Jump to content
Problems logging in? ×
Snow?
Local
Radar
Cold?

Summer of 95

Members
  • Posts

    4,169
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Shrewsbury
  • Interests
    Weather, stargazing, linguistics, travelling.

Recent Profile Visitors

31,502 profile views

Summer of 95's Achievements

Seasoned

Seasoned (10/14)

  • 1000 reactions received Rare
  • 30 days in a row
  • Dedicated
  • Week One Done
  • One Month Later

Recent Badges

1.2k

Reputation

  1. It's been absolutely dire and the stats prove it: (figures for Shawbury, 1991-2020 averages) Jul 110.2mm (191%),115.7hr (59.8%) Aug 55.2mm (85.9%), 113.3hr (67.5%) Sep 74.6mm (122%), 118.7hr (88.1%) Oct 170.6mm (248%), 65.1hr (66.8%) Nov 82.0mm (135%), 73.1hr (118%) Dec 105.2mm (159%), 33.5hr (82%) Jan 56.6mm (98.6%), 51.0hr (96.7%) Feb 98.6mm (228%), 40.7hr (54.4%) July to February totals: 753mm (157%), average 479.5 611.1hrs (73.4%) average 832.72 I'm struggling to think of such a prolonged period of persistent wet and dull weather. The only 9-month period I can think of that rivals it is April to December 2012, which scored 154% of average rain and 75.7% sunshine, so was actually marginally less bad. Nothing in 2000-1 or 2013-14 got close. The winter was the dullest since 1991-2 (less rain all winter than Dec 2023 or Feb 2024 had) and wettest since 1989-90 (about 40 hours more sunshine, despite an even duller December). Wet winters here often do OK for sunshine, it's dry anticyclonic setups that can be really dull, especially in Dec and Jan. March has about 22 hours so far, average for the month is 114.6 so would be about 40-45 for 1st-12th. With hardly any sun forecast this week it would need about 90 hours in the second half to make average- 6 hours a day, which is about normal for June. And it's raining again...
  2. I posted this on the 07 Vs 12 discussion, feel it needs to go here as well: I've decided to work out out once and for all which is the worst summer on record for this area. Using the Met office data for Shawbury (1946-present, see note below on temperatures), I've gone through them all! Dullest 10 summers: 2012 352.9 2020 367.7 2002 371.9 1980 375.6 2004 391.6 2008 399.9 1954 400.0 1978 401.4 1987 414.7 1966 419.2 (2007 is 11th with 421.2) Note: The sunshine figure for June 1958 is missing from the Met office data page, the only month where it is. Comparing 140.5 at Ross on Wye and 139.3 at Ringway I've estimated 140 for Shawbury which gives 436.6 for 1958, and puts it 14th. 12th was 1948 with 423.4, and 13th, 2019 with 433.5- admittedly that might swap places with 1958. 2023 is 15th on 442.2 and notably is the dullest summer to contain a month with 200+ hours (June). Wettest 10: 1958 332.0 2007 310.4 2012 297.0 2020 282.0 1957 255.6 1966 249.4 2019 248.6 1968 247.7 1992 241.6 1960 237.4 (1980 is not far behind on 231.4, 2008 had 223.0 and 1954 216.4) Coldest 10 (mean max), the data for temperatures starts in 1957 but there were two outstandingly cold ones just before. To keep the same time period, I've estimated them from Ross on Wye and Ringway again (in brackets), as I'm fairly sure they were the top 2 coldest. 1954 estimated 17.5 (17.93, 17.17) 1956 estimated 17.8 (18.87, 17.23- much bigger difference than 1954. Shawbury is normally more like Manchester than Ross when this is the case. It's possible it was warmer than 1972, 1978 or 1962 but unlikely to have been over 18.3 IMHO) 1972 18.1 1978 18.17 1962 18.2 1985 18.37 1987 18.47 1965 18.57 1980 18.6 1988 18.63 (1966 18.77, 1986 18.83, 2012 19.0, 1958 and 1993 19.03, 2007 19.17) For me, based on the stats it's between 2012, 2007, 1980, 1958 and 1954 for the worst. 2007 for me was not as bad as 2012 because of its dry August (the driest month in any of the top 10 wettest summers)- also I remember the half of June being quite dry and 2012 I'm sure had more wet days. I actually thought 2008 was just as bad as well. 1958 was awful yet I never hear it mentioned unlike 1954 or 1956. Was it this bad everywhere? (Trevor Harley's site and other places I've looked suggest it was, except for northern Scotland). 1966 was just very consistently poor without getting near any individual records. All three months were remarkably similar; 19.0, 18.6 and 18.7 for the maxima, 10.3, 10.1 and 9.6 minima. Rainfall was 95.2, 70.6 and 83.6 and sunshine 135.5, 136.6, and 147.1. Move over 2011, this was the ultimate monotonous "meh" summer! 18-19C, cloud and steady rain galore by the look of it. 1978 was cold and dull but not wet enough (186.4) to be considered. 