Heavy snow in Devon and Cornwall 1955

[knocker]

For some time I've been trying to track down a snow event from my schooldays. I have only a vague memory of it but at the time I was around 12-13 and at school in Falmouth. I remember seeing the front approaching from the west and within a short while it started snowing heavily and we all got sent home early. I think I have now found when it was, 23rd February 1955, and it looks like it was heavy snow ahead of a front approaching from the south west.

Snow scenes in Cornwall - Falmouth, Redruth & Helston.

Aerial view of snow covered landscape, snow clearing operations in action. Lorries and cars snowed up on the Redruth to Bodmin road. Road clearing of four lanes on the Falmouth to Redruth road. Men carrying provisions on Helston to Redruth road. Van snowed up on bypass. Large drifts on roads between Redruth and Falmouth. Snow clearing. Large drifts on Redruth to Helston road. General shots of Helston.

Ground shots of local people clearing snow bound roads. Drifts at cross roads, blocking thoroughfare. AA diversion. Snow bound blocked roads showing early morning milk lorries snow bound. Dairymen inspecting milk in churns on milk lorries. General shot snow drifts on roads with local dairymen endeavouring to free marooned milk cars with the aid of tractors (which also become bogged).

Date on dope sheet is 24/02/1955.

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/snow-scenes-in-cornwall/query/Falmouth

 

[MP-R]

Let's hope something similar can happen this year. Even a 10th of that fall would be nice lol. Looks incredible!

In fact: Looking through the archives, most of February and March of that year were cold.

Edited January 25, 2016 by MP-R

[Costa Del Fal]

Interesting event it sounds. Shows that for a proper snowfall in Cornwall you really do ideally need southerly tracking low pressure to bring in easterly winds and thus lower dewpoints (away from the moist warm atlantic). The chart above shows low heights around the poles/Greenland but a wedge of higher heights around Iceland, forcing low pressure south. Always a good thing that for snow for the southern half of the UK.

Can imagine if that happened today, it being a little tricky around Bodmin! Also on the route out of Falmouth, the hills around Bissoe/Devoran, Carland Cross etc.

[knocker]

Just happened to looking at the blizzard of March 1891 this morning.

https://forum.netweather.tv/topic/64038-the-blizzard-of-1891/

Perhaps the chart will matrialise again this year.

[Yarmy]

In an ever-warming world it sometimes feels like such events are no longer possible, but counterintuitively it could actually make them better/worse* given the right/wrong synoptics. Anomalously warm water temps played a role in this year and last year's huge US snow events.

As a noteworthy aside, both 1891 and 1955 occurred around solar minima. 

 

*Delete as applicable. 

Edited January 25, 2016 by Yarmy

[cornish snow]

You must remember jan 87,knocker.

The lizard was cut off for about a week,snow drift's up level with the hedges,gillan creek where i lived,almost frozen solid. 

Haven't seen anything even remotely like it since. Once in a 50 year event.