The mildest winter on record

[Weather-history]

Winter 1868-69 is the mildest winter ever recorded

December 1868: 7.2 (+2.9)

January 1869: 5.6 (+2.4)

February 1869: 7.5 (+3.

December: Joint 11th mildest on record. 2nd-21st: 8.2

January: Joint 30th mildest on record. The first half: 6.5

February: 2nd mildest on record. First half: 8.8

The CET for the winter is 6.8 (3.0 above the 1831-60 average)

December 1868 is the 3rd wettest December on record

Winter 1868-69 is the 6th wettest winter on record

------------------------------------------

The Spring of 1869

March: 3.8 (-1.4)

April: 10.1 (+2.6)

May: 9.6 (-1.6)

First half of February: 8.8

Second half of March: 4.2

First half of April: 10.2

Second half of May: 9.5

A really topsy turvy spring with notable cold and mild spells intermingled

10th-17th March: 2.4

7th-15th April: 12.4

11th-21st May: 9.0

Spring 1869 had a CET of 7.8 and was just 1C warmer than the winter

April is joint 9th mildest on record

May is joint 31st coldest in record

One of only 6 instances of April warmer than May.

May 1869 is the 9th wettest May on record

[parmenides3]

As always, Mr. D., you have come up with some gems of information. NW would be so much the poorer without you. Thanks for all that; it gives us a chance to think ahead about what new records might fall, once again, this Winter.

:)P

[Weather-history]

As always, Mr. D., you have come up with some gems of information. NW would be so much the poorer without you. Thanks for all that; it gives us a chance to think ahead about what new records might fall, once again, this Winter.

:)P

Thanks for the compliment, parmenides3

November 1868 had a CET of 4.9, so November and March had CETs lower than any of the winter months of 1868-69.

The other occasions that happened

Winter 1746-47 (Nov 3.3, Mar 2.5)

Winter 1795-96 (Nov 4.5, Mar 4.2)

Winter 1915-16 (Nov 2.8, Mar 3.3)

[frozen_north]

Mr Data what was the cause of the really mild temperatures.

[Dawlish]

As always, Mr. D., you have come up with some gems of information. NW would be so much the poorer without you. Thanks for all that; it gives us a chance to think ahead about what new records might fall, once again, this Winter.

:)P

Agreed! Wholeheartedly!

Mr Data what was the cause of the really mild temperatures.

Ah! Now that's got him!

[mushymanrob]

the mildest wether on record will be this one coming!

[ukmoose]

I never cease to be amazed by the facts that you unearth Mr D. It's hard to believe winters could have been so mild in the 19th Century. Great stuff - just hope it stays in the past!

Moose

[Weather-history]

Mr Data what was the cause of the really mild temperatures.

The clue is how wet the December was, so its our old friend mild zonality, probably something like what happened during mid-January-mid February 2002, all 3 months were wet

[Roger J Smith]

There may have been a strong el Nino event underway. The winter temperatures in eastern North America were also much above normal in 1868-69, as was the summer of 1868. The data would not look too remarkable in the 20th century, but against the colder 19th century data, this period was quite noticeable.

If you believe that a fairly large natural shift in climate took place late in the 19th century and that 1890 was approximately the boundary between two different thermal regimes, at least in North America, then 1868-69 and perhaps 1879-81 represent two early unsustained periods of similar warmth which then quickly reverted to the more prevalent cold regime that seemed to dominate most of the 19th century, until about 1889-1890 when there was a rather dramatic upturn in the temperature series.

I haven't studied the data very carefully for the CET series through that period, but my impression was that the changes were more gradual and probably a later transition to a generally warmer climate took place perhaps around 1900 or 1910.

But for eastern North America, at least, the weather in the 1890s must have seemed unnaturally warm despite the odd reversal in winters to very cold conditions, as in 1895 and 1899. The main change, something that will sound familiar, was that summer was both warmer and longer, with more temperate spring and autumn seasons. The change in April, May and October, November temperatures during this warming was especially noticeable and on the order of 2 C degrees.

[Weather-history]

Some reports from stations on winter 1868-69

Selborne

December: The mildest December I have ever recorded and the most tempestuous with prevailing SW winds

Highest max: 64.5F

3 air frosts

January: On the whole a tempestuous month and unprecendently mild, the wind though high, being SW to SE

9 air frosts

February: Vegetation about 6 weeks earlier than average; yew and box in flower early in month.

Highest max: 51.0F

8 air frosts

Banbury

December: Very wet month; draba verna in blossom on last day

Highest max: 56.0F

5 air frosts

January: High winds on 4th and 28th to end of month

Highest max: 54.0F

6 air frosts

February: Snow on 12th and 22nd; violets in bloom on 20th

Highest max: 56.0F

5 air frosts

Culford

December: A mild month of mild weather for the season

January: The weather throughout has been remarkably mild, no snow. Gooseberry bushes almost in leaf and apricot blooms nearly open.