2020 was outstandingly wet and dull, not far behind 2012. It was rather like the first half of 2012 followed by the second half of 2004. 2008 was another very dull and quite wet one that didn't make the cold category. 2002 was disgustingly dull, it didn't stand out for being cold or wet but I remember it lacked serious warmth and had quite a lot of days with rain. Those 1985-88 summers were certainly cold but overall not especially wet or, 1987 apart, dull. They did have some awful individual months (a summer made up of June 1987, July 1988 and August 1986 would give 17.77C, 282mm and 379.7hrs) but no outstandingly bad whole summer. 1980 was far and away worse than any of them. Many of the 1960s summers weren't too bad. Although they were often cool they contained a number of dry and sunny months. Perhaps the tie breaker can be the "extended summer". Taking the summer half-year (April to September), we get: April to September 1954: 16.33C (estimated, as above), 333.6mm, 835.9hrs April to September 1958: 17.13C, 541mm, 837.3hrs April to September 2012: 16.72C, 576.4mm, 792.3hrs April to September 2007: 17.92C, 471.6mm, 894.1hrs April to September 1980: 17.23C, 491.1mm, 884.1hrs 2012 is the worst! It's clearly worst of these 5 on two of the three criteria, and clearly second worst on the other. 2007 was nowhere near thanks to the splendid April and dry August and September. 1954 wasn't actually that wet, and the shoulder months were OK for sunshine. 1958 ran it closest; both Aprils were cold but 1958 was very dry and 2012 very wet. Both Septembers were very wet but 1958 was a full degree warmer. It's 2012. Not just out of "those" summers but all of them for 78 years.
  3. The top 5 weathers I would be quite happy to lose forever: 1) Freezing rain. Downright dangerous as well as the "why the hell isn't it snow' thing. Luckily I've only ever seen it 3 times but that's 4 too many. 2) Sleet, graupel, ice pellets and non-sticking snow. More "why isn't it proper snow" stuff, not as dangerous as 1) though just damn frustrating especially when it's the proper stuff in other places, particularly nearby at the same height. 3) Useless cloud. North Sea muck, infill crud, anticyclonic gloom, "weak fronts" or especially that dense mid-level dross that keeps turning up during warm spells. This particularly if the other places are sunny/clear 4) Cold rain (5C or below). See 2) 5) That soaking drizzle that doesn't look much but gets you drenched.
  4. I've decided to work out out once and for all which is the worst summer on record for this area. Using the Met office data for Shawbury (1946-present, see note below on temperatures), I've gone through them all! Dullest 10 summers: 2012 352.9 2020 367.7 2002 371.9 1980 375.6 2004 391.6 2008 399.9 1954 400.0 1978 401.4 1987 414.7 1966 419.2 (2007 is 11th with 421.2) Note: The sunshine figure for June 1958 is missing from the Met office data page, the only month where it is. Comparing 140.5 at Ross on Wye and 139.3 at Ringway I've estimated 140 for Shawbury which gives 436.6 for 1958, and puts it 14th. 12th was 1948 with 423.4, and 13th, 2019 with 433.5- admittedly that might swap places with 1958. 2023 is 15th on 442.2 and notably is the dullest summer to contain a month with 200+ hours (June). Wettest 10: 1958 332.0 2007 310.4 2012 297.0 2020 282.0 1957 255.6 1966 249.4 2019 248.6 1968 247.7 1992 241.6 1960 237.4 (1980 is not far behind on 231.4, 2008 had 223.0 and 1954 216.4) Coldest 10 (mean max), the data for temperatures starts in 1957 but there were two outstandingly cold ones just before. To keep the same time period, I've estimated them from Ross on Wye and Ringway again (in brackets), as I'm fairly sure they were the top 2 coldest. 1954 estimated 17.5 (17.93, 17.17) 1956 estimated 17.8 (18.87, 17.23- much bigger difference than 1954. Shawbury is normally more like Manchester than Ross when this is the case. It's possible it was warmer than 1972, 1978 or 1962 but unlikely to have been over 18.3 IMHO) 1972 18.1 1978 18.17 1962 18.2 1985 18.37 1987 18.47 1965 18.57 1980 18.6 1988 18.63 (1966 18.77, 1986 18.83, 2012 19.0, 1958 and 1993 19.03, 2007 19.17) For me, based on the stats it's between 2012, 2007, 1980, 1958 and 1954 for the worst. 2007 for me was not as bad as 2012 because of its dry August (the driest month in any of the top 10 wettest summers)- also I remember the half of June being quite dry and 2012 I'm sure had more wet days. I actually thought 2008 was just as bad as well. 1958 was awful yet I never hear it mentioned unlike 1954 or 1956. Was it this bad everywhere? (Trevor Harley's site and other places I've looked suggest it was, except for northern Scotland). 