How will the Winter of 2012/2013 be remembered?

[sundog]

For my location i would give the winter 3.5/10 as i thought it was pretty poor. A few light temporary dustings of snow and the odd frost was the best i got. The coldest temp i recorded was -2.8c on the morning of Jan 22nd. The warmest temp i recorded was a week later on the 29th 13.2c. I think i got more ground frost during the autumn then i did during the winter itself.

I only recorded 7 air frosts during the winter due to the cold spells being cloudy affairs and no northerly outbreaks. The lowest max i recorded was 2.4c. For the second winter in a row the mildest part of the season was mid dec- mid jan which was disappointing as that is my fav time of the season to get cold weather. So while this winter was an improvement on last year (not that it would be hard) it was disappointing here. It was a winter that promised more then it delivered.

[Richard2901]

Awful here due to the lack of a decent northerly spell and an anomalous E/SE flow - the two wind directions I despise the most.

Temperatures finished below average but this was largely due to the cold first half of December. The second half of December was mild and January and February finished not far from average (respectively 0.3C and 0.5C below 81-10 average). December was once again the coldest both in absolute terms (mean 2.9C) and difference from average (-0.7C).

3C with gloomy grey skies, min above freezing, light drizzly rain and an easterly wind is my idea of hell. The worst weather by a long chalk and this winter produced such conditions in abundance. Plenty of mild winters have delivered as much, if not more, snow and frost.

There were numerous days of snow falling but accumulations were poor, apart from mid-January when 15cm lay. However that was an underwhelming experience due to the vile grey skies on most days and also the lack of snow away from the western outskirts. This winter saw the biggest contrast between the outskirts and city centre that I can recall with central areas having well below average days of lying snow and probably only half the total here. So for Aberdeen as a whole this winter will have been less snowy than average.

After 13th Dec the lack of frost was abysmal with mid-Dec to mid-Feb recording the fewest number of air frosts in my 8 years of records. 8 air frosts up to 13th Dec then only 21 in the remaining 77 days. Laughably many of those frosts came during the periods with mildest maxima. The last few days of February produced minima of -3C under 0C uppers, a light SW flow and maxima of over 10C, while under the detestable easterlies in Jan, with -10C uppers and 2-3C maxes, it failed to go below freezing.

February produced only 50 hours of air frost despite the mean min turning out below average. This was even less than February 2012 managed (62hrs) despite that month being the mildest Feb since 1998 and the mean min being nearly 2C warmer. It was also the third successive February that was dreadful for both snow and frost - the first time this has happened since 1988-90.

Another big black mark against this winter was the most revoltingly wet and depressingly un-festive weather in the run up to Christmas since 1929 with severe flooding in the region.

So overall plenty of negatives and not much positives at all. Nowhere near as bad as the likes of 1971/72 and 1979/80, which would both score 0/10, but I'd struggle to give much more than 3/10. I much preferred the winters from 1999 to 2006 to the dross that has dominated since 2007. Nearly all of those winters managed at least one decent northerly, something not seen at all in 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013 to date. Better still easterlies were almost entirely absent during that era.

[virtualsphere]

It's been a fascinating winter to follow both outside and here on Netweather. In terms of the actual weather, we had a week of lying snow and depths of almost 5 inches which makes it about equal to 2008-09, and beaten only by winters 2009-10 and 2010-11 in any winter since at least 1995-96.

December was a diabolical month in terms of the weather we experienced here and somehow managed to be even wetter than any of the three dreadful summer months, and while being cold delivered little in the way of any wintry feeling weather with no snow and very little frost. In synoptic terms though it was interesting to follow as a few tweaks here and there would have made it a much more seasonal month.

As others have posted, January could have been better with more sunshine and less in the way of rainfall outside the snowy period, but I can't really fault it given that it delivered the joint 3rd best period for snow in 17 years. It was also the first time I've been able to take my son sledging as he was too young in 2010, so it will probably be remembered as a special winter for us. It was also fascinating to watch the battleground synoptics show on the charts and for the cold to appear in the reliable timeframe, especially in conjunction with the discussion on the SSW, so has been a great learning experience.

