Maidenhead (Berkshire, UK): Old weather news
February snowfallsFollowing a fall of 15.7mm of water-equivalent precipitation during the afternoon of the 4th into the morning of the 5th February 2012, a level snow depth of 10cm was measured in Maidenhead at 0900GMT on the 5th. This was the greatest February snow depth only since 2 February 2009 when 10cm also lay. Other recent February depths in Maidenhead have included 9cm on 8 Febnruary 2007 and also on 8 February 1991.
During the mid-1980s there were similar snow depths reported from nearby Hurley on 6 February 1986 (when 9cm lay, with snow continuing to lie until the 15th) and on 9 February 1985 (a depth of 10cm - then the snow also continued to lie until the 15th).
In 2012, the snow was slightly wet as the air temperature during the period of snowfall and on the 5th was slightly above 0C - making the snow ideal for snowballs and snowmen!
- In Maidenhead a further snowefall overnight 9th/10th led to 8cm of lying snow for a while.
The cold snap of early February 2012 in Maidenhead
The minimum temperature recorded on the 4th was -7.5C, the lowest temperature since December 2010 when -9.9C was measured, and the lowest temperature for February since 7 February 1991 when -7.5C was also noted. In fact this was the equal coldest February night since before February 1989 in Maidenhead.
There have been colder February nights, however. In 1986 the 10th and 11th of the month were cold with the (now-closed) climatological station at Hurley reporting -11.6C and -10.3C respectively while in 1956 -10.6C was measured on the 2nd.
Nearby, Reading University reported -11.6C in February 1986, -9.4C in February 1956, while in February 1947 the University recorded -12.2C in what was part of a very cold winter season.
- As a result of clear skies and lying snow, temperatures fell slightly lower in Maidenhead early on the 11th (-9.0C) and 12th (-7.6C), although by dawn on the 12th things had warmed up considerably as cloud advanced overhead.
Some snippets about the weather of 2011 in Maidenhead
- Mean maximua temperature 16.3C, The equal warmest year during daytime on record with 2003
- Mean temperature 12.0C, The second warmest year on record, 0.2C cooler than in 2006
- Highest maximum temperature 29.6C, 30C was not reached for the first year since 2008
- Lowest minimum temperature, -3.7C (normal -7.0C), No particularly cold nights this year
- Total sunshine 1585.3h, Slightly sunnier than average - May, then April, were the sunniest months
- Total rainfall 601.0mm, Rainfall lower than average but not as dry as in 2010
- Number of days with
- Snow or sleet falling 4 (normal 12.2), The fewest snow days since 2002
- Thunder heard 4 (normal 13.0), The lowest number of thunder days since before 1936
- Fog at 0900GMT 3 (normal 9.4), These foggy mornings were all in November
- Air frost 25 (normal 40.0), The fewest air frosts since 2002
Hot spell, September-October 2011 High daytime temperatures during this spell included
26.6C (28th September), 28.3C (29th), 28.5C (30th), 28.6C(1st), 28.2C(2nd), 26.0C(3rd). My maximum temperature forecasts (made on the 1st) for forthcoming days (see below):
28C (1st), 27C (2nd) and 25C (3rd).
In records from 1988 the highest temperatures during the final week of September have been as follows:
23.8C on 24 September 2006
23.0C on 26 September 1992
22.8C on 25 September 1989 In the same period the highest temperatures during the first week of October have been:
25.2C on 1 October 1997
21.5C on 6 October 1997 Local Hurley records (with adjustments made for site differences) show that since 1953 high temperatures in October in Maidenhead have been
26.4C was the temperature on 1 October 1985,
25.6C on 9 October 1969 (part of a warm spell from the 8th to 10th),
26.7C on 3 October 1959 In earlier years local maximum temperatures (77F/25C or higher) have been as follows in October:
1869 - 25.0C at Stratfield Turgiss;
1908 - 25.6C at Wokingham,
1921 - 28.3C at University College (Reading) and Wokingham, and 27.8C at Shinfield
28 June 2011 brought damaging lightning strikes to parts of Maidenhead - from storms that signalled the end of a short heatwave in which temperatures reached 29.6C. This equalled the highest temperature recorded in June 2010 and was the highest temperature of 2011 to date. Only 3mm of rain fell during the afternoon of the 28th - but it brought the total fall for the month up to 87.2mm (some 35mm above the June average - making it the wettest June since 2007 in the town).
