Winter 2009/2010: A Classic, or Not? Your Views..

Deep Easterly

Watching the RTE weather there on TV, John Eagleton reported that winter 2009/2010 was the coldest since 1963/1964, which is generally a much fabled winter season in weather enthusiast circles.

I did not exist in my present earthly form in 63/64, but listening to lore from my predecessors about that winter, it would seem that this winter did not compare at all to it, not by any stretch.

For me, this winter I cannot term a classic, simply because of the continual blandness of the season. The late Dec/early Jan frosts were cool, but certainly no record lows broken. The lack of significant snow was another big no no for me. The consistency of the non-descript coolness just became a nuisance after a while I think. For me, a classic winter would be more a continuous severe cold.

Anyone else have any differing or similar views on this winter?

Strasser

Have to agree with you DE, memorable on the stats front certainly but its significent widespread snowfall that makes a winter a classic and we just didn't have that. However Blessington lake was frozen strong enought to be walked on for a few days which only happens about once every 30 years ( 79 and I'm told 63 being other examples) so I will remember this winter.

Gonzo

this winter was nowhere even close to a classic winter at least in my area. 3 months of very cold weather has brought us 2 falls of snow over the past week about 3 inchs each which melted very quickly. The Big freeze brought 3 very light snowfalls to my region over the course of 2 weeks, eventually there was 2 inchs of snow from these falls with alot of ice. January 2008 and February 2009 saw much better snowfall in my region than the light falls we've had this winter. This winter I just got very unlucky with the Isle of Man making the Big Freeze Easterly useless here, nearly all the snow ended up in Dublin 15:)

joe199

classic for stats as said but for the duration of cold the snow fall was pityfull for my neck of the woods, ah well it ireland after all............:(

Scubadevils

I'll remember it for the prolonged cold alright and the serious lack of snow in my area compared to even a few miles up the road in Swords etc.

I can only assume the Isle of Man was to blame for me also... must whack an email of complaint off to their embassy here, assuming they have one. :pac:

H2UMrsRobinson

I guess the only reason I would label this a classic winter is because I discovered Boards and the weather forums. Plenty of rollercoaster action and loved the charts with a foot of snow but always a week away and never coming to fruition. As for actual weather it's been relatively dull. I used to live in SE England and seeing them get all the good stuff whilst we get the crap was a little frustrating to say the least. We are running out of time for anything phenomenal to happen this winter but I'm looking forward to next winter. The potential is there but the gods need to be on our side!

Pangea

With eagelton saying its going to be colder next weekend, I think this thread is a bit premature, the wintry weather aint over yet.

nacho libre

Pangea wrote: »

With eagelton saying its going to be colder next weekend, I think this thread is a bit premature, the wintry weather aint over yet.

well, it is getting late in the year and the strength of the sun grows each day which will put a dampner on things, unless we quickly get cold air sourced from high latitudes - it now looks as if that is not going to happen next weekend. of course we can still get snow accumulating by night- which i'd welcome - but i think we can put to bed the idea of a widespread and significant snowfall event at this stage.

as to the original question, this winter was more than just cool, it was very cold at times. ice days, of which we had quite a few, are rare enough in Ireland. so in terms of cold temperatures and sustained cold, this winter was certainly one of note, but for me it was not a classic. It was most frustrating hearing john eagleton say it was the coldest winter since '63/64 because many of us could well be dead before there is a winter like this one again with such potential for significant accumulations of snow. although, perhaps a markedly less cold winter overall could deliver more substantial snow accumulations at lower levels. that's my hope anyway, as i truly believe this winter was a once in 30 - 40 year occurrence.

Deep Easterly

Pangea wrote: »

With eagelton saying its going to be colder next weekend, I think this thread is a bit premature, the wintry weather aint over yet.

Winter ends tonight. Whether or not it is cold next week, it will still be spring, so this thread is far from premature.

compsys

Deep Easterly wrote: »

Winter ends tonight. Whether or not it is cold next week, it will still be spring, so this thread is far from premature.

In certain meteorological circles, does winter not run from 21st Dec to 21st March? Also, as we all know, it's more likely to snow at Easter than it is at Xmas so there still is a good chance for some snow. So I do think that to talk about the winter being over, regardless of how you define the seasons, is a bit premature.

Deep Easterly

compsys wrote: »

In certain meteorological circles, does winter not run from 21st Dec to 21st March? Also, as we all know, it's more likely to snow at Easter than it is at Xmas so there still is a good chance for some snow. So I do think that to talk about the winter being over, regardless of how you define the seasons, is a bit premature.

Winter months in Ireland:

December/January/February.

Just because you can get wintry type weather in spring does not mean to say it is stil winter. We can get autumnal type weather in summer, and vice versa, but it is still summer.

Danno

Will edit this tomorrow if there are any changes. As of 6pm this evening - the following statistics are from Winter 2009/2010 at East Durrow, Laois County...

