just another 'normal' month were I lived then (NE Scotland 500 ft amsl, the
odd foot of snow here and there and temperatures regularly below ms 15C)

Trevor
Back home in East Yorkshire (now)




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In article ,
danny writes:
I recall Jan\Feb1985 was probably more severe?

At least in the south-east, Jan/Feb 1985 certainly had considerably more
snow than did Feb 1986. But in 1985, the cold spells (for they were two
separate spells) didn't last for the whole of either month, meaning that
the means for both months were higher than that of Feb 1986.
--
John Hall

You can divide people into two categories:
those who divide people into two categories and those who don't

In article ,
Philip Eden writes:
Pressure difference 60degN minus 50degN over the British Isles:
Feb 1947 13.9 mbar
Feb 1986 12.9
Apr 1877 8.6
Jan 1941 8.3
Dec 1927 7.8
Dec 1995 7.0
May 1946 6.8
Jan 1963 6.7
Oct 1960 6.6

I'm surprised that Feb 1956 doesn't feature.
--
John Hall

You can divide people into two categories:
those who divide people into two categories and those who don't

"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

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.

Col - your message brings back memories of living in the Brynmill area (Bay
View Cres. - overlooking the sea and the met. station!), watching the wind whip
up the sand. Total rainfall in Swansea and Gower - a trace. The first such
occurrence since June 1925 and a reminder of how dry that area can be in the
all-too rare easterly months. Remarkable also for the amount of money saved on
rock salt - the salt layer on the roads simply never washed off.

Let's not forget though the first week of January 1997 for a cold easterly.

Julian
Julian Mayes, West Molesey, Surrey.

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 21:45:42 -0000, Col wrote in

snip
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!

Another feature of that month, here in the NW, was the remarkable dryness.
We had only 5mm here in Coleraine, and parts of West Ulster, in Co.Donegal,
has a grand total of 0mm.

--
Mike 55.13°N 6.69°W Coleraine posted to uk.sci.weather 11/02/2004 22:02:47 UTC

"John Hall" wrote in message
news
In article ,
Philip Eden writes:
Pressure difference 60degN minus 50degN over the British Isles:
Feb 1947 13.9 mbar
Feb 1986 12.9
Apr 1877 8.6
Jan 1941 8.3
Dec 1927 7.8
Dec 1995 7.0
May 1946 6.8
Jan 1963 6.7
Oct 1960 6.6

I'm surprised that Feb 1956 doesn't feature.
--
So was I, but it scored +1.5 mbar, a reflection of the westerly
component over the northern half of the UK. It was, though, one
of the half-dozen most anticyclonic Febs in the last 130 yrs.

Apart from Feb 86 and Dec 95, other recent months which
were easterly included Jan 96 (6.1mb), Mar 96 (5.7mb),
May 93 (4.6mb), Oct 93 (4.5mb), Apr 00 (4.2mb),
May 94 (4.1mb), Dec 02 (4.0mb), Sep 93 (3.8mb) and
May 88 (3.0mb). So they still do happen.

The two autumn months in 1993 stand out.

Philip Eden
(Nicky Campbell is

Another feature of that month, here in the NW, was the remarkable dryness.
We had only 5mm here in Coleraine, and parts of West Ulster, in Co.Donegal,
has a grand total of 0mm.

Same here in Weston Coyney (N. Midlands) we had one of our driest months
on record!
However about 12 miles away in the Staffordshire Moorlands they had the
worst blizzards since 1947 with drifts up to 20 feet deep.
I remember it well as I took lots of photos and also saved my local
newspaper cuttings which are still intact. I still have to show people
the paper clippings before they believe me!
It was great to go up into this amazing Winter wonderland (once they had
cleared a way through) and then come back to very cold but mostly dry
conditions with no disruption at all.
My wife who is from London could not believe the amount of snow, she had
never seen anything like it and was really worried about moving up here.
As it happens she moved up in 1988 so she had nothing to worry about
Hard to think about February being so cold after the last seven, sorry
make that eight!!
--
Graham

"Col" wrote in message
...

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.

There was one snowfall, overnight 5th/6th I think, which affected a
fairly broad band from East Anglia, the northern Home Counties,
the middle Thames Valley, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. In Luton
we had something like 8cm which lasted until March 4. The only other
snowfall during the spell was on March 1.

Philip Eden
(Nicky Campbell does

curious signing off here...

Philip Eden
(Nicky Campbell does

does what ? do tell..

irritate?

Julian
Julian Mayes, West Molesey, Surrey.