Bridport

December: Very mild and stormy month. Crocuses in flower in the garden

2 air frosts

January: Very mild month

4 air frosts

February: A mild month and vegetation very forward

4 air frosts

Shifnal

December: snowdrops up and whiten 19th

January: crocus in flower on 31st

February: Nettles several inches high on 5th; willow blossoming; apricots in flower and hawthorn budding on the 16th. Wild daffodil in flower on 20th. Pastures as green as in May.

Boston

December: Roses and pinks were in flower in the open air on the 15th and strawberries were gathered in a garden at Louth.

January: Remarkably mild weather

February: Limes, elms and other forest trees in being in full bud

Derby

January: The fields and gardens having the more appearance of April than January. The proximate cause of the warmth of the season arises, no doubt, by the prevalence of southerly winds.

Aberdeen

December: Mild but wet tempestuous month

January: A remarkably mild month, no snow except a few flakes on 25th, no severe frosts. Grass growing as if in March or April, scarcely two hours' sunshine a day on average.. Whin in bloom all month.

February: A month of fine, mild dry weather except last 4 days were stormy.

Lochbroom

February: Trees and bushes never seemed so green.

Ballater

February: Up to last week, vegetation was making alarming progress for season.

[Weather-history]

Some station figures

Camden Town

December

Rain: 5.12"

Highest max: 58.2F

1 air frost

January

Rain: 2.76"

Highest max: 56.3F

6 air frosts

February

Rain: 2.48"

Highest max: 60.8F

4 air frosts

Manchester

December

Rain: 8.12"

Highest max: 55.3F

2 air frosts

January

Rain: 2.69"

Highest max: 54.0F

1 air frost

February

Rain: 4.44"

Highest max: 61.8F

1 air frost

Barnstaple

December

Rain: 6.78"

Highest max: 59.5F

0 air frosts

January

Rain: 4.69"

Highest max: 56.0F

2 air frosts

February

Rain: 4.35"

Highest max: 62.0F

0 air frosts

Waterford

December

Rain: 9.81"

Highest max: 58.0F

0 air frosts

January

Rain: 2.69"

Highest max: 54.0F

7 air frosts

February

Rain: 2.34"

Highest max: 54.0F

1 air frost

Llandudno

December

Rain: 8.22"

Highest max: 62.6F

0 air frosts

January

Rain: 4.12"

Highest max: 54.6F

0 air frosts

February

Rain: 3.43"

Highest max: 58.0F

0 air frosts

[Weather-history]

Look at these maxima that were recorded at Camden Square, London during this winter from 28th January to 17th February

28th Jan: 12.1C

29th Jan: 11.1C

30th Jan: 11.5C

31st Jan: 13.5C

1st Feb: 12.8C

2nd Feb: 9.6C

3rd Feb: 12.8C

4th Feb: 14.0C

5th Feb: 16.0C

6th Feb: 14.3C

7th Feb: 12.1C

8th Feb: 12.2C

9th Feb: 10.4C

10th Feb: 13.2C

11th Feb: 13.6C

12th Feb: 10.4C

13th Feb: 9.3C

14th Feb: 10.3C

15th Feb: 9.6C

16th Feb: 11.3C

17th Feb: 12.0C

[Summer of 95]

An astonishingly mild winter quarter- but look at March; Colder than most Jans and Febs between 1988-2008. The coldest month between November and April in 2006/7 was Feb at 5.8; is this a record? I can't find any winter that beats it.

[AderynCoch]

An astonishingly mild winter quarter- but look at March; Colder than most Jans and Febs between 1988-2008. The coldest month between November and April in 2006/7 was Feb at 5.8; is this a record? I can't find any winter that beats it.

That's the thing - even though the mildness of that era matched the mildness of modern times, one could always rely on other months to be significantly below average from time to time (and just look at some of the cold winter months in the years that followed). 1988-2008 had very little in the way of significantly below average months to offset the mildness. The twelve months from May 2006 to April 2007 were just ridiculous - virtually the warm equivalent of 1740.

[Weather-history]

An astonishingly mild winter quarter- but look at March; Colder than most Jans and Febs between 1988-2008. The coldest month between November and April in 2006/7 was Feb at 5.8; is this a record? I can't find any winter that beats it.

October 1685-June 1686 was exceptionally warm but unfortunately the figures are to the nearest 0.5C, nevertheless the coldest month in that period was February with 6.0C, which gauges just how mild it was during that period.

Edited February 17, 2011 by Mr_Data