Just wondering whether the situation over the last week or so, with
persistent easterlies and Atlantic fronts trying to push in from the
west, getting blocked then stalling and retreating again, is in any way
similar to the situation which brought heavy snowfalls in the 1946/7
winter. It seems to me that frontal lows coming up against a cold
airmass but without a breakdown of the block is the recipe for the
heaviest snowfall events historically in the UK. Am I correct here?

Someone has already posted elsewhere another of my thoughts that if this
stubborn block we have had this month had formed at, say, the end of
December, whether the cold would approach that of the 1962/3 winter. If
we are getting reports of ice days at the end of March, heaven knows
what the temperatures would be like if the same block had formed two or
three months ago.

Pre-2008, I had wondered just what it takes to get a big snow event in
the UK, now I am getting the idea.

In article ,
Adam Lea writes:
Just wondering whether the situation over the last week or so,
with persistent easterlies and Atlantic fronts trying to push in from
the west, getting blocked then stalling and retreating again, is in
any way similar to the situation which brought heavy snowfalls in
the 1946/7 winter. It seems to me that frontal lows coming up
against a cold airmass but without a breakdown of the block is the
recipe for the heaviest snowfall events historically in the UK. Am I
correct here?

Many of them, certainly.

Someone has already posted elsewhere another of my thoughts
that if this stubborn block we have had this month had formed at,
say, the end of December, whether the cold would approach that
of the 1962/3 winter. If we are getting reports of ice days at the end
of March, heaven knows what the temperatures would be like if
the same block had formed two or three months ago.

I imagine we'd have seen maxima quite widely around -3 to -5C, and
perhaps a bit lower still in some places on the coldest days. Looking at
the temperatures recorded in February 1947 might give an idea. I've been
surprised at just how cold the UK has been in recent weeks, given that
temperatures upwind on the near Continent have been little lower if at
all.


Pre-2008, I had wondered just what it takes to get a big snow event
in the UK, now I am getting the idea.


--
John Hall
"Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable
of giving pleasure to thousands and all you can do is scratch it."
Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961) to a lady cellist

On 27/03/2013 20:25, John Hall wrote:
In article ,
Adam Lea writes:
Just wondering whether the situation over the last week or so,
with persistent easterlies and Atlantic fronts trying to push in from
the west, getting blocked then stalling and retreating again, is in
any way similar to the situation which brought heavy snowfalls in
the 1946/7 winter. It seems to me that frontal lows coming up
against a cold airmass but without a breakdown of the block is the
recipe for the heaviest snowfall events historically in the UK. Am I
correct here?

Many of them, certainly.

Someone has already posted elsewhere another of my thoughts
that if this stubborn block we have had this month had formed at,
say, the end of December, whether the cold would approach that
of the 1962/3 winter. If we are getting reports of ice days at the end
of March, heaven knows what the temperatures would be like if
the same block had formed two or three months ago.

I imagine we'd have seen maxima quite widely around -3 to -5C, and
perhaps a bit lower still in some places on the coldest days. Looking at
the temperatures recorded in February 1947 might give an idea. I've been
surprised at just how cold the UK has been in recent weeks, given that
temperatures upwind on the near Continent have been little lower if at
all.


Pre-2008, I had wondered just what it takes to get a big snow event
in the UK, now I am getting the idea.




Having suffered the curse of Thunderbird yet again I hope this gets
through to the group
My original reply, which went directly to Adam, was that, in essence,
the set ups were similar with fronts stalling as they attempted to
progress north-eastwards. However the 1947 winter saw a change from an
easterly regime in the first part to a more northerly one in the latter
stages as the controlling high pressure shifted westwards.
I also mentioned this website, www.winter1947.co.uk

--
George in Epping, west Essex, 350'asl
www.eppingweather.co.uk
www.winter1947.co.uk

On 27/03/2013 20:43, George Booth wrote:
On 27/03/2013 20:25, John Hall wrote:
In article ,
Adam Lea writes:
Just wondering whether the situation over the last week or so,
with persistent easterlies and Atlantic fronts trying to push in from
the west, getting blocked then stalling and retreating again, is in
any way similar to the situation which brought heavy snowfalls in
the 1946/7 winter. It seems to me that frontal lows coming up
against a cold airmass but without a breakdown of the block is the
recipe for the heaviest snowfall events historically in the UK. Am I
correct here?

Many of them, certainly.

Someone has already posted elsewhere another of my thoughts
that if this stubborn block we have had this month had formed at,
say, the end of December, whether the cold would approach that
of the 1962/3 winter. If we are getting reports of ice days at the end
of March, heaven knows what the temperatures would be like if
the same block had formed two or three months ago.