February has been rather benign but after such a wet period, this has been very welcome. It was a shame the easterly couldn't deliver much snow or even frost, but interesting to see the very low upper air temperatures on the charts.

Overall it was nice to see batteground snowfall set-ups once again with trough disruption and low pressure sliding to the south of the UK which is something we've not seen for a while. It was certainly a big improvement overall on last winter, when we saw no snow at all here, but somewhat let down by the washout December and unseasonal Christmas. I'd probably give it 7/10.

Next year, as well as snow, I'll be hoping for something a little more anticyclonic and frosty overall with a bit more sunshine and perhaps lower minima.

[easy-oasy]

6 out of 10 for me in this neck of the woods. My highest temp was 13.5, lowest -7 (both in Jan). Saw snow in all three months with the best fall on Jan 20 (10cm)... so can't complain, although agree that more frosts would have been nice. I have enjoyed the highs, lows and heavenly blows of the models... would love some of the potential to come off next winter mind.

[chionomaniac]

For me 2012/2013 has been a fascinating winter.

Being able to accurately forecast a SSW in early December for early January, and able to suggest that the developing early winter zonal conditions would be broken by mid January (by this forecast SSW) is a success that I am quite proud of. A big thanks to research by the likes of Cohen who highlighted the rate of snowcover gain in the preceding October aligned with the descending -ve QBO, could lead to this.

I was slightly disappointed on two fronts though - one being that the depth of January cold led to too many marginal snow events being on the wrong side of marginal ( though very happy with the numerous snowfalls achieved). The second that the final downwelling from the SSW towards the end of Feb, led to an easterly with 84+hrs of -10ºC 850s, without the instability to produce great snowfalls. GRR.

However as an overall below average winter with numerous days of falling or lying snow, I am not disappointed and would rate this winter as being 6.5/10. And with a little bit of luck in early December and from mid Jan onwards we could have been looking at an epic winter!

[Aaron]

Overall good with plenty of snowfall events, maximum depth 25 cm in January with 14 consecutive days of snow cover. February was alright too, plenty of sunny days and frost, and an 8cm snowfall.

[If Wishes made Weather]

My comments largely echo those noted here. Its been a winter with longer cooler periods, but without the more winter like events of hard frost or 20+cm snowfall which we have had here over the past few winters. I suppose then, for the non-specialist observer, it would be marked simply as fairly non-eventful in this area, but for those (as Chino et al note) who are interested in the charts it was a winter where possibly greater potential was there, and almost came to fruition a couple of times.

[nick sussex]

Down here its been cloudier than normal,there were some very mild conditions earlier in the winter. All the snow arrived in February.

The first snowfall came as a complete surprise this fell on 11/12 February, indeed it turned out to be heaviest single snowfall I've seen down here with 15cms, it was very wet though and caused my driveway hedge to collapse!

Then exactly two weeks later we had 10cms of powdery snow so thankfully no further garden dramas. Temperature wise our lowest day maximum was -1c, lowest night time -5.

Overall I'd give the winter 6/10, I think we had the same problem as the UK in terms of a lot of cloud often stopping lower minimums.

But in terms of snowfall in the higher elevations of the Pyrenees its been incredible with actually too much snow and a high avalanche risk causing problems for the resorts.

Edited March 2, 2013 by nick sussex

[SnowObsessor90]

I'd say that overall it fell into the 'meh' category, I wouldn't necessarily say that it was a complete disaster (that title well and truly belongs to the 11/12 winter) but at the same time it really wasn't something that provided enough of that necessary uplifting feeling either

As has already been well documented the most interesting part about it was the model watching.

Edited March 3, 2013 by SnowObsessor90

[Jax]

Well for me it seemed to be a prolonged cold and dry one, not had the heating on as much as I did this winter for a long time.

