It's not finished here yet. Light snow blowing from the east with slight drifting still.
8/10 for me compared to 10/10 in December 2010. 2010 lasted a full 4 weeks whereas 2018 hasn't lasted a week.

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It's a shame the beast couldn't stay for another week, but he is on his way out now. Slayed all too easily by Mr Mild.

It was a great reminder though of just how crazy the winter weather can be in this country.

Quite poor. Delivered cold and wind... thats it.


Hardly any snow

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A slow thaw has set in so can call this one now.

First, it put the discussion to bed about easterlies, and markedly still managed to happen as we approached Spring. Comparing to other spells, it wasn't an '87 but was different in the way events happened.
It snowed every day from start to just about finish yesterday evening, whereas other spells had their snow at the start.

"Highlights" for me blowing snow off rooftops and surfaces which looked like major blizzards at times. The depth of snow wasn't too remarkable and would say we managed 8-10 inches with the effect of the Thames.
Freezing rain. Never experienced this before and coated the windows to make a frosted glass effect you could barely see through.
The bitter wind. That was very cold when I ventured out on just one occasion. Can't remember feeling cold like that before.
And that leads on to a personal negative for me. I do wonder if age has caught up with me after all these years. Felt like a prisoner inside, maybe because I am early retired, but never got out to enjoy and experience the rarity of this event. A knee problem did not help though so maybe "next time" I may feel different.

Rating, a 9 from me mainly because it was late season and provided bitter cold still with some "special effects". At the same time it was over quite quickly while the build up seemed to be longer.

Not going to ramble on

It was a good event low temps low windchill. 

Record low temp for March . 

Drifts across the road akin to the 80’s

Ended very well with the snow on Thursday and Friday .

8/10 

 

How much accumulated snow did you see?

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I think that posters living in southern England who are awarding 10/10 are getting carried away by the rarity of the events of last week.

There's no doubt that Kent and the West Country, in particular, merit a 10/10 for severity - but the cold spell only lasted a week! What will you award when the cold spell lasts 3 or 4 weeks, as has happened in the past?

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Nice idea for a thread.

Im not sure if anyone else will review the cold spell from a Channel Islands point of view, or if anyone will be interested, but I will give it a go.

Comparing this spell against 87 or 91 is going to be difficult because I was a small child at the time, however I do have small happy memories of 91, which was eppic, and pretty much sowed the seed for my love of cold and snow.

First off a temp review. This latest encounter with the "beast" was certainly a cold with temps ~0c from Tuesday until Friday Morning. The coldest 24 hour period Wed - Thurs, where the temp stayed well bellow 0c (Ice day) & Wednesday night going down to -4 IMBY. Cold like this in my neck of the woods is rare and has probably only happened a few times since 91.

Secondly a snow review. Probably the most important part. Unfortunetly snow ammounts in Jersey were quite low. A few powdery flurries during the week amounting to nothing. then the main event/breakdown, a decent dusting early hours Thursday and enough to close schools etc but thats about it. Then round two from about 9am Thursday until 1pm. This built on the overnight effort taking the final snow depth to about 6cm IMBY. During the time the snow came down it was blowing about in the wind and small drifts were made. I can only remember seeing this once in my lifetime during the March 2013 spell, however Im sure this happened in 87 & 91.

Freezing rain. This was a first for me. From about 1pm Thursday snow turned into freezing rain as the milder uppers moved in and surface temps remained at about -1. The freezing rain fell untill about 5pm, forming icicles and cover every surface in slick ice. After about 5pm surface temps got above freezing bringing about the end of the spell.

All in all a good spell. However will I remember it in 20 years? Not sure. As a result I would say not as good as 87,91 or if im honest 2013, which saw more snow. I would rate 7.5 out of 10 for my location.

For it to make 10 out of 10 I would of wanted more snow, and for the snowy spell to last through into next week.

Advance warning 9/10

This cold period was very well forecasted IMO even if the detail closer to snow events was more hit and miss. 

Low Temperature 7/10

-6.5C is not that impressive on the face of it but combined with a strong wind makes for a penetrating frost that has caught out quite a lot of people it seems. Good for the Mattys of this world but not for those who have forgotten to lag pipes or turn off outdoor taps from a stopcock.

Snow Quality  9/10

Pure powder, At least for the main event. Great stuff.

Snow Depth  5/10

5ins. Ho hum beggars cant be choosers and all, that even for here. But nice to see after what seems an eternity.

Icicles 8/10

Not seen those for many years and the coastal cliff ones with significant thickness and length (1.5M) growing from top and the bottom were some of the best I have come across.

Freezing Rain 8/10

A well forecast spell of freezing rain that I was impressed with as a weather event even if it made it all but impossible to move around safely. The ice build up on any surface with the tinkling sound it makes in trees and bushes is something to remember.