1966 was just very consistently poor without getting near any individual records. All three months were remarkably similar; 19.0, 18.6 and 18.7 for the maxima, 10.3, 10.1 and 9.6 minima. Rainfall was 95.2, 70.6 and 83.6 and sunshine 135.5, 136.6, and 147.1. Move over 2011, this was the ultimate monotonous "meh" summer! 18-19C, cloud and steady rain galore by the look of it. 1978 was cold and dull but not wet enough (186.4) to be considered. 2020 was outstandingly wet and dull, not far behind 2012. It was rather like the first half of 2012 followed by the second half of 2004. 2008 was another very dull and quite wet one that didn't make the cold category. 2002 was disgustingly dull, it didn't stand out for being cold or wet but I remember it lacked serious warmth and had quite a lot of days with rain. Those 1985-88 summers were certainly cold but overall not especially wet or, 1987 apart, dull. They did have some awful individual months (a summer made up of June 1987, July 1988 and August 1986 would give 17.77C, 282mm and 379.7hrs) but no outstandingly bad whole summer. 1980 was far and away worse than any of them. Many of the 1960s summers weren't too bad. Although they were often cool they contained a number of dry and sunny months. Perhaps the tie breaker can be the "extended summer". Taking the summer half-year (April to September), we get: April to September 1954: 16.33C (estimated, as above), 333.6mm, 835.9hrs April to September 1958: 17.13C, 541mm, 837.3hrs April to September 2012: 16.72C, 576.4mm, 792.3hrs April to September 2007: 17.92C, 471.6mm, 894.1hrs April to September 1980: 17.23C, 491.1mm, 884.1hrs 2012 is the worst! It's clearly worst of these 5 on two of the three criteria, and clearly second worst on the other. 2007 was nowhere near thanks to the splendid April and dry August and September. 1954 wasn't actually that wet, and the shoulder months were OK for sunshine. 1958 ran it closest; both Aprils were cold but 1958 was very dry and 2012 very wet. Both Septembers were very wet but 1958 was a full degree warmer. It's 2012. Not just out of "those" summers but all of them for 78 years.
  5. Rain with a bit of sleet, well I suppose it never even managed that in the February "snow event"...
  6. 2006 was very July-centric; at its peak it was hotter than 2018 but the latter had much longer lasting warmth and sunshine. August was disappointing in both years though more so in 2006 (in 2018 it hung on till about the 6th or 7th); May and June are the real deciders. June 2006 had a decent first half but the second was disappointingly cooler and cloudier. May 2006 was atrocious save the first few days, there's no competition there. 2018 was largely dry, sunny and settled in both months (and the end of April). I do agree that 2006 was more thundery (it wasn't an exceptionally thundery year but 2018 was almost thunder-free). Also 2006 did have the better September. But I give it to 2018.
  7. February 1932 I would go for. Anticyclone permanently centered over Britain or just west or just north. A few days look like they had an easterly flow across the south which might have brought some light precipitation but no depression got near Britain. I think any fronts would have missed by quite a way Looking either side I don't think an Atlantic front would have touched Britain between 17 Jan and 5 March (both times it looks like they might have trailed over Scotland).
  8. December 2010 and 2011, December 1994 and 1995, November 1993 and 1994
  9. Anti-1994. This year was most notable for its memorably cold November and December. A mild February was followed by a cold March. There was also a stark contrast between a very poor June and July sandwiched between a good May, August and September. January. Very dry and settled but dull. Rather cool in the south. A local heavy band of snow to the S and E of London on the 6-7th. February. Mild, drier than average, with a notably warm spell midmonth. Cold and frosty first few days, then warm southwest winds set in. The 14th was particularly mild, over 15C across much of Britain in a balmy southwest wind with plenty of sunshine. The very warm spell ended around the 23rd. Very dry in NE Scotland. (This is so like February 1998!!!!) March. Cold. A very easterly month, wet and dull in the east (the dullest on record in Aberdeen), dry and sunny in the west (just 1mm all month at Fort William). Snowy across England, Wales and eastern Scotland; 15-20cm widespread across central and southern parts midmonth, 30cm recorded in parts of NE England and E Scotland. April. Dry, close to average temperatures. There was an unusually high pressure reading of 1041.2mb at Cardiff on the 1st, as the Scandinavian high responsible for the cold March shifted west across Britain. May. Warm and dry in the south, somewhat cooler and wetter in the north. Warmer than average overall. 