[Harve]

It was a bit naff really, but I think that's more a testament of being in Glasgow rather than Derbyshire than anything else. I know that back home there's been snow hanging around in some form above 300m since early January, which is definitely fairly impressive. Here there's been the occasional fall but nothing lasting more than a day, and a serious lack of properly cold nights.

On the other hand, February has been exceptionally sunny and rather warm, at least feeling so due to the lack of wind and rain rather than very high temperatures.

Edited March 3, 2013 by Harve

[UV-RAY]

Lol, for my locale it was terrible and certainly on par with any of the late 80's, 90's and noughties winters for cold, frosts and snow. IMBY I recorded more frosts during October and November than the whole of December and January, February faired better on the frost front. As for snowfall that was truly woeful and only two winters in the last 30 years of keeping records have been worse, aside from all of that the real disappointment has been the lack of any deep cold, temps have largely been a few degrees above freezing by both day and night with little in the way of any sunshine.

[Alex95]

6/10 for me. We had significant snow for a a couple of days in early December, then that longer cold spell in January gave quite a lot, 15-20cm by the end of it and more than double that in the higher parts of County Durham,which was nice to go and see once the roads were clear again. There was another significant snow event here last weekend, although I was away so I missed it. The most disappointing thing in my opinion is that all the snow events were quite marginal, otherwise it would have been an 8/10.

Edited March 3, 2013 by Alza

[damianslaw]

In terms of model watching, its been a very good winter - given the small margins of difference within very short distances, it has definately been a winter with the UK at the battleground between continental influences and atlantic influences.

In terms of the weather - a very mixed one, December started off very promisingly with lots of frosty cold weather but a lack of snowfall. The best period of weather of the whole winter in my opinion was the 10-14th December, which produced a spell of clear skies frost lingering all day and temps only just inching above 0 degrees. However, the second half of December was a carbon copy of the latter part of Dec 11, horrible in my book, far too unseasonably mild often wet and depressingly dull. The first 10 days of Jan followed suit, utterly miserable we didn't see any sunshine until the 12th..

The second half of the winter overall, at least felt like proper winter. The second half of January whilst cold, in these parts could have been much better on the frost front and snowfall front - conditions were often very marginal when the snow did fall, and it quickly thawed rather than hung around. However, we did manage an 8 inch cover on the 25th/26th which was the highlight of the winter in terms of snowfall - what a pity it all thawed by the Sunday.. The tail end of Jan was mild and rather miserable.

February was an ok month on the cold front, but very dissapointing overall in terms of snowfall - apart from one 4 inch fall on the 13th and a few flurries on the 23/24th. Very few harsh frosts as well. However, it was dry and the last few days brought early spring weather and some glorious sunny blue sky conditions.

I'd rate it a 6/10, snowfall wise, it was ok, we have had far worse... frost wise - pity when the frosts did come in Jan and Feb the air was so dry you couldn't even see the frost.

I would have liked to have seen some decent very cold temperatures and snow cover under blues skies and sunshine, the reason we didn't was due to the lack of arctic/polar airstreams. All the cold weather this winter came courtesy of weak continental influences to the NE and a light easterly/southeasterly drift with all its associated cloud. It was however, better than 11/12 on the snowfall and cold front, but not a patch on the wintersof 08/09, 09/10 and 10/11.

[Terminal Moraine]

An acceptably good winter here. If I were to make a football analogy this winter would be mid table in the premiership.

It certainly doesn't compare with winters such as 1963 or 1979 but still managed to be the 9th coldest in the last 36 years and also the 7th wettest over the same period although that was largely due to the very wet December.

I recorded 78.6cm of accumulated snowfall which is fractionally more than the winter of 2009/10 and, by that parameter, the snowiest here since 1993/94 and the 6th snowiest on record. The number of mornings with lying snow ( 26 ) was exceeded in 12 other winters in the last 36 years.

There were 14 'ice days' and 22 days with a mean temperature lower than 0.0c ranking 9th and 12th respectively in the 36 year record.

[johnholmes]

The last two posts are interesting. One gives a picture of the high ground of the Peak District and the other of relatively low ground in the middle of the highest area in England.