A warm Easter/April 2011: As of 27th April the mean temperature for April 2011 is running close to 5C above average - while the 26.8C recorded on Saturday 23rd is the highest temperature on record for April in Maidenhead since before 1952. April 1949 had a similarly warm day in East Berkshire.
December 2010: The minimum air temperature of -9.9C on Monday 20 December 2010 was the joint lowest since -9.9C was recorded in January 1987 and the lowest since January 1982 when -14.9C was recorded at Hurley (in Maidenhead it probably did not drop below -14C). The crunchy nature of the 15cm of lying snow on the morning on the 20th in 2010 reflects the fact that at the snow surface the temperature dropped as low as -14.4C - the lowest since -15.2C was measured in the town in January 1987. December 2010 was the coldest December since 1890 in the town. That year temperatures were about 2.1C COLDER than in December 2010.
See here for a chart of December temperatures.
****** November snows are not uncommon in Maidenhead. The snow on Saturday 27th in 2010 was the first in November since only 2008 (we had two snow days in October that year) and on average we get 4 November snow days every ten years. The first day with snowfall during autumn/winter occurs on average on 16 December (during the past 22 years) and in two-thirds of those years occurred between 19 November and 12 January. Snow lying (and covering half the ground at 0900GMT) in November is rare - it has not happened at all in Boyn Hill since observations began in 1988 and at Hurley between 1953 and 1991 happened only on single days in 1969 and 1971. *****
The minimum air temperature of -5.8C on 28 November 2010 was the lowest for November since 1989 in Maidenhead, when -6.3C occurred.
The minimum air temperature of -0.1C on 12 May 2010 was the lowest for May since 1997 in Maidenhead, when -0.9C was measured.
Maidenhead: The 2009-2010 cold spell - daily temperatures
See my charts updated 17 Jan 2010.The 24 days 16 Dec 2009 - 8 Jan 2010 had an average temperature of +0.3C.
Since 1988 there have only been two 24-day spells of a similar length - 24 days commencing 16 Jan 1991 (-0.1C average) and 24 days commencing 22 Dec 1996 (+0.1C average). In neither of these was the snowfall anywhere as great as in 2009-2010.
Prior to 1988, records from nearby Hurley reveal that slightly colder spells of this duration occurred in February 1986, January 1985, December 1981-January 1982 and in the winter of 1962-3. This last spell occurred for about 10 weeks - but there was very little snow lying locally - see the winter 62-63 chart.
A recap of the greatest snow depths of the past 21 years at 0900GMT
- 1991 8 Feb 9cm
- 2007 8 Feb 9cm
- 2009 2 Feb 10cm
- 2009 18 Dec 16cm; 19 Dec 9cm
- 2009 22 Dec 10cm
- 2010 6 Jan 14cm; 6 Jan 17cm (at 1600GMT); 7 Jan 16cm; 8-9 Jan 14cm; 10 Jan 13cm; 11 Jan 9cm; 12 Jan 8cm; 13 Jan 12cm; 14 Jan 9cm
One measure of the amount of snow is to calculate the accumulated snow depth on the ground over a period of time. This is done by adding up the snow depth every day at 0900GMT to arrive at a total.
Here are the snowiest winters since 1988-1989 using this method:
- 1990-1991 - 45 cmdays
- 1995-1996 - 18 cmdays
- 2000-2001 - 19 cmdays
- 2006-2007 - 13 cmdays
- 2008-2009 - 26 cmdays
- 2009-2010 - 176 cmdays (to 0900GMT on 17 Jan)
Recent White Christmases in Maidenhead (since 1988)
Definition - at least one snowflake falling on the 25th.
- 1999 - sleet fell
- 1996 - snow fell
