Winter Of ’47 *: HEAVY SNOW HITS FALMOUTH AGAIN

The Packet of February 21, 1947, had NOTHING about the ongoing Great British Freeze, so far as I could see. (Mind you, the newspaper’s print size in those days was almost vanishingly small!) So it’s reasonable to assume that there had been no more newsworthy weather locally.

 

Seven days later, the topic was back on the front page, with this headline and sub-head:--

 

TWENTY SUNLESS DAYS

 

Second Snowfall In One Of Severest Winters Experienced

 

And the report that followed:--

 

Yesterday week, for the second time in three weeks, snow fell over Falmouth and district to a considerable depth. While for the children it was a further welcome diversion, the fall proved a severe handicap to tradesmen and transport, and deliveries of mail and foodstuffs were again delayed.

 

Believing it may prove of interest to our readers (quaint, huh? – MT), the Packet made enquiries concerning comparisons between this winter’s weather and that experienced over a period of years.

 

Mr W Tregoning Hooper, superintendent of Falmouth Observatory, stated that similar weather occurred during the early part of 1917, when, however, the cold spell lasted for a longer period.

 

Whereas two distinct cold spells, each with an attendant fall of snow, have been experienced this year, during the first four months of 1917 the weather was very severe. This year, 30 years later, climatic conditions second only to the Great Blizzard of 1891 have resulted.

 

A feature of the recent exceptional weather has been the complete obscurity of the sun on 20 out of 25 days.

 

A temperature of 19 degrees Fahrenheit, registered at the end of January, proved to be the lowest recorded at The Observatory since its foundation in 1868. On Friday 21 degrees Fahrenheit was noted.

 

Many residents will recall occasions when skating and even races took place on the Swanpool, which has been frozen on approximately 12 occasions during the last 100 years. Some children have been seen walking on ice around the edges of the Swanpool during recent weeks. 

 

* See also blog posts, Jan 20, Feb 02 and 09