Unless we're talking the May-August period, I agree!!

 

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You must admit you've been lucky! At Chichester in only the neighbouring county, snow events meeting your 10cm+ criterion were 2009 & 2010 (which only lasted 4 days) and smaller falls in 2013 and 2018. 

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If it was poking above the inversion, the dewpoint (-30 ish) would have been more noteworthy!

I felt that was a missed opportunity when I went to the Shard a few years ago. They had all manner of stats available, but I'd have been far more interested if they'd placed thermometers at intervals up the tower (say at ground level, 25%, 50%, 75% of the way up and at the top), together with a display showing their current readings.

 

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I'm a couple hundred miles north, but I've got to agree with Rob's assertion that since the late-00's, decent snowfalls have become more prevalent

Indeed, from the late-80's to late Dec 00, a good fall of snow (that wasn't immediately washed away as the ppn turned to rain) had become very rare - 2 or 3 tops in that 12'ish year period (and one of those - the deepest at somewhere around 15-20cm - was all but washed away within 12 hours).

I've had 6 or 7 snow events of at least 10cm since.

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I agree, the 2010s have been much snowier than the 2000s and probably the 1990s here. 2012-2013 had over 80cm in total.

However the overall temperature trend is still up. 

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I work just next door to the Shard and I agree that would be interesting. I remember craning my neck up during sleet showers trying to see if it was snowing at the top!

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Same here in the East Midlands.  

We didn’t get much in the way of snow in the ‘70’s either.  We had a couple of memorable winters in the early sixties, another in ‘81.  Then in 2009/10, we had several days of moderate snow that stuck around and got topped up over Christmas and into the New Year, although it was no great depth.  The most memorable was of course Nov and Dec 2010, which gave us record depths here and stuck around for weeks. 

Considering I was born in the fifties, I haven’t seen many snowy winters, so this winter has so far been nothing unusual. 

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Since 2010 snow has been in very short supply here. Even allowing for “what must not be named” there has been an abject lack of any significant lasting snow here for over six years, especially compared with many other areas considered less prone. Surely it has to end soon?

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Here in Surrey, I've found that cold and snowy winters tend to come in clumps (though even in the middle of a clump you still get one or two mild winters). There was one clump in the 1960s, then a run of mild winters in the early to mid 1970s, followed by another clump from January 1978 to January 1987. After that, there was a big gap, apart from February 1991 and the winter of 1995-6, up until February 2009 (Dec and early Jan 1997 were cold but largely snowfree, and one or two other winters had the odd snowfall but nothing long-lasting or really severe). That last clump finished in January 2013 - we missed out on the March 2013 snow here - and even the 2018 Beast didn't give us much snow though of course it was severely cold.

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Ideally, all temp records set under Foehn effect conditions would have some kind of indication of that in their notes.

Their sensitivity to the precise wind direction and moisture profile of the atmosphere usually makes them ineligible for climate trend analysis. While the highest possible temp can be expected to be higher in a warmer overall climate, the required combination of wind direction and atmospheric moisture profile will always be an extremely rare and special event.

Exceptions do exist, mind - places where the topography is fairly smooth, yielding similar results from a variety of wind directions that drive air down the slopes of high ground. I saw a brilliant example of this while on a research trip in northern Finland a decade ago; the tundra environment was cut through on a mountain side by a swathe of ash trees.

The wind was right for the Foehn effect to be in play, so we trekked over there. Our handheld thermometers registered a jump in air temperature of over 10*C, from well below zero to a few above. This was in mid-March.

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The lack of snow from the north has been remarkable here in Ireland. Snow from the west doesn't seem to be showing any trend but it definitely has become slushier and slushier over time to the point where it has become more of an eyesore than a delight. The 'BFtE' last year did bring some blizzard like conditions but it was was more like a dust storm than the real thing. Amazing to witness though but no substitute for the real thing from the north. 

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This thread is about unseasonal winter warmth, but as is not untypical for our damp corner of northwest Europe, we may experience a much colder than usual early spring.

The QBO is turning negative and we are in deep solar minimum, so it is quite likely that just as the trees and flowers are thinking about budding, we will be plunged into the freezer (for the time of year, being late March/early April).

Something to consider. Unfortunately, the QBO is turning easterly too late in the season to rescue this sorry excuse for what is laughingly termed "winter".

 

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aha your long enough in the tooth Doc to know you don’t walk into a casino and bet on black because the past 8 spins landed in red. Snow will come when conditions are right. Sadly with some long range models we may have to wait until next winter to see any, unless as has been suggested by some we have a cold spring. All very depressing if it’s true winter weather your after. 😊

Just in, the UK's December record may have been broken in Scotland on 28 December. A provisional maximum of 18.7C was recorded at Achfary, according to the Met Office:

https://twitter.com/metoffice/status/1212043438268567553

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Flashing away on FB as breaking news so I guess its official now.

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if that’s true then it really is astonishing and also very worrying 

 

Truly stunning! Ends a remarkable year of warm records being smashed.

 

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Just for contrast, Delhi has just experienced its coldest day on record (since 1901) - max day temp 9.4C 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-50953950

FWIW Previous cold record 9.8C was in 2013. Topsy-turvy stuff

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Sonndalsora in northern Norway has set a new January record with a high of 19.0c

It (Sunndalsørain) is in western Norway not the north and another prime location for a Föhn effect.

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That was yesterday, today on the Norwegian live cams it's white out conditions at Molde & Geiranger & very stormy! Also below 0c.

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Still quite remarkable for early January at close to 63 degrees north and considering it exceeds the highest maxima recorded there for December, February or March. 

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Indeed looking at the annual graph, it is about the same as the average maximum for the hottest month (July)

Quite amazing

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Yes, it’s amazing what a Föhn effect can do. The same location I believe held the previous December record at 18.3°C (1998) and February 18.9°C (1990). It goes without saying when the effect is not present the minima will be more like what people would assume from its location.

So yes it is remarkable but it is also only possible because of its specific location.

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Föhn effect happens everywhere and almost always with dramatic temperatures. Even in the high arctic with Canada and Alaska, here the qinds are called chinook