February 1969
February 1969 was a very cold wintry month with a CET of 1.0

The month started unsttled as a low tracked across Scotland bringing
rain but as the low moved into the North Sea, a cold northerly set in
bringing with it snow showers to many parts. On the 3rd, many places woke up
to a covering but a warm front moving into the NW brought initially snow
then rain as milder air moved in. This mild interlude continued until the
6th, when a vigorous cold front plunged southwards reintroducing the cold
northerly with snow showers. There were severe frosts at night, Manchester
recorded -13C on the 8th, and snow cover over many parts. This lasted until
the 10th, when a warm front bought snowfalls followed by a very brief mild
interlude before cold NWlies brought snow showers again. The following few
days brought the coldest and severest weather of the winter, with low
pressure over Europe and high pressure near Iceland pulling down very cold
northerlies and north-easterlies across the UK. On the 14th, a polar low
brought heavy snowfalls to northern parts of England with depths up to 9".
With the deep snow cover, there were very low nighttime minima with
temperatures getting as low as -20C in places.
Low pressure was moving into the Brest area of France and this
introduced an easterly flow between itself and the high over Scandinavia.
Fronts moving up from the the parent low brought snowfalls to central and
southern parts. On the 21st, the fronts had made it to northern England and
this allowed milder weather into the south with a thaw. Over the next couple
of days, fronts moved into the south with rain but they could not introduce
the milder weather further north by the blocking Scandinavian high, which by
the end of the month had reintoduced the colder weather to the south.


Source: TWO.

My Comments:
I can just about remember this one as a small child.
This was what one would regard as a proper winter month.
I don't see us getting many more of these. Can anyone on this ng give
any account of what this month was like?
--
************************************************** **********
Gavin Staples.

Horseheath. Cambridge, UK. 93m ASL.
House to Let. For details see on my website.
www.gavinstaples.com
site regularly updated

"Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between
the disastrous and the unpalatable". ~ John Kenneth Galbraith. American
economist.


All outgoing emails are checked for viruses by Norton Internet Security
2005.
************************************************** **********

In article ,
Gavin Staples writes:
My Comments:
I can just about remember this one as a small child.
This was what one would regard as a proper winter month.
I don't see us getting many more of these. Can anyone on this ng give
any account of what this month was like?

I recall the very heavy snowfall in Surrey on the evening of what, from
the description of the month's weather that you quoted, was probably the
20th. In a matter of 4 or 5 hours, there was well over 6 inches, perhaps
not far short of a foot. (I never measured it, but that was my
impression from walking home in it.) By the time I struggled home around
9 or 10 pm, the snow had stopped, the wind had fallen almost calm, and
the temperature had risen to 0C. By the next morning, it was much milder
and a rapid thaw was in progress.
--
John Hall
"I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly,
will hardly mind anything else."
Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-84)

"Gavin Staples" wrote in message
...

February 1969
February 1969 was a very cold wintry month with a CET of 1.0

The month started unsttled as a low tracked across Scotland bringing
rain but as the low moved into the North Sea, a cold northerly set in
bringing with it snow showers to many parts. On the 3rd, many places woke up
to a covering but a warm front moving into the NW brought initially snow
then rain as milder air moved in. This mild interlude continued until the
6th, when a vigorous cold front plunged southwards reintroducing the cold
northerly with snow showers. There were severe frosts at night, Manchester
recorded -13C on the 8th,

That must have been quite a northerly!

Over the past few years I might get -5C or so on perhaps 1/2 nights
before the supply of cold air gets cut off and the warm front moves in.

I guess Danny would put it all down to SST's......

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

http://www.southendweather.net/feb69.htm

Here is some local data for Southend-on-Sea for February 1969 I was
fortunate to obtain from a local Geography teacher John Benford.

--
Keith (Southend)

'Weather Home & Abroad'
http://www.southendweather.net

Here is some local data for Southend-on-Sea for February 1969 I was fortunate to obtain from a local Geography
teacher John Benford.

