In article
,
Nick writes:
In southern Hampshire (Southampton area), 2009/10 seemed less
exceptional than several winters I experienced in south-west Sussex in
the 80s (so not quite like for like).

I'm in SW Surrey, so not too far from you, though being further from the
coast would normally be a bit colder.

That said, I got a taste of
what the winter was like further inland due to trips out at the
weekend, but even there this winter seemed slightly less exceptional
than 1985, 1986 or 1987. 1985 had two separate long snowy spells in
January and February;

Yep, that was an excellent winter.

1986 was very cold through February with at
least two large falls (Feb 6th and March 1st)

It was an exceptionally cold month, but I remember those falls as being
only about two to three inches each here. So about the same as the heavy
fall that we had this year in the second half of December, but not as
heavy as the one that we had here in early Jan, which amounted to about
five inches.

and 1987 was
exceptionally cold with snow lying, if I remember right, for two
weeks.

Yes, that was an exceptionally cold spell, with a very heavy snowfall -
deeper here than anything we have had since - but apart from those two
weeks in mid January the winter was unremarkable and pretty much
snow-free.

snip interesting detailed description of 2009-10

I think the main difference I noticed here in Cranleigh compared to
recent winters was the way the snow cover "hung around". That in
December lasted a week or so, and that in January rather longer. In
recent winters, when we've occasionally had two or three inches of snow
it's generally all melted within a day or two. Even last February,
though Guildford, only eight miles north of here, had ten inches, we
only had about three, which was mostly gone in three or four days.
--
John Hall
"Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people
from coughing."
Sir Ralph Richardson (1902-83)