To be honest a very mild winter is overdue and thats where my money is, nothing scientific to back this up but when you consider 4 out of the last 5 has been cold something has to give.

Here in East Cumbria nothing could be as frustrating as last winter so the thought of a 3 month Bartlett doesnt worry me, yes a 2010 or 2011 winter would be nice but this is the UK and I think we have used up our quota of cold winters for a while.

 

Andy

Can't figure out where people are getting that from given that 2011/12 was so mild, plus the fact we had so many mild winters during the 90's and early 2000's so, if anything, we are due a long run of very cold winters.

Completely agree. It's ridiculous to suggest a mild winter is overdue. 3 of the last 7 winters here (06/07, 07/08 and 11/12) have been very mild and virtually snowless compared to only one between 1999 and 2006 (99/00).

 

2009/10 and 2010/11 have been the only properly cold winters in the past decade here and in the case of the latter was entirely due to the extreme December. 2008/09 was average and last winter wasn't all that cold and certainly not snowy.

 

In any case I'm only interested in seeing decent snowfalls which the likes of 1998/99, 2001/02, 2003/04 all managed despite being milder than average and which last winter didn't despite being colder than average. 

No point in being cold if you don't get decent hard frosts or good snowfalls. 3 months of March 2013 weather would be a nightmare come true.

Are you kidding me?! Last winter was insane, it came very late (march instead of december) but the snow was 50ft+ deep in the pennine drifts in Early april!!! I think that march was the cloest I have ever seen the -15C 850 isotherm come. For March it certainly rivalled Dec 2010 in extremity. What we really all secretly want, is for us to have another Dec 2010 or March 2012, but in JANUARY!

For what it's worth last Winter was cold here and we had a good fall of snow in January

The vast majority of the UK had little or no snow in March.

This is, and always be, the problem, its rarer than rocking horse s**t that we get countrywide snowfall events so people's opinions of a particular winter or event will always be skewed

FWIW i think last sprngs cold spell was unusual and interesting meteorologically plus it snowed a fair few times here albeit it never really settled

To be honest a very mild winter is overdue and thats where my money is, nothing scientific to back this up but when you consider 4 out of the last 5 has been cold something has to give.

Here in East Cumbria nothing could be as frustrating as last winter so the thought of a 3 month Bartlett doesnt worry me, yes a 2010 or 2011 winter would be nice but this is the UK and I think we have used up our quota of cold winters for a while.

 

Andy

Can't figure out where people are getting that from given that 2011/12 was so mild, plus the fact we had so many mild winters during the 90's and early 2000's so, if anything, we are due a long run of very cold winters.

Completely agree. It's ridiculous to suggest a mild winter is overdue. 3 of the last 7 winters here (06/07, 07/08 and 11/12) have been very mild and virtually snowless compared to only one between 1999 and 2006 (99/00).

 

2009/10 and 2010/11 have been the only properly cold winters in the past decade here and in the case of the latter was entirely due to the extreme December. 2008/09 was average and last winter wasn't all that cold and certainly not snowy.

 

In any case I'm only interested in seeing decent snowfalls which the likes of 1998/99, 2001/02, 2003/04 all managed despite being milder than average and which last winter didn't despite being colder than average. 

No point in being cold if you don't get decent hard frosts or good snowfalls. 3 months of March 2013 weather would be a nightmare come true.

Are you kidding me?! Last winter was insane, it came very late (march instead of december) but the snow was 50ft+ deep in the pennine drifts in Early april!!! I think that march was the cloest I have ever seen the -15C 850 isotherm come. For March it certainly rivalled Dec 2010 in extremity. What we really all secretly want, is for us to have another Dec 2010 or March 2012, but in JANUARY!

Don`t you mean March 2013?? Anyway last winter was about the best you`re gonna get if you`re a fan of cold.Just because there isnt 6ft of snow every week doesnt mean a winter can`t be v cold,Feb `86 is a classic example of this!!

March 2013 was about as cold as it is possible to be in the uk,for march and to say most of the uk didn`t have snow is laughable.Agreed nothing in the south but above the midlands,wales,NI were buried in it i seem to recall.Also i can`t remember a winter as long as 2012/13,it seem to start as soon as bst ended and didn`t relent until second half of April,spring was a month late coming even down here!

All we can be sure of for the coming winter is it will be darker and the temperature will be lower than it is now,just how much lower is anyones guess. Guess being the key word!

Anyone who is aware of the epic slow-moving frontal snow events that have occured across Britain in the past will be left wanting for countless years... but in theory it should eventually happen.

What I'm talking about is an event like the blizzard of '78, in which the frontal system is not a feeble affair or half-rain or some other failing like that - instead the energy piles in from the west, slams into a deep cold airmass across the UK, and just keeps on giving for hours on end. In fact, multiple events occured in sucession that year, as several low pressure systems became stuck against the massive block of cold continental air.