Seasonal Average: 2.3c
Seasonal Average Maximum: 5.3c
Seasonal Average Minimum: -1c
Seasonal Average Wind: 3.7mph
Seasonal Average Gust: 17.1mph
Seasonal Average Rain: 2.0mm per day.

Maximum Temperature: 11.9c on December 8th 2009
Coldest Maximum: -2.2c on January 9th 2010
Minimum Temperature: -12.0c on January 9th 2009
Warmest Minimum: 5.7c on December 7th 2009
Wettest Day: 16.8mm on February 4th 2010

Total Rainfall: 179.3mm
Windiest Day: 17.7mph on January 12th 2010
Strongest Gust: 43mph on January 12th 2010
Calmest Day: 0.1mph on January 8th 2010
Weakest Gust: 2mph on January 8th 2010

Air Frosts: 55
Ice Days: 5
Dry Days of 0.3mm or less: 50
Rain days of 0.4mm or more: 40
Wet days of 5.0mm or more: 13

John mac

what dates are you calling Winter?

Pangea

Deep Easterly wrote: »

Winter ends tonight. Whether or not it is cold next week, it will still be spring, so this thread is far from premature.

If there is a monster snowfall next weekend that lasts a long week it would be included in our memory of this 'winter', same way people refer to the winter of 1947 lasting till april.
Just a different way of looking at things.

As someone on here said before refering to seasons just by a date is rather childish, seeing as we are still in the wintry weather.
As eagelton said today there is no signs of spring ,no daffodils out yet ,it maybe spring time in dates , but our weather is still very much in winter. However the line has to be drawn somewhere so let our wintry spring commence!

delw

was nothing special here this winter,but finding these threads made it a good winter,weather doesnt stop after winter,nice plesent spring days,hot summer days(:eek:),blamy nights,(p.s we hav a baby on way in july so lookin forward to summer even more)plus throw in nice thunder/lighting,what more could you want till next winter:D

Deep Easterly

Pangea wrote: »

If there is a monster snowfall next weekend that lasts a long week it would be included in our memory of this 'winter', same way people refer to the winter of 1947 lasting till april.
Just a different way of looking at things.

As someone on here said before refering to seasons just by a date is rather childish, seeing as we are still in the wintry weather.
As eagelton said today there is no signs of spring ,no daffodils out yet ,it maybe spring time in dates , but our weather is still very much in winter. However the line has to be drawn somewhere so let our wintry spring commence!

In the context of this thread, I think the 'official' winter months, that is, Dec/Jan/Feb will do. Debates will always be around about when spring starts etc but in fairness the 3 month's above are a good guide. I have seen snow fall in May, yet I'd hardly call that a winter month simply because I seen snow fall in it. Many's the time I have seen little or no snow in an entire winter month, yet they could not be classed as spring or summer months because of that.

Min

Met Eireann say Kilkenny recorded the coldest temperature for the winter at -16.1C at Mount Juliet where they have recording instruments.

It was a classic winter around here, exceptional ice, regular snowfall and lots of cold weather.

high heels

Its mad how much a difference the gulf stream has on the weather..

Cold winter for us with a bit of snow every few weeks and the freeze over Christmas was something very strange for Ireland... Then the storms that should of hit Ireland hit Madeira and France killing about 100 people.. Sence our winter became more cold does anyone think that the summer will be better because the gulf stream wont be pushing rain onto us?

200motels

Deep Easterly wrote: »

Watching the RTE weather there on TV, John Eagleton reported that winter 2009/2010 was the coldest since 1963/1964, which is generally a much fabled winter season in weather enthusiast circles.

I did not exist in my present earthly form in 63/64, but listening to lore from my predecessors about that winter, it would seem that this winter did not compare at all to it, not by any stretch.

For me, this winter I cannot term a classic, simply because of the continual blandness of the season. The late Dec/early Jan frosts were cool, but certainly no record lows broken. The lack of significant snow was another big no no for me. The consistency of the non-descript coolness just became a nuisance after a while I think. For me, a classic winter would be more a continuous severe cold.

Anyone else have any differing or similar views on this winter?

I agree with you, down here it was cold but where oh where was the snow? We got one day of snow in January, we got lots of hard frosts but that's about it, memorable no, cold yes.

Pangea

Well some records were broken, tempetures in Donegal were colder than ever before as I heard on the radio, and wasnt it -18 in carlow, very near the record low for ireland.
Of course this is a memorable winter, we will remember it for sometime, but i wouldnt call it a classic winter because there was no widespread significant snowfall.

Redsunset

high heels wrote: »

Its mad how much a difference the gulf stream has on the weather.

I agree with the gulf stream affecting our weather but in this case i think its the JET STREAM you need to be referring to,this is the boy that has done all the damage to our south.

