Had 8 consecutive ice days here during mid December 2010 with a fair deal of snow. I don't really remember Jan '87 but I do recall Feb '86 better. It had a savage quality about it. Would love to see a '47 type winter which by all accounts was pretty nasty.

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Speaking from a purely IMBY perspective, we've had spells which have eclipsed both of those - Dec 10 being the daddy.

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I would much rather see an 09/10 or 78/79 then them boring winters, well bar 91 which saw a little snow in Feb around these parts. The winter of 87 was awful around here, bone dry with little sun and zero snow.

Totally. Factor in an upcoming solar minimum that could be unusually pronounced (no huge impact but every little helps!) and at least a slight reduction in warmth provided by the Gulf Stream (could be a bigger impact but there's a lot of uncertainty), and I'd say we have a good shot within the next decade or two.

 

Certainly I anticipate more significant cold air masses to be turning up each winter - it'll then come down to how the weather patterns behave as to whether we get a major look in or have to watch it repeatedly get shoved aside by Atlantic westerlies.

My suspicion is that when it takes place, it will be such a turnaround from the preceding winters that few will be properly prepared for the magnitude of the cold and snowy conditions. It will be up to the population of TWO and other weather forums to get themselves and others well stocked up and with some clear emergency plans as well. One day, our time will come... 

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Jan 87 was better for the SE. I think it was rather dry up here albeit cold. Did have a max of -6C though but the month as  a whole was no colder than Jan 2010.

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