26C at Heathrow on the 20th. June. Cold, wet and dull. Violent thunderstorms in the northwest on the 24th, as a cold front unusually moved westwards. 27mm in 11 minutes at Workington. July. Very cold (13.7C), wet, and dull. It reached only 11C in Norfolk and London on the 12th. Parts of the southeast had their coldest July night of the century at the end, with minima around 2C. August. In sharp contrast to June and July, August was a dry, sunny and rather warm month. Cool start, then warm and settled. Just 8mm of rain at London, all falling in a thunderstorm on the 12th. On the 14th the minimum at Kielder Castle was 24C, the warmest August night of the century in England. September. Dry, warm and sunny. Particularly warm across the Midlands on the 14-15th; 33.4C at Wittering near Peterborough, with 30C over a wide area. October. Slightly warmer than average. Rather cool and wet first half, warmer and drier in the second half. 121mm fell at Bognor Regis between the 3rd and 18th, there was then no rain there for the rest of the month with temperatures reaching 22C on the 23rd. November. The coldest ever recorded (1.1C), by some way. Cold across the country all month; a remarkable -9.1C at Heathrow on the 3rd, and -19.1C at Braemar on the 30th. Very wet (and hence snowy) in the second half- 20cm of snow recorded widely, with maxima below freezing on several days. December. Very cold (-0.5C). Almost as cold as anti-December 1934, but snowier. It snowed for around 48 hours across the southern half of Britain on the 9-10th; many places were cut off. Following the snowfall, on the 11th a record low maximum temperature for England: -17.7C at Penkridge (Staffs). After a brief milder spell between the 20-23rd (temperatures reached 8-9C in places, but the snow cover largely remained as it was so deep), a vigorous cold front swept across the country on the 24-25th, bringing more snow. Probably the most widespread White Christmas on record; every major UK city recorded snow falling and lying. Bookmakers were ruined! The cold stayed until the end of the year. Anti-1995. The anti-1994/95 winter was extremely cold, even more so because it had set in back in November. A rotten summer despite some warm spells in late May and early June, a splendid September perhaps the highlight. Record warmth in Scotland in December. January. After the cold anti-December, A mild few days to start, then it turned colder. Mostly settled and quite dry from the 4th-20th, but cold. Some snow but not the epic amounts of December. The final week saw some amazing turnarounds. A brief mild interlude saw the temperature reach 16.2C at Leeds on the 25th, a southwesterly wind warming up as it crossed the Pennines. But a remarkable cold front was approaching from the northwest: Late on the 26th, 45cm of snow fell in 3 hours at Manchester, and on the morning of the 27th the temperature fell around 12C in ten minutes across the Midlands, with rain suddenly turning to heavy snow, stranding many drivers. The CET was 1.4C, cold but not exceptionally so thanks to the two mild spells. February. Very cold (-1.2C), mostly dry but with widespread snow showers across the country. Consistently cold, no record breaking minima (lowest was -15.8C at Eskdalemuir on the 5th), but low maxima: 20 days failed to rise above freezing in central parts. March. Very dull. Yet following the bitter winter, it reached 15C across large parts of the country on the 3rd as a warm sector arrived. It was then mostly mild and dry, and another pulse of warm air saw it reach 19.8C at Altnaharra on the 28th. However the month ended with cold NElies, with the snow and cold returning. Only 27.7 hours of sunshine at Southend. April. Cold first half with frequent snow showers, as a northerly flow predominated. From the 18th the weather turned much warmer, with 21C recorded widely in the third week. May. An exceptionally cold first week, with air frosts in the south every day from 4-7th. -6C in East Yorkshire on the 3rd, -2.8C in the Channel Islands (St Peter Port) on the 6th and Portsmouth on the 5th. Temperatures were then several degrees higher for the VE day holiday on the 8th. The remainder of the month was sunny, warm with a few thunderstorms. The 17th was a very warm day, with 30C recorded at Shawbury and Durham. Thunderstorm in Sheffield on the 24th caused a major power outage. June. Warm and sunny first half, particularly in the east. Very dull and cool second half. The lowest June temperature on record in Belfast; -2.9C on the 29th. July. Cold (14.6), wet and dull. Widespread maxima below 15C particularly from the 20th on, only 12.6 at Heathrow on the 31st. August. A truly awful summer month, surely surpassing even anti-August 1911. Coldest on record (12.1C), wettest and dullest as well. Many parts of the southeast had rain every day. For a week from the 15th the temperature failed to reach 18C anywhere in the country. 