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The severe winter of 1978-79


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Posted
  • Location: s yorks
  • Weather Preferences: c'mon thunder
  • Location: s yorks
tks for that Mr D, a great synopsis of charts and explanations.

Yet again its another winter I remember well. At times a forecasting nightmare.

Unless I'm mistaken its the winter when, in February, forget the date, but Radio Sheffield stopped its normal broadcasts and simply kept giving out snow/ice information and which roads were open or closed in and around the city.

those were the days TM, central heating, bah humbug! Mind you I would not be without it now. So although I hope for some cold spells I do NOT want the apocalyptic type of winter some of the 'young uns' on here crave for.

Once bitten twice shy as they say.

I cant recall BBC local radio broadcasting weather and travel info only John, but i am trying desperately to find info on wether this was the same winter that south yorkshire council gritters went on strike :lol:

But if it was 78-79 then the unforgettable urban empty miles of white roads with abandoned vehciles at midday wont be repeated for a long long time, if sadly at all? Some of our 60`s and before born generation are like Animals in africe waiting for the rains, we listen, wait and watch quietly every winter, and maybe,,,, just maybe, the winter of 78-79 (not to mention 63 and 47) will return one year.

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Posted
  • Location: Dublin, ireland
  • Weather Preferences: Snow , thunderstorms and wind
  • Location: Dublin, ireland
One was 'why are all snow flakes different?' mum usually couldn't answer so eventually she bought me a book, The Observers Book of Weather.

Hi Paul,

I am ilmost sure that also was one of the first books I also read about weather. As far as I can remember it concentrated on all apects of weather but covered a great deal about the different cloud formations with great photos..

Gerat account of those winters Paul. Oh, for one of those again.

But if it was 78-79 then the unforgettable urban empty miles of white roads with abandoned vehciles at midday wont be repeated for a long long time, if sadly at all? Some of our 60`s and before born generation are like Animals in africe waiting for the rains, we listen, wait and watch quietly every winter, and maybe,,,, just maybe, the winter of 78-79 (not to mention 63 and 47) will return one year.

Hi mezzacyclone,

I remember that winter so well. There were weeks and weeks of low pressures running NW to SE with great snowfalls during daytime hours.

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Posted
  • Location: Bristol, England
  • Location: Bristol, England

I remember a very cold winter years ago in Histon, Cambridgeshire, when on one day the temperature didn't exceed -7C (19F).

Could this have been during the winter of 1978/79?

Edited by Thundersquall
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Posted
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine and 15-25c
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)

amazing how many of us were at school in 78-79 i was 12...and like evryone else had many a day off school due 2 heavy snow and blizzards...i lived in exeter at the time and had been treated to the great blizzard of feb 1978...however for it to happen all ova again on 4 or 5 occasions the following winter was a wonder to behold..i never experienced a winter like it since..even when i was living in essex during the 80s and early nineties.....happy days!!

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Posted
  • Location: Ponteland
  • Location: Ponteland

What a great thread Mr data and what great memories ,amongst many that I have of that winter was during both February and March looking South East from my house at night searching for the lights of Newcastle Airport(1 mile away) and being unable to see anything due to the blizzards-nothing has happened of that ilk since then-but one can hope.

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Posted
  • Location: sherborne, dorset
  • Location: sherborne, dorset

yes i remember the winter of 1978-79 well, i must have been about 10yrs old , i lived in dorset at the time.

my dad opened the front door and loads of snow fell in. we didnt have radiators then, it was so cold the old metal framed windows had thick ice round the frames. loads of us got old trays and slid down the hill on them, great fun!

i remember the snow being very very deep in places.

Edited by lightninglass
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Posted
  • Location: Brixton, South London
  • Location: Brixton, South London

I was 18/19 at the time living at home in Bisley Surrey before going to University. Even in low lying areas of Surrey (one of the more snowless parts of the UK) we had 4" from the New Year fall: that was the first and last time that I ever attempted to drive in snow.

As ever Kent/Essex and EA were hit more severely than Surrey.

As others have said we had snow from almost every conceivable set up including (I think) rPm. In the south we had some dramatic fluctuations in temperature as very mild SWs (maxima up to 13/14c) were replaced by bitter ice days.

As TM says the spring was cold with snowfall in March and April (latest I recall was 2" on about 22/4/79 in low lying areas of Surrey) and a snow flurry on the downs above Guildford on 1/5/79.

First winter of lamp post watching...

Regards

ACB

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  • 9 months later...
Posted
  • Location: Steeton, W Yorks, 270m ASL
  • Location: Steeton, W Yorks, 270m ASL
Indeed - I seem to remember several occasions that winter of very heavy rain falling for several hours which then turned to snow and continued for several more hours with dropping temperatures. Driving up to Scotland for New Year, we only just got through at Shap before the road was closed by heavy snow.

....

Moose

I think I'd be right in saying that the only time we had the rain-snow that winter was at the very start of the severe period in late December, when three or four warm fronts stacked up and pushed north. I still recall, even on Boxing Day I think, Michael Fish predicting that the warm air would probably win the battle.