We need the Jet Stream to feck off to the north in summer for a hot one,remember its the dividing line of main airmasses.

muckish

Since the 16th December, I've counted 45 days with snow lying in the back garden. That's Letterkenny 110m asl. I'd consider this a classic winter in terms of snowfalls. Snow on the mountains here has been superb with the biggest amount last weekend.

thetonynator

this winter is a classic in terms of the boards.ie snowfall threads, with over 2000 posts in just a couple of hours , and 200 people on line at 3am just waiting for the next radar update . . .good times!!!

Deep Easterly

Final winter stats (Dec/Jan/Feb) for Tuam (Town), Co Galway. (as per Davis readings)
Just to note, Deviation values regarding temp are set against the North-Central Galway 61-90 average (Tuam), while rainfall values are set against the North Galway (Dunmore) 61-90 average winter total.

Temp:
Mean Max: 6.2c (-2.2c)
Absolute Max: 11.4c (8th December)

Mean Min: -0.8c (-2.4c)
Absolute Min: -9.3c (9th January)

Overall Mean Temp: 2.6c (-2.3c)

Rainfall:
Wettest Month: December: 99.7mm (88.5%)
Driest Month: February: 28.5mm (36.5% :eek:)

Overall seasonal total: 186.8mm (60.9% :eek:)

Highest Wind Gust: 45mph :mad: on the 12th January.


Edit: Graph charting seasonal daily max/min attached below:

high heels

redsunset wrote: »

I agree with the gulf stream affecting our weather but in this case i think its the JET STREAM you need to be referring to,this is the boy that has done all the damage to our south.

We need the Jet Stream to feck off to the north in summer for a hot one,remember its the dividing line of main airmasses.

Sorry Alot of people on this forum would know alot more than me.. So was the jet stream more south this winter or what to have a guess of where it will be for the summer?

arctictree

Was an exceptional winter here. 5 or 6 snowfall events and 3 major disruptive snowfalls. Lugnaquilla has had a snowcap since mid December.

gbee

I was nine years old then, going to Mass on a Sunday morning in Cork crossing St Patrick's Street to SS Peter & Paul's church in deep snow.

Was hit by a massive snowball which covered my face and left me crying and totally upset. By comparison, this winter [09/10] we had no snow in the city centre.

The Lough [a bird sanctuary in Cork] was frozen solid during the 63 winter and was a popular skating rink. At the depths of winter this year, less than an inch of the surface froze and it did not support skating and the authorities had to rescue a few people how fell through the thin ice, it never froze over completely.

Rebelbrowser

gbee wrote: »

I was nine years old then, going to Mass on a Sunday morning in Cork crossing St Patrick's Street to SS Peter & Paul's church in deep snow.

Was hit by a massive snowball which covered my face and left me crying and totally upset. By comparison, this winter [09/10] we had no snow in the city centre.

The Lough [a bird sanctuary in Cork] was frozen solid during the 63 winter and was a popular skating rink. At the depths of winter this year, less than an inch of the surface froze and it did not support skating and the authorities had to rescue a few people how fell through the thin ice, it never froze over completely.

It may not have been 1963 stuff but I did witness the Lough frozen on 9 Jan for the first time I ever recall (probably froze in 1987 too but I didn't visit it). On 9 Jan this year, while I was out there, Cork CC had to break the ice with a JCB to allow the birds get access to food. It probably was no more than an inch thick alright but I was impressed. It felt positively Dickensian! (albeit with more by the way of JCBs than Messrs Pickwick etc had).

I presume also there was snow in Cork City Centre on 10 Jan - we got about 3 inches where I live (southside suburb on a hill - 4 miles from the city). This was Cork's first snow at all in 5 years and first decent snow in nearly 20 years (1991). The snow stayed untouched all the following day too keeping everyone in my estate snowed in (day off work due to snow for first time ever!) and I got to go sledging and make a snow man with my two year old boy (who was far more mature about the whole thing than I was). All in all, I have happy memories from winter 09/10.

ch750536

Probably had snow on the floor for 30 or so days, pretty much 3 weeks in 1 stretch, strongest winter in the last 20 or so years for me but I do now live at elevation.

nacho libre

17 (6 members & 11 guests)

nacho libre, Jerry Seinfeld, Rebelbrowser, eoinor, DaveD

and this is the surest sign yet this winter, which was a classic in terms of sustained cold, is over:(

arctictree

arctictree wrote: »

Was an exceptional winter here. 5 or 6 snowfall events and 3 major disruptive snowfalls. Lugnaquilla has had a snowcap since mid December.

Viewed from here today and yesterday,it's white right to it's base at the moment.

Classic or not?

It had it's moments.It's certainly up there with the 80's winters
If temps were even 0.5c colder,it would have had a lot more serious snow events.
A thick sold layer of snow and ice on my road for 15 or 16 days in early january is nonetheless quite remarkable just 2 miles inland off the east coast and not on high ground.