In an average year snow will fall on 19 days in Wishaw.

In an average year snow will lie on 14 days in Wishaw.

As can be deduced from the above chart. January is peak snowfall season in Wishaw. The peak snow lying season in Wishaw is the same, but extends into the first half of February also. This is primarily due to the lag in ground temperatures. The ground takes longer to warm up than the air of course. But it's also slower to cool down.

It's also interesting to note that the chance of snow falling doesn't really decrease as the Month of March progresses. I would imagine this is due to falling humidities in the spring, allowing snow to fall at slightly warmer temperatures.

The average date of the first snow falling in Wishaw is November 25th.

The average date of the first snow lying in Wishaw is December 23rd.

The average date of the last snow lying in Wishaw is March 17th

The average date of the last snow falling in Wishaw is April 7th

The average annual total accumulation of snow in Wishaw is 54 cm. (21 inches)

The average annual peak accumulation of snow in Wishaw is 7.5 cm. (3 inches) and the average date for it to happen would be around Janury 3rd.

Every recorded winter in Wishaw has seen snow lying at some point, but the winter of 2006/07 only had a couple of short lived, thin slushy covers.

It's also interesting to note that the chance of snow falling doesn't really decrease as the Month of March progresses. I would imagine this is due to falling humidities in the spring, allowing snow to fall at slightly warmer temperatures.

Blizzards

Blizzards in Wishaw are very rare, most people think (wrongly) that a blizzard is occuring when there is very heavy snow. But that's not the case at all.

A blizzard occurs when the following four conditions are met; 1) There is either snow falling or it is being lifted up from the ground (drifting). 2) The average windspeed is over 30mph. 3) The visibily is below 200 meters. 4) All three conditions persist for at least 3 hours.

I have only recorded this once in Wishaw, on February 27th, 2001. I have not got around to doing the calculations to see when it has happened previously. Although November 27th, 1965 is a likely candidate.

A severe blizzard usually only happens on the mountains in Scotland it causes "whiteout" conditions. It requires an average windspeed of 39mph or higher and a visibility of near zero. Downdrafts and heavy snowfall combine to create a situation in which it is impossible to tell the ground from the sky.

Thundersnow

Not as uncommon as you may think. Indeed recent years have had several of these events in Wishaw. It happened on three consecutive days in early December 2020. And several times during the "beast from the east" in late February 2018.

Click on an icon or chart for further analysis of that weather type