Mike Tullett wrote:

On Tue, 2 Feb 2010 00:22:21 -0000, Philip Eden wrote in


Mike, I've only checked the figures for Aldergrove.
NI did not share in the long sequence of extremely low
night minima in Jan 1982, so that Dec/Jan was marginally
less cold. However, Dec/Jan 78-9 was colder at
Aldergrove. I've not checked 95-96 or 96-97.

2009-10 2.8°C
1981-82 3.0°C
1978-79 2.4°C

It's just possible, I suppose, that the regional NI
figure was the same as or slightly lower this year
than in 78-79, but a similar figure should suggest
that some parts of Ulster were higher and some
were lower, which would not excuse the dogmatic
"lowest for 47 years" ... at least for anyone with
half a brain :-)

Thanks so much for that. I hade a look through the data from my station,
1968 to 2002, and spotted something I always seem to forget. The same
period in 1976/77 had a mean here of only 2.7C. I then contacted Mark
Bailey at Armagh Observatory (obs started around 210 years ago) and he
kindly gave me the figures for there.

1962 Dec 4.5
1963 Jan 0.0

1976 Dec 1.8
1977 Jan 2.3

1978 Dec 4.3
1979 Jan 0.8

2009 Dec 3.0
2010 Jan 2.0

So not only was 76/77 a good deal colder than recently, it was in fact
colder than in the same two months in 62/63! That was a real surprise. I
wonder what Aldergrove was in 76/77?

Mike,

I haven't looked up any figures but my recollection is that 1962/63 wasn't
anything like as cold in NI as it was in England & Wales. NI was much like SW
Scotland that winter. I was commuting 30 miles each way between Largs and
Prestwick Airport by motorbike that winter and it wasn't too bad. NI did have a
notable blizzard, in Feb I think. The same blizzard affected the extreme SW of
Scotland but didn't extend as far north as Prestwick.


--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.