BBC Countryfile Forecast: 10th January 1993

[Weather-history]

Timewarp back to the earliest Countryfile forecast that I have going back to the 10th January 1993. How often do you see a pressure chart showing 909mb low?

[I remember Atlantic 252]

I dont usually do well for snow off this setup, best setup possible for northern parts 300m, cant imagine any snow at low levels in south off that, even in the cold 90's

[Thundery wintry showers]

The Scottish Lowlands got hit by heavy snowstorms, and snow cover persisted for a few days at sea level. It was a similar story across Northern Ireland. Snow showers also fell widely across the northern half of England although the snow did not generally lie for long near sea level to the south of the Scottish border. Lancaster (NW Lancs) reported snow and hail showers accompanied by thunder, though limited accumulations on the ground, and in Tyneside there were a few snow showers and a dusting of snow in parts of the region.

However to the south of the Midlands most of the showers fell as rain at low levels- it is quite right to suggest that this setup rarely delivers a widespread snow cover in the south- even the potent "cold zonality" episodes in January 1984 and March 1995 failed to deliver more than a day or two of snow cover in most parts of southern England (although many sites in Norfolk did register 6 to 8 days of snow cover in January 1984).

[cheeky_monkey]

Thanks Mr D..this is the week i met my wife for the 1st time...happy days

[Weather-history]

Going to be doing a series of old Countryfile forecasts over the next few weeks.

This is from the 17th January 1993, note the windspeeds that hit parts of Scotland earlier that day

[Weather-history]

I have downloaded this one before but here's the 24th January 1993 Countryfile forecast and that severe wintry episode never happened.

[Weather-history]

Here's the 31st January 1993 Countryfile forecast by Suzanne Charlton who we sadly don't see these days. She made a bit of a comeback about 5 years ago.

[Weather-history]

Here's the 7th February 1993 Countryfile and the anticyclonic spell

[Andy Bown]

I'm enjoying these forecast videos, thank you Kevin.

I presume, much like earlier this week, a Fohn effect was happening for Eastern Scotland on the day of the forecast.

[Weather-history]

I presume, much like earlier this week, a Fohn effect was happening for Eastern Scotland on the day of the forecast.

Yes it was very mild but the wind shifted to come off the North Sea it became distinctly chilly.

Here's the forecast from 14th February 1993 and a hint of an Arctic plunge at the end of the week

[Weather-history]

Here's the Countryfile forecast from the 21st February 1993. There was quite a tidal surge along the North Sea coast that day causing coastal flooding in parts

[Weather-history]

Here's that wintry 28th February 1993 Countryfile forecast again

[Weather-history]

Now into early spring and what turned out to be a fairly dry March, from the 7th March 1993

[Weather-history]

Here's the Countryfile forecast from the 14th March 1993

[Weather-history]

Now up to the 21st March 1993

[Thundery wintry showers]

Thanks for these uploads- interestingly they start at around the same time as I started taking weather records. At Cleadon there were a couple of sleet/snow showers from the polar maritime incursion on the 23rd March 1993, with temperatures a degree or two down on the predicted values, though the high pressure indicated on the forecast did arrive by the 25th giving sunshine by day and chilly nights.

[Weather-history]

The 28th March Countryfile forecast

Edited March 11, 2012 by Mr_Data

[Weather-history]

Here's the Countryfile forecast from the 4th April 1993. One historical footnote, this was the day after the Grand National that never was.

[Weather-history]

Here's the Countryfile forecast from the 2nd of May 1993

[Weather-history]

Here's the 9th May 1993 Countryfile forecast

The forecast for the latter part of the week didn't go to plan as it did not foresee the development of the low which brought wintry weather to parts of Scotland in a download I made some days back

[Thundery wintry showers]

It appears that the forecast models didn't pick up on secondary low/shortwave development associated with the northerly (hence the big snowstorm over much of Scotland on the 13th-15th May 1993)- this has often proved a problem with forecast models even in recent times.

[Weather-history]

BBC Countryfile forecast from the 16th of May 1993

[Weather-history]

Here's the BBC Countryfile forecast from the 23rd May 1993, unsettled sums it up

[Weather-history]

Here's the 30th May 1993 Countryfile forecast as we head into the summer of 1993, which was overall on the cool side.

[Norrance]

That 10th January forecast certainly brought back memories for me. January 1993 was a very memorable month of storms, snow and floods in this part of the country and that week was particularly extreme. It followed on a just a few days after the Braer storm that sank the oil tanker off Shetland and culminated in the great Tay flood that hit Perth the next weekend. My own diary for the week in Dundee read like this:

Sun 10th: Mostly cloudy with squally showers turning to snow and hail later. Stormy late.

Mon 11th: Frequent heavy snow showers, some prolonged. Windy. Heavy snow later. Road chaos in Scotland. Blocked in areas from Highlands to coastal Fife. Lowest low pressure this century in North.

Tues 12th: Scotland paralysed by blizzards with Tayside and Fife badly hit. Work closed. Heavy snow early turning sleety and slushy pm. 18 inches of snow at home[Aberfeldy]. Clear and frosty late.

Wed 13th: Calmer, cool and cloudy with a slow thaw. Clear and frosty later.

Thurs 14th. Snow showers overnight and in morning blocking roads again. Rain later.

Fri 15th: Very mild AM with heavy rain and gales. Rapid thaw. Heavy wintry showers pm. Up to Aberfeldy. Amazing snow melt on lower ground from earlier in the week [18 inches plus] but showers late afternoon brought several inches new snow to Dunkeld / Aberfeldy areas making roads very difficult. Stormy winds again. Rivers flooding.

Sat 16th: Mild wet and windy. Further rapid thawing AM. Severe flooding in upper Tay areas.

Sun 17th: Colder. hail and sleet showers turning to snow later. Back to Dundee later. Drier there. Had to take high road to avoid floods,.

That night Perth got hit by the worst flood for more than a Century as the snow melt from the huge catchment areas up river hit the area. The river flow was measured at 100 times normal. Phenomenal when you consider that the Tay normally has a greater flow than the Thames and Severn put together. The river board reckoned that the floods were restricted by over 15% by the hydro schemes in the upper areas as the dams contained a lot of water from the initial thaw. It was also lucky that the weather cooled briefly on the Friday pm and again on Sunday slowing the melt in the higher areas.

The month continued in a changeable mode with snow, thaw, gales and floods but the worst was over.

Edited March 22, 2012 by Norrance