inches in old money.

Had it been 3 or 4 degrees colder throughout we would have been talking 3 foot level snow in that period.

The memories.. 

Great pictures Steve.

Bugger me! I lived in Canada that year but heard about it. Kent did very well from what I was told.