This is well worth a look:

https://www.rmets.org/sites/default/files/abstracts/Mar/16032013-burt.pdf

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Thanks Brian, probably the best for detail that I have seen.

It would be nice to get something similar in the next few winters, after all, it was over 50 years ago. Recent winters have been very mild, even snow free for some.

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I don't think we're see another winter like 1963 in my lifetime unless, god forbid, the Gulf Stream shuts down. We just don't get that long lasting deep cold anymore.

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Never say never as the perfect Synoptics would still deliver. 

That's was interesting.

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Looking at those stats, 2010 was on a par in my area (Hampshire). Maybe not as long, but in terms of  temperature and snow depth.

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Could spend ages looking at that . 🙂 Excellent.

 

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Whilst I'd rather have a '47 ('63 was uber-cold, but not snowy in these parts at all), I'd be more than happy with a repeat of Dec 09/Jan 10/Dec 10

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sorry to be off topic guys, but is gooner still lurking around or has he moved on ??

I feel sorry for those who missed this winter - skating on the Cam every afternoon for a month was amazing!

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As far as I remember we had very little snow in Macclesfield in 62/63. As I`ve said on here before I went to work every day by motorbike, so no snow on the roads. I was working on a partly constructed block of flats, the front of which faced East. No windows or doors fitted so the Icy East to Northeast wind was the biggest problem. I think it was the shelter from the Pennines that stopped any significant snowfalls.

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Ditto here. '47 was far more severe in these parts and listened some epic stories about it from my grandparents (RIP) According to my own parents, who were kids in the early '60s, winter 1962-63 was a largely dry, sunny but very cold and windy episode. One of the grimmest aspects of that winter though was the inability to bury the dead due to the ground being so frozen and hard.

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Left school that year. Started work  in a boot and shoe factory  half an hours walk away.  Through the hard packed snow piled high each side of the road made the walk an extra hour added on.    Only 15 then......

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I remember the snow being too deep for sledging - the local school was shut and we were cut-off as a village. Our lifeboat took orders then headed off to the nearest town - some 20 miles by sea - and we picked up basic foods from the lifeboat shed. Milk came down from the home farm in churns on a dilapidated farm sled pulled by the two farm horses, Maggie and June. It was dispensed at the local pub into whatever bottles and flasks you could bring.
The only route for walking was on top of hedges as up to six feet of snow completely filling the roads in places.
All this was in a remote area of West Scotland, with few if any snowploughs. It was almost a week before one broke through to the village.

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Epic description, Skreever. I was one year old at the time, so effectively missed out on the experience.

But as Rob K mentions, the stats in that presentation do emphasize how extraordinary December 2010 was. I'm continually puzzled how so many relatively younger winter lovers don't seem to appreciate that they have indeed experienced the once-in-several-lifetimes event they crave. Perhaps it's because the unique aspect of December 2010 was that it started well before the solstice and ran through it, lending landscapes and skies an appearance otherwise confined to Arctic latitudes, and you only got to appreciate all that properly if you lived rurally.

I know I keep harping on about this subject, but this photo I took at sunrise at the solstice that year sums it up for me. When do those of us in the south otherwise ever see light like this?

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Looking at local historic data 1963 looks impressive with an average high of 0.8c and 1.0c for January respectively. But very dry just 55mm of rain in those two months.

But February 1947 looks absolutely crazy and would be the month I would want repeating if I could only choose one. Average high of -0.8c here with 116mm of precipitation. There must have been some immense snow storms. January and March were also wet with 66mm and 147mm of rain respectively and with cold temperatures there must have been some big further snow storms in there.

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People will then start reminiscing to their ancestors about November/December 2010.

Holding seances to chat about the weather? Now that's what I call a real weather devotee.

(Sorry, couldn't resist it.)

 

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