"Peter Clarke" wrote in message
...
Much of southern England had one of the heaviest late March snowfalls of
the 20th century on this day. The cold spell had been well predicted; on
Tuesday 25th the BBC radio weather forecast mentioned the threat of very
cold weather later in the week due to ' rising pressure to the north of
Britain' and the arctic air arrived on the afternoon of the 27th with
snow showers. There were more snow showers the next day but these died
away in the afternoon when I noticed high clouds spreading across the sky
from the south.
Low pressure spread into Biscay overnight, the easterly wind increased and
it was already snowing and the ground covered when I awoke on the
morning of the 20th. I arrived at my office at 0900, a single storey
building, and the snow was blowing in clouds off the road and rooftops.
The force of the wind blew the snow under the eaves of the building where
it melted and dripped through the ceiling onto our desks. The snow fell
continously throughout Saturday ( accompanied by the gale) and continued
until late on Sunday afternoon when it ceased; I measured its depth as 6
inches on the lawn.
There was widespread disruption to events on that Saturday; football
matches were postponed, including the FA Cup semi-final between Arsenal
and Chelsea at White Hart Lane ( which was played the following Saturday -
a 1-1 draw and Arsenal won the replay 3 - 0 before losing to Newcastle Utd
in the Final on 3 May). The Boat Race was rowed in a blizzard which
Oxford won by a canvas.
Many years later I worked with an office colleague who, I discovered, was
married on that day. He told me that the wedding photographer and some of
the guests didn't get to the church because of the snow and the guests
reassembled a few weeks later for the official photos to be taken.
Kew Observatory registered a max of 0.5c on the 29th - the coldest late
March day of the century there. There were more snow showers on the 31
March and on the first 2 days of April, and I noted 6 days of snow lying
from 28 March to 2 April inclusive.
Peter Clarke
Ewell, Epsom 55m ( but living in Hampton, Middx in 1952).
Link to chart for that day, complete with my annotations (circa 1960)
http://tinyurl.com/727zr
All the best
--
George in Epping, West Essex (107m asl)
www.eppingweather.co.uk
www.winter1947.co.uk