Thundery wintry showers, on 10 March 2010 - 16:57 , said:
I think this is where the "snowiness" classification that I devised has its flaws if used as an indicator for overall winter severity. 17 Dec to 15 Jan contained a number of widespread, non-marginal snow events which stuck around on the ground for long periods, and in parts of Scotland the period was cold and snowy throughout with no significant interruptions. But from 15 Jan to 1 March we had frequent snow across the country but most of it was marginal and didn't stick around for long.
In contrast many areas of the country had persistent snow cover in 1947 (23rd Jan into mid Mar) and 1963 (26th Dec into late Feb/early Mar) because it was cold enough to sustain a snowpack in between snow events.
But did 1979 surpass this winter in terms of duration of severe cold? A large majority of the snow events of that winter quarter were crammed into the period 31 December-16 February, so just over a fortnight longer than the big wintry spell of 17 Dec-15 Jan 2009. But then again, the first half of Feb 1979 was quite mild at times in the south, and in Lancaster there was very little snow at all, so in certain areas of the country people could've argued that in their own back yards, severe snowy weather only lasted from 31 December to 29 January. I think the main thing that elevates 1979 above this winter is the more even geographical distribution of snow and the cold snowy spring that followed.
And of course in 1947 and 1963, some parts of north-western Britain had almost no snow at all.
In contrast many areas of the country had persistent snow cover in 1947 (23rd Jan into mid Mar) and 1963 (26th Dec into late Feb/early Mar) because it was cold enough to sustain a snowpack in between snow events.
But did 1979 surpass this winter in terms of duration of severe cold? A large majority of the snow events of that winter quarter were crammed into the period 31 December-16 February, so just over a fortnight longer than the big wintry spell of 17 Dec-15 Jan 2009. But then again, the first half of Feb 1979 was quite mild at times in the south, and in Lancaster there was very little snow at all, so in certain areas of the country people could've argued that in their own back yards, severe snowy weather only lasted from 31 December to 29 January. I think the main thing that elevates 1979 above this winter is the more even geographical distribution of snow and the cold snowy spring that followed.
And of course in 1947 and 1963, some parts of north-western Britain had almost no snow at all.
Winter 78/79 saw generally more severe conditions in terms of heavy snow and strong winds, however, as you say it didn't see such persistant cold as this winter. A big difference with this year and 78/79 is how severe wintry onditions persisted well into March, the first half being very cold and snowy. Though the cold has persisted into March this year similiar to 1986 in many respects we have lost wintry severe conditions in terms of snow, though we have had very cold nights.
