"Norman Lynagh" wrote in message
...

It was indeed very cold. I lived in Bushey, Herts at the time and the
max temp for the month there was 3.0c which occurred on the 2nd. The
mean max for the month was 0.9c and there were 10 days with the max
below zero. There was snow lying at 9 a.m. on 22 days in the month.

The cold continued into the first few days of March. On the 1st the max
temp was -0.9c in a fresh ENE wind. On 2nd March there was 5cm of snow
on the ground at 9 a.m.

All very different to February this year.

I was living in Swansea at the time and the sight of chunks of ice
on the beach at a location so far to the SW was incrediable..
I remember the constant and bitter east wind raising clouds of
dust, it was so dry. As far as I can remember no snow apart from
a few flurries.
The cold spell of Feb '86 fitted almost exactly into the month of
February so statistically at least it was more impressive than other
comparable spells that straddled 2 months.
One reason why it may have been 'forgotten' by some is that the
east wind was persistent and fairly strong so that although average
temperatures were very low there were few exceptionally low minima.
Very possibly lack of snow cover could have contributed as well.

What is most amazing at this month is that it came as part of an
otherwise unremarkable winter. OK, Jan was rather on the chilly side
with a CET of 3.5C but Dec '85 was exceptionally mild at 6.3C.
Then along comes Feb at -1.1C, making it colder than Feb '63!

Col
--
Bolton, Lancashire.
160m asl.
http://www.reddwarfer.btinternet.co.uk

Col