Here is the data from Weston Coyney weather station (North Midlands)
for that amazing month

Headline: Very cold and very snowy

Max Min Grass Rain Sun Wind SL/SN Snow
Snow* Hail Thund Fog
°c °c Min (mm) Hrs Dir Falling Lying
Depth Days Days 09.00
01 4.6 -1.0 -2.8 5.4 0.0 SW 1 0
0 0 0 0
02 2.1 -4.2 -6.9 0.4 4.3 NW 1 0
0.5 0 0 0
03 0.5 -6.1 -9.2 0.0 6.0 N 0 1
0 0 0 0
04 2.4 -1.6 -3.3 1.4 0.0 Calm 1 1
2.5 0 0 1
05 5.2 1.6 0.6 0.1 0.9 W 0 1
0 0 0 0
06 5.0 -2.2 -3.8 8.5 0.0 NW 1 0
7.0 0 0 0
07 -0.5 -6.6 -9.4 5.6 0.4 N 1 1
10.0 0 0 0
08 -0.2 -10.0 -11.5 0.4 4.1 NW 1
1 0.5 1 0 0
09 0.4 -7.1 -10.3 0.0 6.5 N 0
1 0 0 0 0
10 2.5 -3.9 -5.7 12.5 3.4 NW 1 1
1.5 1 0 0
11 5.8 0.5 0.1 6.8 0.0 NW 1 1
0.5 0 0 0
12 2.5 -2.1 -4.5 4.4 0.0 N 1 1
5.0 0 0 0
13 2.1 -4.3 -6.8 0.5 2.2 N 1 1
0.5 0 0 0
14 -0.8 -3.6 -6.0 5.5 1.6 NE 1 1
17.5 0 0 0
15 -2.2 -5.3 -7.8 2.1 5.0 E 1 1
6.0 0 0 0
16 0.5 -6.8 -9.4 0.0 6.6 N 0 1
0 0 0 0
17 0.8 -6.2 -8.6 0.0 7.8 Calm 0 1
0 0 0 1
18 1.8 -2.4 -4.1 2.6 2.9 SE 1 1
1.5 0 0 0
19 1.1 -1.6 -2.7 1.1 0.0 E 1 1
0.5 0 0 0
20 1.4 -1.5 -2.2 6.3 0.0 E 1 1
15.0 0 0 0
21 2.4 -0.6 -1.4 1.1 0.0 Calm 1 1
0.5 0 0 0
22 4.5 1.5 1.1 3.1 0.0 SE 0 1
0 0 0 1
23 6.0 1.0 -1.1 0.0 4.2 S 0 1
0 0 0 1
24 4.1 1.2 -0.7 1.1 0.0 E 1 1
0 0 0 0
25 2.6 1.4 -0.5 0.5 0.0 E 1 1
0 0 0 0
26 2.9 0.8 -1.2 1.4 0.0 E 1 0
0 0 0 0
27 1.1 -2.4 -3.6 2.6 0.0 NE 1 1
1.0 0 0 0
28 1.7 -2.2 -3.0 1.4 0.0 E 1 1
1.0 0 0 0
AVG. 2.2 -2.5 -4.5 67.8 55.9 21 24
71.0 2 0 4

*Snow depths in cms

All data taken at 220 metres above sea level

I was 16 at the time and it had been a fairly average winter with the
only
decent snowfall on December 24th/25th when 6 inches fell!!
But this month more then made up for it!


--
Graham

"Gavin Staples" wrote in message
...

February 1969 was a very cold wintry month with a CET of 1.0



My Comments:
I can just about remember this one as a small
child. This was what one would regard as a proper winter month.
I don't see us getting many more of these. Can anyone on this ng give
any account of what this month was like?
--
February, 1969 followed an uneventful January here, as far as wintry weather
was concerned, Gavin. I noted snow showers on the 4th but the cold weather
began in earnest on the 6th as a northerly arrived. Rain turned to sleet a
nd there was snow overnight but not enough to produce a cover. There was a
heavy snowfall on the evening of the 7th with the temperature around -3c,
but to the north of London the snow was heavier and road traffic was badly
affected - cars abandoned etc. My minimum on the 8th was -6c and the max
+0.5 but the day was sunny as were the following 2 days.Minima on these days
were near -4c and max around +2c..This cold spell ended on the 11th with
rain, preceded by snow.
The weather turned colder again on the 13th with the wind in the east
and my max on the 15th was -0.5c with snow showers.I remember the heavy
snowfall on the evening of the 19th was accompanied by a strong east wind.
The snowcover had gone by the 22nd and I registered no further snow that
month. Sleet/snow fell on 8 days and was lying on 7 mornings. A cold March
followed.
It is worth mentioning that the northerly spell from the 7th Feb came at
the time when the arctic sea ice north of Iceland was near its post-war
(WW2) maximum and I remember reading that there was a severe blizzard
around that date in the Shetlands with a northerly gale, heavy snow and the
temperature well below freezing
Peter Clarke
Ewell
Epsom 55m