That's the sort of thing that leads to people complaining even just a few years after a month like December 2012 - sure, that was amazingly cold, record breakingly so in places, but the snow amounts, while noteworthy, were still far short of what can potentially be witnessed in the UK.

It's a funny game really, as such events are very disruptive and do far more harm than good - but as an extreme weather enthusiast it's all about recognising that if an event happens, it does so regardless of what you think about it, so you might as well enjoy what aspects of it you can

The silly season is here! - https://www.facebook.com/WeatherWatchUK/posts/234804403340214

The silly season is here! - https://www.facebook.com/WeatherWatchUK/posts/234804403340214

Might be right for once

The silly season is here! - https://www.facebook.com/WeatherWatchUK/posts/234804403340214

Might be right for once

I hope so

I assume you were talking about the newspaper report and not my page

The vast majority of the UK had little or no snow in March.

This is, and always be, the problem, its rarer than rocking horse s**t that we get countrywide snowfall events so people's opinions of a particular winter or event will always be skewed

Indeed. We had great snow in March with deep drifts lasting until April, as deep as my knees. I recall going to my local park on the day after and seeing snow blowing off the fields and onto the road that runs through it, with snow slowly accumulating on the road and cars slowing down and stopping due to reduced visiblity. This was in late March with sunny skies and temps of only 1C! Exceptional. The day before, during hte actual snowfall, we had an ice day. And we had another ice day on the 11th with frequent powdery snow showers. I'll remember that month for a long time.

However, I know that just a few miles east in the Vale of York and they got hardly anything at all compared to here. Elevation was crucial last winter as most events were marginal, so here, at 86m, we got lots of snow, but places in the Vale of York would often get wet snow that didn't settle or only settled a little bit.

The silly season is here! - https://www.facebook.com/WeatherWatchUK/posts/234804403340214

Might be right for once

I hope so

I assume you were talking about the newspaper report and not my page

of course

I was sort of hoping your page is always right

Considering the frequency of easterlies last winter, this part of Kent as a whole escaped relatively lightly indeed, compaed to how it has been completely buried with a less prolonged easterly influence in years gone by.

So I wouldn't mind seeing a severe snow event this time around, although with a very early Spring to follow too!

FWIW, this morning's CFS model continues to output cold signals for this winter. Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb and Mar are all forecast to be below average, with March perhaps the coolest of them all.

FWIW, this morning's CFS model continues to output cold signals for this winter. Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb and Mar are all forecast to be below average, with March perhaps the coolest of them all.

The vast majority of the UK had little or no snow in March.

This is, and always be, the problem, its rarer than rocking horse s**t that we get countrywide snowfall events so people's opinions of a particular winter or event will always be skewed

FWIW i think last sprngs cold spell was unusual and interesting meteorologically plus it snowed a fair few times here albeit it never really settled

Oh dear.  Check out the Met Office Snow Cover and Anomaly maps: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/anomacts

You will see that in March 2013 pretty much the entire country has more snow laying than the mean for 1980-2010 and that many western and northern parts had a  whole winter's share of the stuff in a spring month...

FWIW, this morning's CFS model continues to output cold signals for this winter. Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb and Mar are all forecast to be below average, with March perhaps the coolest of them all.

And FWIW, the 12Z CFS has normal signals for Dec and positive temp anomolies for Jan and Feb.
Just thought I'd add that for the sake of even reporting

Incidentally, what are the Strat Temps doing at the moment?

Anyway last winter was about the best you`re gonna get if you`re a fan of cold.

LOL, yeah right. Last winter was utterly forgettable in terms of cold and snow down here - we had 3 inches of snow for a few hours, a couple more days dawned with overnight slush and that was it. No ice days, no nights below -5C. 2011/2 was even worse, but 2010/11 was saved by the December. Even then it wasn't exactly snowy down here, it didn't hold a candle to the amount we saw in the 80s, 90s and in the 2005 cold spell.

Granted, spring got off to a cold start, but that's not winter is it?

Last winter was an unusually snowy one here in north Leeds. As LeedsLad says the snowfall was often quite localised so being around one of the highest points in Leeds obviously helped and the drifts driving over the top to Otley were fantastic. What the winter lacked was a prolonged real depth of cold with a real deficit of sparkling blue skies and hard frosts. When I think of last winter I think grey and snowy, which of course is a whole lot better than grey and mild!

FWIW, this morning's CFS model continues to output cold signals for this winter. Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb and Mar are all forecast to be below average, with March perhaps the coolest of them all.

And FWIW, the 12Z CFS has normal signals for Dec and positive temp anomolies for Jan and Feb.
Just thought I'd add that for the sake of even reporting

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Incidentally, what are the Strat Temps doing at the moment?

IMAGE. Members enable at bottom of page