Most of the other events (and I'd beg to differ with the Eye's suggestion of two main blizzards, there were five decent events that winter, any of which on their own would have sttod very proud in a typical winter) were characterised by warm fronts banging into polar or arctic air - it was not unusual, therefore, for the snow to turn to rain further south; it's also the case that not every even made it up to Scotland. I suspect that Central Northern England very much got the brunt of it that winter, invariably being far enough north to stay pole-side of the polar boundary, but not so far north that the precipitation didn't reach. The additional point, further to Mr D's very good write up, is that we had another severe event mid-March. In those days March most definitely was a winter month.

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Posted
  • Location: Dundee
  • Weather Preferences: Snow, thunderstorms, gales. All extremes except humidity.
  • Location: Dundee
I think I'd be right in saying that the only time we had the rain-snow that winter was at the very start of the severe period in late December, when three or four warm fronts stacked up and pushed north. I still recall, even on Boxing Day I think, Michael Fish predicting that the warm air would probably win the battle.

Most of the other events (and I'd beg to differ with the Eye's suggestion of two main blizzards, there were five decent events that winter, any of which on their own would have sttod very proud in a typical winter) were characterised by warm fronts banging into polar or arctic air - it was not unusual, therefore, for the snow to turn to rain further south; it's also the case that not every even made it up to Scotland. I suspect that Central Northern England very much got the brunt of it that winter, invariably being far enough north to stay pole-side of the polar boundary, but not so far north that the precipitation didn't reach. The additional point, further to Mr D's very good write up, is that we had another severe event mid-March. In those days March most definitely was a winter month.

From my weather records I can confirm that not all the systems made it up to Scotland. For example during the blizzards that hit much of England around the 15th of February we only had snow showers and a severe frost. [i was unlucky or lucky enough to be travelling to London from Pitlochry by train overnight on the fourteenth {5 hours late} for an interview and returned the following night 12 hours late]. The Company Director due to interview me did not make it in from Herts that morning.]

However the milder interludes also did not make it up as far as us so as a consequence what snow there was lay for long periods. Snow was on the ground from the first week of January until the end of Feb and then came back for a couple of weeks in Mid March. Incidentally despite the duration of the snow cover it was never that deep with a max oif 9-10 inches. This was a lot less than in other winters of that era such as 1978 and 1984. Reading this thread has brought back happy memories though. :(

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Posted
  • Location: Wildwood, Stafford 104m asl
  • Weather Preferences: obviously snow!
  • Location: Wildwood, Stafford 104m asl

i wasnt around for this winter but read about it, the dream charts, if only winters like this still existed

dream chart looked through wetterzentrale archive charts

www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/1978/Rrea00119781231.gif

what a new years eve

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Posted
  • Location: Teesdale,Co Durham. 360m asl
  • Location: Teesdale,Co Durham. 360m asl
I think I'd be right in saying that the only time we had the rain-snow that winter was at the very start of the severe period in late December, when three or four warm fronts stacked up and pushed north. I still recall, even on Boxing Day I think, Michael Fish predicting that the warm air would probably win the battle.

Most of the other events (and I'd beg to differ with the Eye's suggestion of two main blizzards, there were five decent events that winter, any of which on their own would have sttod very proud in a typical winter) were characterised by warm fronts banging into polar or arctic air - it was not unusual, therefore, for the snow to turn to rain further south; it's also the case that not every even made it up to Scotland. I suspect that Central Northern England very much got the brunt of it that winter, invariably being far enough north to stay pole-side of the polar boundary, but not so far north that the precipitation didn't reach. The additional point, further to Mr D's very good write up, is that we had another severe event mid-March. In those days March most definitely was a winter month.

Days of snow lying from Robin Stirling 'Weather of Britain'

Bramaer 96

Edinburgh 30

Eskdalemiur 62

Buxton 82

Birmingham 62

Kew 25

Buxton had more days snow lying than 1962/63 when it had 74.

Mark

Teesdale,Co Durham

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Posted
  • Location: Atherstone on Stour: 160ft asl
  • Location: Atherstone on Stour: 160ft asl
my dad opened the front door and loads of snow fell in.

Exactly what I was going to say !!! :(:) I was 14 at the time, Dad made me clear a path outside & halfway down the road - like a mug I did it. Dad was inside having a "nice cup of tea"

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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Although it was a notably snowy winter almost everywhere, there were local variations, caused by the differing synoptics and marginality of some of the events.

In Lancaster, for example, there were 21 days of more than half-snow cover during January, a month when practically every snow event hit Lancaster, and only December 1981 was even remotely as snowy in records going back to the 60s. By contrast, there was more than half-cover on only 3 days during February, when the location missed most of the snow events- presumably the frontal battlegrounds were either too far south or too marginal by the Irish Sea coast. However, Lancaster did pick up on the big snowstorms mid-March.