February 1969
February 1969 was a very cold wintry month with a CET of 1.0


The month started unsttled as a low tracked across Scotland bringing
rain but as the low moved into the North Sea, a cold northerly set in
bringing with it snow showers to many parts. On the 3rd, many places woke up
to a covering but a warm front moving into the NW brought initially snow
then rain as milder air moved in. This mild interlude continued until the
6th, when a vigorous cold front plunged southwards reintroducing the cold
northerly with snow showers. There were severe frosts at night, Manchester
recorded -13C on the 8th,

That must have been quite a northerly!

Over the past few years I might get -5C or so on perhaps 1/2 nights
before the supply of cold air gets cut off and the warm front moves in.

Two days stand out im my mind, two days Philip Eden reminded us about a
couple of years ago in this NG. They were the 7th and 8th when polar
lows moved south.

These were the noon temperature at a few stations on the 7th. Note the
strong wind associated with sub zero temperatures.

Leeming -3 14kn
Tynemouth -3 19kn
Carlisle -3 6kn
Ringway -3 11kn
Prestwick -3 15kn
Dyce -7 27kn
Lerwick -5 39kn
Stornoway -5 30kn
Tiree -5 28kn
Malin Head -3 25kn

That was easily the coldest I can recall seeing Malin in a strong
northerly. I knocked up a small web page with maps for that day.

http://www.mtullett.plus.com/Feb-1969/index.htm

--
Mike Coleraine

In message . com, Mike
Tullett writes
February 1969
February 1969 was a very cold wintry month with a CET of 1.0


The month started unsttled as a low tracked across Scotland bringing
rain but as the low moved into the North Sea, a cold northerly set in
bringing with it snow showers to many parts. On the 3rd, many places woke up
to a covering but a warm front moving into the NW brought initially snow
then rain as milder air moved in. This mild interlude continued until the
6th, when a vigorous cold front plunged southwards reintroducing the cold
northerly with snow showers. There were severe frosts at night, Manchester
recorded -13C on the 8th,

That must have been quite a northerly!

Over the past few years I might get -5C or so on perhaps 1/2 nights
before the supply of cold air gets cut off and the warm front moves in.

Two days stand out im my mind, two days Philip Eden reminded us about a
couple of years ago in this NG. They were the 7th and 8th when polar
lows moved south.

These were the noon temperature at a few stations on the 7th. Note the
strong wind associated with sub zero temperatures.

Leeming -3 14kn
Tynemouth -3 19kn
Carlisle -3 6kn
Ringway -3 11kn
Prestwick -3 15kn
Dyce -7 27kn
Lerwick -5 39kn
Stornoway -5 30kn
Tiree -5 28kn
Malin Head -3 25kn

That was easily the coldest I can recall seeing Malin in a strong
northerly. I knocked up a small web page with maps for that day.

http://www.mtullett.plus.com/Feb-1969/index.htm

--
Mike Coleraine

The sub-zero temperature at OWS "India" (59N 19W) was also very unusual.

Norman.
(delete "thisbit" twice to e-mail)
--
Norman Lynagh Weather Consultancy
Chalfont St Giles 85m a.s.l.
England

"Keith (Southend)" wrote in message
...
http://www.southendweather.net/feb69.htm

Here is some local data for Southend-on-Sea for February 1969 I was
fortunate to obtain from a local Geography teacher John Benford.

--
Keith (Southend)

'Weather Home & Abroad'
http://www.southendweather.net


Thanks Keith. That was pretty cold from the 8th to the 19th. I note the
below 0C maximums which is quite something on the coast.

Gavin.

"Mike Tullett" wrote :

Two days stand out im my mind, two days Philip Eden reminded us about a
couple of years ago in this NG. They were the 7th and 8th when polar
lows moved south.

Here it is (if I've done it right):
http://tinyurl.com/coevj
Philip Eden