That's exactly how I remember it here in Bewdley -- and, checking some old photos, my memory is accurate. Day after day of light, slushy snow, but never once anything that was more than a marginally interesting super-thin covering. Actually, except in terms of number of snowfalls, it wasn't that different from the spell we had a few weeks ago.

Reading about some places where it was "better than 2010" is like reading about snowfall in Canada or something, since it was so wildly different to my own experience. Feb 2009 absolutely obliterated this spell in these parts; it wasn't even close.

That's how it usually feels here in Kent, so I know the feeling! The 2005 spell was remarkable in the sheer amount of snow that was dumped from the sea, it was the first time since January 1997 that we'd had such heavy convective snow. Ironically the time before that was only one year earlier!

These long-lived winter easterly events were relatively common in the 80s and 90s, but aside from 2005 they've been absent this millennium. There hasn't been snow as deep as this since, including 2010 (which, given how badly affected the rest of the UK seemed to be, was a real disappointment here).

Here's a collage of pictures from that 2005 spell here. Temperatures were above freezing throughout the daytime period, but there was so much snow it had no problem settling. Bear in mind this is at 30 feet ASL, half a mile inland from the (northeast-facing) coast. I'd booked the week of the 28th Feb - 4th Mar off work, having seen the models were showing a snowfest. And for once it actually happened!

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Just had the lightest of showers of mixed sleet and graupel. Had to explain to my daughter what graupel was as she thought the word was very amusing for some reason.

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Pants spell here, two days of lying snow, 4 days with falling snow and disappointed galore!

Then again unless we get easterlies with very cold uppers these spells are not the best in Cumbria, however, get the uppers down to -8c and it's a different story, 33cms on the 15th Feb 1979 which was higher than most parts of the UK.

The irony is that if we get a very cold easterly Northern England can be snowier due to the long sea track while Central/Southern England stays dry, early Jan 2010 for example.

Andy

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Retron,

I always put your good fortune that winter to my 'winter is over' post issued on the 10th February 2005 which caused the models to do a massive overnight flip!

Unfortunately many of my WIO posts since have been correct.

Andy

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