Now we've started March, it's time for me to comment:
Was it a good/bad winter? Well, that depends on what you're looking for.... For me, it was all about whether we had a spell that was cold and snowy enough for me to go sledging with my 4-year old son....
Well, we definitely had that in January when, after a snowfall on the 14th which left a thin cover after some melting straight after the snow, we had two day-long (18th and 20th) powdery snowfalls that left a total of ~ 6 inches as part of six consecutive ice days, with the cold continuing, and another inch fall on the 23rd with the snow staying in tact with little thawing until the 25th. OK, no super low temps (though it did get down to -5 one eve, and sub -3 for most of the 18th), but to me this clearly would have been the best wintry spell in the 1992-2008 'modern winter' era (had it occured in that period).
We also had the rain to snow event of 10/11th which left another 3 inches here which, despite being icy remained pretty much in tact (with little drip-drip and it remaining on trees boughs etc) for 3 days. (Even this would have been a top five, actually probably top three, snow event in the 1992-2008 period!).
Oh, and we also had lying snow for one day in December... (i.e. a "top event" in a typical 1992-2008" year)
So, all in all, we never had extreme cold (though a -3 max with snow in a breeze really isn't bad), and conditions weren't as extreme as 2009 or 2010, but it in my opinion was cold and snowy enough for this to a winter worthy of being in this "post-modern" winter period we now seem be experiencing.
I realise that others may not have had it as snowy or cold as it was here, but there's a lot of "glass half empty" thoughts on here...
Andrew
Rendlesham, Suffolk 20m asl