| February 1947 produced some dramatic and extreme conditions, but March
was to throw even more severe weather at us to include blizzard conditions,
glazed ice, a gale, severe wind-chill and widespread flooding. The month
began with relative calm, the 1st showing little more than scattered snow
showers and almost 8 hours of bright sunshine. It did, however, remain bitterly
cold with a day maximum of 2.2C and a night minimum of -6.1C, winds gusting
to 30 knots producing severe wind chill somewhat ameliorating the effects
of the bright sunshine! Both the 2nd and 3rd remained dry with quite widespread
fog, the snow surface minimum on the 3rd falling to -12.2C under the clear
skies. By the 4th a brisk NE wind heralded the arrival of heavy snow under
blizzard conditions that brought level snow to a depth of 27cm and drifts
as deep as 16 feet in places. Roads and railways again succumbed as snow
piled in as fast as it was cleared. Further heavy snow falls occurred on
the 5th bringing "level" snow to 42cm, this total being successively
added to by further moderate to heavy falls from the 6th to the 9th. Most
of the country was again at a standstill and wartime "bulldozers"
were brought out in attempts to open roads to isolated towns and villages.
It was the second week into March before my own village road was opened
from Halesowen, and then only by cutting a single path. On the 12th freezing
rain began to fall, coating everything in sheets of ice and making conditions
treacherous putting a 5cm to 6cm layer of ice on top of the snow surface.
Additional heavy glazing occurred on the 14th only to have a further layer
of snow added after heavy snowfalls on the afternoon and evening of the
15th. Under these conditions the deep layer of snow was so solid that it
was possible to walk on it's surface, which in many cases left one standing
above hedgerows, fences and road signposts. The 16th saw a complete change
with the daytime maximum rising to 8.3C after early morning fog. By late
evening a full gale was blowing with gusts to 66 knots and almost 11 hours
with mean speeds in excess of gale force. This was accompanied [fortunately]
by rain, not snow, though anxiety now began to mount with the prospect of
flooding if the thaw was rapid in view of the immense volume of snow around.
Rain and fresh to strong winds continued until the 24th with well over 15
hours of gale force winds blowing. The rain ate into the lying snow and
a change in the wind direction to a westerly quarter heralded much higher
temperatures. By the 22nd these were peaking at 11.1C to be followed on
the 28th and 29th with maxima of 12.2C, though 13 mm of rain fell on the
29th. Almost all of the main volume of lying snow had gone by the 21st aided
by warm days, frost-free nights and ample rain. The last air frost occurred
on the 15th and on the 16th over grass. However it was exceptionally wet,
36.3mm of rain falling over the final 10 days of the month. This, and the
water resulting from the melting snow, caused widespread flooding along
the river valleys, a fact mentioned regularly during the floods occurring
the autumn before last. Mark Buttery [who I believe lives in Bewdley] would
have been impressed to find that the river Severn floodwater reached the
garage forecourt near the railway bridge over the A456 Birmingham-Bewdley
road. The resulting flooding along the Severn and most other rivers was
so severe that is set records which still stand today in many places. The
1947 winter was now well and truly over and March had added to the mass
of statistics thrown up by this spell of quite amazing weather. The month
saw it's warmest day on the 29th with a maximum of 12.2C, the coldest night
being the 3rd with a minimum of -8.3C. The coldest day was the 5th with
a maximum no higher than -1.7C whilst the warmest night saw a temperature
of 8.9C on the 29th. The month ended with a mean maximum of 6.3C, a mean
minimum of 0.7C and a mean daily of 3.5C. Snow or sleet fell on 13 days
and snow lay on 19 days to a maximum depth of 42cm on the 6th. Frost occurred
in the air on 15 occasions, and on the "ground" on 16, the lowest
of the latter to -16.1C on the 7th. Rain totalled 151.7mm [a March total
not exceeded to this day] with precipitation on 24days, 11 of which were
"wetter" days [>=5mm]. Hail occurred on 3 days with fog at
09hr on 8 days. There was 1 gale though gale force gusts occurred on 9 days.
Sunshine totalled 70.1 hours, the best day March 9th seeing 8.4 hours of
sunshine. Sub- zero temperatures occurred in the air for a period around
48 hours, considerably down on the totals for January and February. Winds
were in a westerly and easterly quarter on 14 days each. Freezing rain leading
to glaze occurred twice. As this concludes the monthly analyses, the final
article will summarise the 3 months, though it will not be a true reflection
of the winter of 1947 as a season since this covers December 1946 and January
and February 1947. |