I imagine we'd have seen maxima quite widely around -3 to -5C, and
perhaps a bit lower still in some places on the coldest days. Looking at
the temperatures recorded in February 1947 might give an idea. I've been
surprised at just how cold the UK has been in recent weeks, given that
temperatures upwind on the near Continent have been little lower if at
all.


Pre-2008, I had wondered just what it takes to get a big snow event
in the UK, now I am getting the idea.




Having suffered the curse of Thunderbird yet again I hope this gets
through to the group
My original reply, which went directly to Adam, was that, in essence,
the set ups were similar with fronts stalling as they attempted to
progress north-eastwards. However the 1947 winter saw a change from an
easterly regime in the first part to a more northerly one in the latter
stages as the controlling high pressure shifted westwards.
I also mentioned this website, www.winter1947.co.uk


Followup George not reply. It's caught me out a few times!

Joe
Wolverhampton.

On 27/03/2013 22:10, Joe Egginton wrote:
On 27/03/2013 20:43, George Booth wrote:
On 27/03/2013 20:25, John Hall wrote:
In article ,
Adam Lea writes:
Just wondering whether the situation over the last week or so,
with persistent easterlies and Atlantic fronts trying to push in from
the west, getting blocked then stalling and retreating again, is in
any way similar to the situation which brought heavy snowfalls in
the 1946/7 winter. It seems to me that frontal lows coming up
against a cold airmass but without a breakdown of the block is the
recipe for the heaviest snowfall events historically in the UK. Am I
correct here?

Many of them, certainly.

Someone has already posted elsewhere another of my thoughts
that if this stubborn block we have had this month had formed at,
say, the end of December, whether the cold would approach that
of the 1962/3 winter. If we are getting reports of ice days at the end
of March, heaven knows what the temperatures would be like if
the same block had formed two or three months ago.

I imagine we'd have seen maxima quite widely around -3 to -5C, and
perhaps a bit lower still in some places on the coldest days. Looking at
the temperatures recorded in February 1947 might give an idea. I've been
surprised at just how cold the UK has been in recent weeks, given that
temperatures upwind on the near Continent have been little lower if at
all.


Pre-2008, I had wondered just what it takes to get a big snow event
in the UK, now I am getting the idea.




Having suffered the curse of Thunderbird yet again I hope this gets
through to the group
My original reply, which went directly to Adam, was that, in essence,
the set ups were similar with fronts stalling as they attempted to
progress north-eastwards. However the 1947 winter saw a change from an
easterly regime in the first part to a more northerly one in the latter
stages as the controlling high pressure shifted westwards.
I also mentioned this website, www.winter1947.co.uk


Followup George not reply. It's caught me out a few times!

Joe
Wolverhampton.

Thanks Joe. Reassuring to know I am not alone with this irritating
aspect of an otherwise OK bit of software.

--
George in Epping, west Essex, 350'asl
www.eppingweather.co.uk
www.winter1947.co.uk

John Hall wrote:
In article ,
Adam Lea writes:
Just wondering whether the situation over the last week or so,
with persistent easterlies and Atlantic fronts trying to push in from
the west, getting blocked then stalling and retreating again, is in
any way similar to the situation which brought heavy snowfalls in
the 1946/7 winter. It seems to me that frontal lows coming up
against a cold airmass but without a breakdown of the block is the
recipe for the heaviest snowfall events historically in the UK. Am I
correct here?

Many of them, certainly.
Someone has already posted elsewhere another of my thoughts
that if this stubborn block we have had this month had formed at,
say, the end of December, whether the cold would approach that
of the 1962/3 winter. If we are getting reports of ice days at the end
of March, heaven knows what the temperatures would be like if
the same block had formed two or three months ago.

I imagine we'd have seen maxima quite widely around -3 to -5C, and
perhaps a bit lower still in some places on the coldest days. Looking at
the temperatures recorded in February 1947 might give an idea. I've been
surprised at just how cold the UK has been in recent weeks, given that
temperatures upwind on the near Continent have been little lower if at
all.

Pre-2008, I had wondered just what it takes to get a big snow event
in the UK, now I am getting the idea.


-----------------------------------------
I was wondering if such a stable block would/could have formed Dec-Feb
in the current times? No real reason not to but our recent cold spells
have had a lot of LP about them and perhaps this type of block would
have been less stable with the warmer seas then? To me this is the most
notable block of it's type for many years and I include the December
2010 notable spell in that. Despite going off cold weather a bit as I
get older I would like to see just one more 1947/63 to see how people
really would react although I suspect Ken (at Copley) can probably tell
me anyway based in this winter!!
Dave

In article ,
George Booth writes:
On 27/03/2013 22:10, Joe Egginton wrote:

Followup George not reply. It's caught me out a few times!