Wind  8/10

Channel easterly gales with a penetrating frost are rare at the best of times but this late in the winter notable. Horizontal snow is rare here but it certainly did its stuff for several hours with snow devils in the lee of buildings making for some interesting weather watching.

Media and Reporting 7/10

I realise for people who missed out, the media seemed to revel in hyperbole and exaggeration but overall I think they did a reasonable job in recording what has been unfolding.

Weather Photogenic Qualities  8/10

Some great cloudscapes in the run up with deep blue skies, rough seas, galloping white horses breaking on the east facing beaches a sight to remember. Hard to create images though but those hand warmer thingies you can place inside your gloves made outdoor work bearable.

Disruption  5/10

Two school closure days for snow are notable for here. I would defy anyone to make twenty mile round trip (walking) to and from school in yesterdays atrocious freezing rain event. Did people really do this in the past? Apparently so when you read some of the comments in the local rag and most winters too.

Longevity  5/10

Not even a week but the run up was quite impressive.

Comparison to Past Events  7/10

Blizzard of 78 would take some beating here for sheer snow depth, drifts and total chaos.2010 was colder, longer but with about the same amount of snow here plus 2010 was the only time I have ever experienced a Christmas Day with crisp crunch snow on the ground.

Overall a notable weather event but historically for here in Dorset not the biggest.

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I think that posters living in southern England who are awarding 10/10 are getting carried away by the rarity of the events of last week.

There's no doubt that Kent and the West Country, in particular, merit a 10/10 for severity - but the cold spell only lasted a week! What will you award when the cold spell lasts 3 or 4 weeks, as has happened in the past?

That should say "some parts of Kent". I think Gusty and Ian only saw a couple of cms of snow in their localities. Despite my patch missing the worst conditions I measured a level snow depth of 9cm last night and logged 3 ice days. I would be interested to see data showing the maximum snow depth per person recorded in the UK during this cold spell. For example:

20 million = 5cm
10 million = 10cm
5 million = 20cm
1 million = 50cm

etc...

The snowfall maps published by the Met Office won't provide that because they would need to be cross referenced against detailed population data. There is also a tendency for some people to apply a multiplier on their local snow depth, often a positive one but sometimes a negative one I note.

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So for my part of South Manchester, I’m going to rate this spell 8/10. Sounds rather surprising perhaps from other parts of NW England, even other parts of Manchester.

Timeline below:-

Monday - The first day of the cold spell came in quite slowly, but even by Monday, Manchester received some snow showers from the east - this was an unexpected surprise. Elsewhere in the country the usual moans were coming out thick and fast about it being a failure of a cold spell - a frustrating day. By the evening, attention was turning to a small low in the North Sea. All the high res models gave us a direct hit.

Tuesday - The day the fun started. I woke up early - immediately checked the radar like a nutcase. The feature had hit us head on and we had a good covering, the temp was about -2C - perfect. Not a huge amount but the first picture postcard covering we’d seen since January 2015. Phew. 🙂 Even the city centre had a powdery covering. Through the day, a number of beefy snow showers pushed through giving fresh coverings, giving blizzard like conditions at times. By the evening we had a couple of other heavy snow showers which gave a fresh covering, all at temps of well below freezing.

Wednesday - A bit of an odd day. Showers pushed in but were very hit and miss. Parts of Manchester had fresh dustings, including Sale and Altrincham but the city centre stayed mainly dry. However by the evening a streamer developed from Hull, through Sheffield, and hit most of Manchester head on. The snow started around 7pm and didn’t really stop all night. The line of snow was quite narrow, but thankfully for me my patch was a direct hit. Wednesday night was a brilliant event for much of Eastern NW England, not just high ground.

Thursday and Friday - Thursday morning was the peak of this cold spell for me. The streamer was still in full flow and my walk to work/station consisted of moderate snow falling, strong to gale force easterly winds, blowing powder snow, drifting snow, and poor visibility - I have never experienced this living where I live. Genuinely exceptional conditions. By Thursday lunchtime frontal precipitation started pushing in from the south and the rain shadow kicked in. Just snizzle from this point onwards. However the easterly gale was impressive and for parts of Manchester this is when the historical nature of the spell bedded in. Drifting snow trapping people in their cars etc.

So the 8/10 is not because of the depths of snow. It was hard to measure depth because of the powder, and the drifts, but we managed about 7-8cm. Jan 2010 was much more impressive in that respect (9.5/10). However this has been a notable, historical spell. I have never seen blowing powder snow, such exceptional cold with a strong wind, icicles hanging from my car, and drifting (however minor) in inner city Manchester. It must be extremely rare and as a 31 year old, not something I can remember. I’m hoping, with all my heart, that this is the start of a new trend to colder, snowier winters.

