1981-1982?

[Ron_Jarrell]

I've been reading about a lot of analog years to our current October pattern. One of the best looks like the October of 1981.

So let's flashback to the winter of 1981-1982 shall we?

The winter started out quite normal tempwise with an average Oct, Nov, Dec. Nov and Dec were quite dry however. There was a trace of flurries reported on Dec 21.

January was a different bear. Some of the most extreme temps ever felt in TN occurred that month. On Jan. 12 snow began to fall in temps that had been below freezing since the 9th. BNA got 5" of snow and before it melted, on the 17th reported a high temp of 13 and a low of -11!

I remember it well.

Late in January held record high temps in store with a max record on Jan 30 of 66'F.

February was also very warm and relatively dry with a record high set on the 23rd of 82'F.  There were no real accumulating snows in Feb.

It remained warm and relatively dry with only 3" of precip in March with a record high on the 19th of 86'F.

Only time will tell if this winter holds a similar pattern to that wild winter, but you can be it will be luck of the draw to get another crazy arctic anomaly like the deep freeze we saw back in 1982.

[Thundersnow]

Oh, I definitely remember the January 12, 1982 snowfall.  I was in the first grade.

Our truck wouldn't make it up the hill, so we had to walk up to the house.  All that excitement makes quite an impression on a six-year-old.  I believe we had six inches where I was in Cheatham County.  I remember the frigid temperatures as well.  I think it was -14 one morning at our house!

It was one of those childhood memories that led to my interest in weather to this day.

[servocrow]

Thundersnow wrote:

Oh, I definitely remember the January 12, 1982 snowfall. I was in the first grade.

Consarnit, you young whippersnapper!!!!  I was enjoying missing some of my college classes while freezing my hiney off!!!  grumble ....grumble....You young 'uns and your Crayola crayons and your Wacky Packages and neon shoestrings.... :roll:

Where's my Geritol? :cry:

[Thundersnow]

I take exception to that.

I NEVER had neon shoestrings!  :roll:




 :wink:

[Ron_Jarrell]

Thundersnow, we're about the same age. I was 5 (turned 6 in May). I remember being huddled in the house with my Mom and there was no way she was letting us go outside that day.

I can remember watching the weather updates during the day when it barely crept above zero. It was also one of those interesting wx moments that gave me a passion for the wx.

[Thundersnow]

Hah.  Ron, I had no idea.

I figured you were way older than me.  

[servocrow]

Oh....I also have a January birthday....I don't remember if our den thawed out by the 27th or not.  I just remember ICE on the INSIDE of the walls!!!!

 :shock:

And BABY, it WAS COLD OUTSIDE...and IN!!!

[Ron_Jarrell]

Hah.  Ron, I had no idea.

I figured you were way older than me.  

I'm starting to feel older than a lot of people my age! Stressful jobs take their toll on us!

BTW, I added to my original post to include wx for Feb and Mar 1982.

[Ron_Jarrell]

Also if you all ever need any local climate reports, you don't have to pay through the NOAA website. I just found out all those reports are free since I work for the fed. govt while I'm pulling them from my computer at work. I'll pull any reports you all need, just let me know.

[Thundersnow]

Just going by memory here... but, the harshest winter weather events I remember since 1982 were:

December 1983 (I think that was the year:  deep freeze around Christmas... not much snow that I remember...)
January 1985 (snow; all time record low of -17 recorded that month)
January 1988 (8-inch snowfall)
December 1989 (an ice storm and below zero temps)
March 1993 ("Superstorm"... more of an issue south and east of Nashville)
January - February 1994 (frigid temps in Jan... ice storm in Feb)
January - March 1996 (frigid temps in Jan, above average snowfall for the winter with at least 3 major snowfalls, iirc)
January 2003 (big snowfall... there may have been other events in February)


I probably overlooked some.  I always thought it would be interesting to graph these events over the years to see if there is any kind of observable pattern or cycle.  It is probably fairly random... although there do seem to be clusters of years with a lot of winter weather and clusters of years with very little winter weather.

[Ron_Jarrell]

January 20 1985 saw a high of 7'F and a low of -16'F. We also got 6" of snow. The 21st was also frigid with a high of only 16'F and a record low of -17'F.

That January was very cold as a month with the lone exception being New Years Day when we had a record high of 69'F.

[Thundersnow]

Yeah, January 1985 was a good one.

I remember snow being on the ground for quite a while and HUGE icecicles hanging off the eaves of the house.

I think we were out of school for like two weeks.

You're taking me down memory lane, Ron!

[Ron_Jarrell]

Christmas Eve 1983 saw a high temp of 10'F and a low of -4'F we had a few snow showers that night as well.

Christmas Day was a bitterly cold day as well with a high temp of 15'F and a low of -5'F!

[Thundersnow]

I see that the stats confirm my memories.  

[Ron_Jarrell]

In January of 1988, snow began late in the night on the 6th. It continued to snow most of the day on the 7th until 8" had fallen. Flurries continued on the 8th of January. The temp did not get above freezing from the 4th until the 11th of January and the snow cover had not melted until the 14th!