Thanks Joe. Reassuring to know I am not alone with this irritating
aspect of an otherwise OK bit of software.


I think that back in the "old days" those were the standard definitions
of "follow-up" and "reply". Turnpike, which is my own newsreader, uses
them the same way. But if you hit Reply instead of Follow-up, Turnpike
does at least give you a warning message and ask if you're sure.
--
John Hall
"Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable
of giving pleasure to thousands and all you can do is scratch it."
Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961) to a lady cellist

In article ,
Dave Cornwell writes:
I was wondering if such a stable block would/could have formed
Dec-Feb in the current times? No real reason not to but our recent
cold spells have had a lot of LP about them and perhaps this type
of block would have been less stable with the warmer seas then?

I think prolonged spells of blocking have always been much more common
in late winter through to spring than they are earlier in the winter.
When I say "always", I should perhaps qualify that as "at least since
about the middle of the 20th century and possibly earlier". I say that
because the exceptional number of Februaries since then with a sub-zero
CET (1947, 1956, 1963, 1986) indicate months where there was almost
certainly exceptionally prolonged blocking.
--
John Hall
"Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable
of giving pleasure to thousands and all you can do is scratch it."
Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961) to a lady cellist

On Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:06:18 +0000
John Hall wrote:

In article ,
George Booth writes:
On 27/03/2013 22:10, Joe Egginton wrote:

Followup George not reply. It's caught me out a few times!

Thanks Joe. Reassuring to know I am not alone with this irritating
aspect of an otherwise OK bit of software.


I think that back in the "old days" those were the standard
definitions of "follow-up" and "reply". Turnpike, which is my own
newsreader, uses them the same way. But if you hit Reply instead of
Follow-up, Turnpike does at least give you a warning message and ask
if you're sure.

In Claws Mail, the 'reply' button means 'reply to message' whilst
'sender' is used for replies to - um - sender. In Pan newsreader, the
problem doesn't arise because it doesn't do anything apart from deal
with NNTP.

I gave up on Thunderbird because it occasionally lost a few filed
e-mails after compacting the folders. I noticed a report that a similar
fault occurs with MS. It seems the problem is associated with mbox
storage - which both use - and the solution advocated for MS users is
to only compact folders when offline. I suppose I could have tried
that with TB but I was sure I'd forget to do it now and again and lose
some more mails. Claws stores mails as files rather than in mbox format
so I feel more secure now.

--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks.
Carlos Seixas, Sonata nº 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXox7vonfEg
And for something completely different, Cumberland Gap:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsU-LTwx8Co

On 28/03/2013 11:01, Graham P Davis wrote:
On Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:06:18 +0000
John Hall wrote:

In article ,
George Booth writes:
On 27/03/2013 22:10, Joe Egginton wrote:

Followup George not reply. It's caught me out a few times!

Thanks Joe. Reassuring to know I am not alone with this irritating
aspect of an otherwise OK bit of software.


I think that back in the "old days" those were the standard
definitions of "follow-up" and "reply". Turnpike, which is my own
newsreader, uses them the same way. But if you hit Reply instead of
Follow-up, Turnpike does at least give you a warning message and ask
if you're sure.

In Claws Mail, the 'reply' button means 'reply to message' whilst
'sender' is used for replies to - um - sender. In Pan newsreader, the
problem doesn't arise because it doesn't do anything apart from deal
with NNTP.

I gave up on Thunderbird because it occasionally lost a few filed
e-mails after compacting the folders. I noticed a report that a similar
fault occurs with MS. It seems the problem is associated with mbox
storage - which both use - and the solution advocated for MS users is
to only compact folders when offline. I suppose I could have tried
that with TB but I was sure I'd forget to do it now and again and lose
some more mails. Claws stores mails as files rather than in mbox format
so I feel more secure now.


Thanks for the helpful replies. I must admit I'd never given the
Thunderbird 'followup' button a second glance. Following Joe's reply I
did press it and lo and behold the newsgroup address appears. Many years
ago I used Turnpike, didn't realise it was still around. Outlook Express
gave many years of reliable service but once Win7 appeared things were
not so good and I moved over to Thunderbird. I also find that
Virginmedia's spam filters are now so efficient that I have to check the
spam folder on their servers for any mail messages wrongly judged to be
unacceptable. I regularly find OK messages nestling amongst all the
nonsense. Another Usenet puzzle is that there are some regular posters
on here whose messages I never see except on Google. These folks are not
on the small killfile list but something, somewhere is filtering them out.

Still cold here, early morning clear skies gone, just a few patches of
frozen snow left. Maybe time to wash 900 miles worth of salt off the car.

--
George in Epping, west Essex, 350'asl
www.eppingweather.co.uk
www.winter1947.co.uk