In Tyne & Wear, on the other hand, it appears that January 1979 was a bit less snowy than in Lancaster (which doesn't happen very often), though I vaguely recall that inland parts of the region had similarly persistent snow cover. However, the area was very heavily hit by the February and March events, especially the mid-March 'northeaster'. In the 14/15 February snowstorm Tynemouth had a midday temperature of only -3C, which doesn't happen often when the wind is directly off the North Sea.

The one thing about having a winter crammed with almost every synoptic option for snow, is that there will have been very few places that missed most of the events in each month from November 1978 to May 1979 inclusive. In contrast, winters like 1947 and more especially 1963 were relatively snowless in some sheltered north-western parts because of the persistence of easterly winds.

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Posted
  • Location: Caterham-on-the-hill, Surrey, 190m asl (home), Heathrow (work)
  • Location: Caterham-on-the-hill, Surrey, 190m asl (home), Heathrow (work)

Another notable feature of that winter was the peristence of snowfall above 300m over England and Wales, it was pretty much continuous through January and February. Around Pontypool, Monmouthshire, the mountains were covered from 30th December to 17th April, which is fairly impressive against the recent trend for snow persistence over high ground in the UK, even over Scotland.

Some rather interesting temps were recorded during Jan and Feb 1979 too. New Years' day saw a max of -5C at Exeter in balmy Devon. Stretton, near Burton-on-Trent, the 3rd Jan 1979 saw a min of -16C followed by a max of just -11.5C due to freezing fog. On the 14th Feb 1979, a noon temp of -3C was recorded at Tynemouth (which TWS mentions above) accompanied by a 48 mph Easterly wind - which must have produced a severe wind chill on that coast that day!

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Posted
  • Location: frogmore south devon
  • Location: frogmore south devon
Another notable feature of that winter was the persistence of snowfall above 300m over England and Wales, it was pretty much continuous through January and February. Around Pontypool, Monmouthshire, the mountains were covered from 30th December to 17th April, which is fairly impressive against the recent trend for snow persistence over high ground in the UK, even over Scotland.

Some rather interesting temps were recorded during Jan and Feb 1979 too. New Years' day saw a max of -5C at Exeter in balmy Devon. Stretton, near Burton-on-Trent, the 3rd Jan 1979 saw a min of -16C followed by a max of just -11.5C due to freezing fog. On the 14th Feb 1979, a noon temp of -3C was recorded at Tynemouth (which TWS mentions above) accompanied by a 48 mph Easterly wind - which must have produced a severe wind chill on that coast that day!

it took six days to clear the road a 7 mile stretch between kingsbridge and salcombe after the new year snow event here in devon,a combenation of powder snow and high hedges made for some big drifts.

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Posted
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield
  • Weather Preferences: Any Extreme
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield

Remember it well although the Snow was late in arriving in Sheffield once it came it stuck around. It seemed to Snow for weeks on end you woke up it was Snowing you went home it was snowing. Despite being kids we even got fed up with it. Still remember being at School and this kid looking out of the Window saying "I see it's doing something different it's snowing again"

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Posted
  • Location: Atherstone on Stour: 160ft asl
  • Location: Atherstone on Stour: 160ft asl
Another notable feature of that winter was the peristence of snowfall above 300m over England and Wales, it was pretty much continuous through January and February. Around Pontypool, Monmouthshire, the mountains were covered from 30th December to 17th April, which is fairly impressive against the recent trend for snow persistence over high ground in the UK, even over Scotland.

Quite correct Nick, I lived about 8-9 miles from Pontypool (about 310 mts up) at the time, & it seemed to go on & on. School was pretty hit & miss for a month or two, not a bad thing when you're 14 !!

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  • 1 month later...
Posted
  • Location: Western Isle of Wight
  • Weather Preferences: Snow, Storm, anything loud and dramatic.
  • Location: Western Isle of Wight

Its in German but the charts and pictures are interesting http://www.wetterzentrale.de/cgi-bin/webbb...ig1.pl?read=258

May be this year a Mr Data? :blush: Thanks for the latest installment.

Russ

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Posted
  • Location: Lancashire Pennines 1000ft asl
  • Location: Lancashire Pennines 1000ft asl

i still remember this winter very well,

the first one after i left school.

in our part of the world, Rossendale Lancs. the worst of the weather arrived around mid Feb.

snow like i had never seen it before - urban drifts 15feet deep - a summer 15 minute walk took an hour that winter.

i was seving the first year of an apprentisihp with a local engineering company.

one of the staff in our company travelled from Burnley, 7 miles away over a 1400 ft summit.

he didn't take the advice to leave early and payed the price - 10 days before the road was opened and he got his car back.

there is a saying that certain songs always remind you of of certain events.

sad but true Olivers Army - Elvis Costello and Tragedy - the Bee Gees will always remind me of the snowy winter of 1979.

i've seen snow events since - April 1981. Jan 1982 , Jan 1983 even Feb 1991 but nothing was quite like winter 1979.

Ian

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  • 3 weeks later...

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