85mm of rain at Swansea on the 3rd, and 81mm at Minehead, with temperatures only reaching 14C. Oddly for such a wet summer month, no thunder was reported anywhere in the country all month. September. Warmer than average and dry. No rain in Aberdeen all month. The England and Wales average was just 12.3mm. It was very sunny, particularly in the east. Highest temperature was 30.8C at Chiveley (Berkshire) on the 10th. The fourth consecutive warm, sunny and dry September. October. Very cold and very dull. The CET average of 6.1C was the second coldest on record, helped by an extremely low average maximum. A very cold spell towards the end of the month, widespread maxima less than 5C on the 28th and 29th, maximum of 2.5C at Bala on the 28th. November. Cold, dull and dry except in the northwest. A maximum of -1.8C was recorded at Falmouth on the 13th, then it was widely over 17C across the north of Scotland on the 19th. December. Mild. A very southwesterly month. A remarkable warm spell across Scotland at the end of the month. From the 18th, high pressure centred just to the southeast of Britain fed very mild southwesterlies around its western edge. On Christmas Day the temperature reached 15C in Shetland. There were four consecutive days from the 27th reaching 17C somewhere in Scotland; Altnaharra managed it on all four days. 19.7C was recorded there on the 30th, a UK December record. The wind turned more westerly during the day reducing the fohn effect, otherwise it is possible that 20C might have been reached. At Fyvie Castle (Aberdeenshire) the minimum on the 29th was 15.9C, also a UK December record. While it was generally mild further south, it wasn't exceptionally so. The highest maximum at Elmdon (Birmingham) for example was 11.1C on the 29th. There was even a twist: Incredibly on the 30th as temperature records were being smashed in Scotland, forecasters were caught out as the high moved northwest (which caused the change in wind direction at Altnaharra), suddenly letting cold air from the east into the far south. Rain had been forecast to move in as the high retreated, but instead snow fell there. 10cm in London, with 20cm in places along the M4 corridor. Overall the CET was 6.8C, the warmest since the exceptional anti-1981.
  10. Synoptics seemed to be a carbon copy of this day exactly 17 years ago. That had been just as mild and snowless as this winter up until then, here actually more so- nothing even like that frosty spell and one night of snow in early December. It snowed on and off all day, and more fell the following day before the mild air came through on the afternoon of the 10th. Why then did the same setup leave the 0C line down over France in 2007, and over N England this time? The mild air just seemed to overtake the cold this week before it had a chance to go south, it has happened repeatedly with battleground/breakdown setups in the last 15 years.
  11. Still completely rain at 95m asl, it's been quite heavy and no sign of any sleet or snow. If the snow level was 200m we should be seeing at least some bits, reckon it's more like 400m (it nearly always seems to be higher in Shropshire than the Peak District for some reason)
  12. Coming down heavy now, thought it was sleet mixed in but it's actually half-melted small hail/ice pellets. Obviously not cold enough for snow even higher up then...
  13. It's raining.... Not very heavy but not even a hint of sleet to be seen. Seems a bit warmer than at 11pm too
  14. I remember Atlantic 252 Exactly what I was thinking, it hasn't felt properly cold today and still doesn't, just seems a bit chilly because it was so mild before. The number of times I've seen nothing but rain when fronts/systems hit cold air after days on end below zero makes me think 24 hours of 2-5C is not going to turn it to snow. Need the temp to drop tonight surely. But then I'm prepared to be surprised, the weather here does often act in a way that seems to defy the science
×
×
  • Create New...