I’ve always rated WNW’lies here, but I have to say after experiencing the brutal cold of an easterly, the lack of marginality, and the powder snow - convective easterlies are my new favourite. 

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7/10

I've experienced much worse here, both in terms of cold, snow and longevity.

Three things that I stuck out though:

Drifting snow (not a common occurrence at all in a heavily built up area)
Near blizzard conditions due to the strength of the wind (combined with snow flying off roofs etc this was particularly entertaining)
Icicles - they were longer now than in December 2010. Some real daggers about.

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7/10

I've experienced much worse here, both in terms of cold, snow and longevity.

Three things that I stuck out though:

Drifting snow (not a common occurrence at all in a heavily built up area)
Near blizzard conditions due to the strength of the wind (combined with snow flying off roofs etc this was particularly entertaining)
Icicles - they were longer now than in December 2010. Some real daggers about.

I concur with your three points and it’s why this spell sticks out for me too.

Other spells have been snowier. 

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Hard to decide here. Didn't have the snow amounts of other parts of the South East, which for me is normally a major factor; I love deep snow.

It was, however, the coldest spell since perhaps 91 or 97 IMBY. Temperature dropped below zero on Monday evening and didn't go positive again until early Saturday morning. The ice days weren't 'just scraped' either, they were proper ones -3 and -4c region.

The wind was also something to behold. It has been a long long time since we have had an easterly wind of that strength and potency IMBY. That really was great to see and feel. Watching the wind blow the soft powdery snow around in clouds and scour it of roads, paths and roofs was amazing! It was a brutal wind at times.

If I went just on snow 5/10, however, including the other factors I would give it 7/10. Better for cold days and wind than 2010, but not nearly as good for snow!

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I think that posters living in southern England who are awarding 10/10 are getting carried away by the rarity of the events of last week.

There's no doubt that Kent and the West Country, in particular, merit a 10/10 for severity - but the cold spell only lasted a week! What will you award when the cold spell lasts 3 or 4 weeks, as has happened in the past?

Not all parts of Kent David.  I and the rest of the south east coasters experienced 3 transient dustings and then yesterday's couple of cms.

I cannot hand on heart give the spell more than 4/10, as I said earlier.

I remain waiting for a cold spell to come close to those of 1985, 1986 and 1987.

WI

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7/10

Low pressure system from the NE kicked it off last weekend/Monday (from memory!) with around 4".

Blizzards on and off for around 48 hours, maybe more.

12-13" is a rough estimate for level snow.

Icicles formed.

Haven't checked temp, but from looking at other WS near me, 3 ice days, down to around -8°C. Windchill was around -15°C for several days.

So great... but not near 2010's level, when there were greater depths, more impressive falls, proper big flakes all the time, the Wear froze over, icicles 10 x the size of now, and it lasted over a month.

So, yeah, 7/10.

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I'll give this one 7/10.
3 consecutive ice days and some impressive street lamp snow at times but no significant accumulation. 5cm tops.

The outstanding feature from this cold spell was seeing moderate snow falling with a temp of around -6C. Amazing, don't think I've ever seen that before.

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^^ another good point, seeing snow fall at such low temperatures, even heavy snow. No marginal worries this time around!

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^^ another good point, seeing snow fall at such low temperatures, even heavy snow. No marginal worries this time around!

Yes, I've seen snow at those temps or even lower, December 1995 springs to mind. But that was really just snow grains giving a dusting at best. But these were proper snow showers!

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I'll give this one 7/10.
3 consecutive ice days and some impressive street lamp snow at times but no significant accumulation. 5cm tops.

The outstanding feature from this cold spell was seeing moderate snow falling with a temp of around -6C. Amazing, don't think I've ever seen that before.

Agreed. Heavy snow here at -4.3C. Don't often get that at the end of February so 8/10 for me. Boosted by severity of cold and frequent snow, Docked for shortness and lack of massive depth. (10-15cm). Judged it higher being this century, much more frequent last (but not this late I hasten to add).

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I think that posters living in southern England who are awarding 10/10 are getting carried away by the rarity of the events of last week.

There's no doubt that Kent and the West Country, in particular, merit a 10/10 for severity - but the cold spell only lasted a week! What will you award when the cold spell lasts 3 or 4 weeks, as has happened in the past?

 

I gave it 10/10 becuase it neatly coincided with my week off  and buggered off  exactly when I needed to be "out and about" again (today)- not pre planned in any way.

In terms of severity, I agree it wasn't a patch on some of the late 70's and early 80s winters, much less 47 and 63 - but maybe we need to adjust our yard stick somewhat ?   Will we see another  multi week "Beast" in our lifetimes ?  In any case, I can't honestly  reference 47 and 63 becuase I was only 1 in 63

 

 

 

 

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