Both illustrate just how much effect height has on snowfall and also on days below zero C.

thanks both

Driving into and across the Peak District on a fairly regular basis and this feature is very apparent from lowland Doncaster.

One or two ice days and lying snow on 11 with a total snow depth of about 9cm.

[Essan]

The fact that Sunday morning saw my second lowest temperature of the year says it all really - and that was only -2.9c

Had a decent cold spell in early December with several good frosts and 2 (nearly 3) consecutive ice days. And that was it. Some marginal snow in Jan and Feb but lack of low temps meant it melting pretty fast and indeed the ground hasn't been properly frozen at all since 14th December. I guess that's the "sort of winter we get these days" for you

Edited March 4, 2013 by Essan

[Suburban Streamer]

This winter has been great imby. Had a small dusting in December - 1st time I've seen snow falling in December since 2010.

Lots of snow on the 18th and again on the 20th jan plus some snow falling on other days around those dates. And the snow was light over several hours which meant roads/transport were unaffected, despite 10cm+ lying snow.

The recent very cold but dry easterly was a bit disappointing for lack of snow but the depth of cold was great to see. However, I did get a dusting and therefore I can say I saw snow falling in each of the three winter months - something quite rare imby (apart from 2010).

The ability to predict a Jan ssw from the end of November is really quite remarkable - two winters in a row well done to gp and chiono on that front.

Another fascinating and very educational winter for me

Edited March 4, 2013 by Suburban Streamer

[Don]

Not a bad Winter overall in my opinion and I would give it 6.5/10. It could have been better and certainly had the potential, but it seems we just missed out on something special. December started well but soon turned pear shaped. However, saying that, apart from the second half of December there was plenty of interest in the models and I had snow cover for 7 days from the 18th to 25th January during the two week cold spell. What disappointed me about it was like others have said, some of the snow falls were on the marginal side and many days were dull with a lack of sunshine and cloudy nights prevented low minima.

February was reasonable but snow fall was disappointing with just a few transient events and last weekend's easterly only produced flurries.

Had Winter 2012/13 occured five years ago, it would have been one of the best in 20 years, but expectations have risen since 2009/10 and 2010/11! I still think it was resonable though.

Edited March 4, 2013 by Don

[Bottesford]

The last two posts are interesting. One gives a picture of the high ground of the Peak District and the other of relatively low ground in the middle of the highest area in England.

Both illustrate just how much effect height has on snowfall and also on days below zero C.

thanks both

Driving into and across the Peak District on a fairly regular basis and this feature is very apparent from lowland Doncaster.

One or two ice days and lying snow on 11 with a total snow depth of about 9cm.

Perhaps this is down to higher ground being above the constant low cloud layer that has affected lower ground more? This would lead to the colder nights and increased chance of ice days. Don't think we've had an ice day here as it rarely got below freezing at night although if it had the temps could not rise during the day.

[Staffordshire]

8/10 for me saw a day of hoar frost.. some excellent snow in jan with 22cm level and some great drifts, im not to bothered about frosts but i would of liked some colder temps.

[Bobd29]

In a word......unfulfilled. Promised so much at various times throughout Dec, Jan and Feb but really only delivered once. Having said that I do like a good frost and on that score it was better than many recent years; so on balance I am going for a 5.5 out of 10. Back in Nov my hopes were for a good 8 (with 10 being comparable to 2010 Dec for at least 3 weeks). Spoilt maybe, hard to please probably, so underwhelmed sums it up......better luck next time eh?

[Weather-history]

Any thoughts how Bonacina would have rated this season of 2012-13? Well we still got the rest of the month, April, May and god forbid June.

[chionomaniac]

Unbelievable scenes down here in Sussex. Can't believe it is March 12th!! Still -3.1ºC with heavy snow. Snow fall for over 24hours!

[Boro Snow]

This has been a very snowy winter for me starting in late october, must of had at least 10 different occasions were we have had lying snow from different cold spells, currently as i look out the window we av 3/4 inchs with light snow falling. Defo in my top 5 winters