Good Septembers Following Poor Augusts?

[MP-R]

I don't understand the glorifying September 2006. September that year was considerably wetter and more unsettled than August was. Yes it was warmer than August in some parts of the country but after the 10th it was pretty much a washout.

[Thundery wintry showers]

September 2006 was widely the warmest or second-warmest September on record and many places were sunnier and drier than average, though personally I don't remember a lot about the month in Tyneside- a couple of weak thunderstorms in the 2nd week and a hot sunny day on the 23rd stick out. However, Tyneside did get a lot of sea breezes which suppressed maxima along the east coast on the warmest days, which was a localised contributory factor. I found Septembers 1999 & 2003 more memorable.

I have some quite strong memories of the Augusts of the mid to late 1990s in Tyneside. August 1994 began with a phenomenal thunderstorm (at least by Tyneside standards) on the 3rd/4th but then became pretty average. I recall that I found August 1995's sun and dryness got a bit samey after a while (hence why I preferred July 2006 when the dry sunny weather was occasionally interrupted by showers/thunderstorms) but nonetheless the month also had a cracking thunderstorm with hail on the 27th. August 1996 was also memorable with 29-30C recorded in the Tyne and Wear area, even along the coast, on the 18th, and it had quite a bit of variety.

Can't say I cared much for August 1997- it had quite a lot of low cloud on the east coast plus uncomfortably warm nights and a dull last third. August 1998 ended up dry but quite cloudy in Tyne & Wear.

Re. August 2000, it had a notably sunny second half in the North East with warm days and cool nights, and a few convective outbreaks, but it was foggy on the 21st while other areas had severe thunderstorms. August 2003 started sunny and hot but turned dull there in the last third if I remember correctly- it may have had the record-breaking heatwave but overall it was nothing compared to August 1995.

[Optimus Prime]

September 2006 was a horrible month from what I remember - Cloudy, dull and warm after that pretty grey August. I wouldn't wish a August - October 2006 period on anyone it was truly miserable. Atleast November and December following had a few frosty and foggy spells.

[MP-R]

September 2006 was a horrible month from what I remember - Cloudy, dull and warm after that pretty grey August. I wouldn't wish a August - October 2006 period on anyone it was truly miserable. Atleast November and December following had a few frosty and foggy spells.

I mean I wouldn't say it was a horrible month, it just wasn't as nice a month as people remember and if it weren't for the higher than average temperatures, it could probably be ranked similar to the August. The noteworthy thing about that month though was the thunder frequency. That period did provide some good thunder activity with thunderstorms on 17th Aug, 18th Aug, 23rd Aug, 22nd Sept, 24th Sept, 30th Sept, 01st Oct, 11th Oct, 16th Oct and some thunder in November too.

If I remember September was:

01st-06th: Dull and muggy with outbreaks of rain

07th-12th: Sunny, warm and very summery then later muggy

13th-21st: Changeable, quite dull and warm with rain off and on throughout the period. Notably warm on the 21st though

22nd-30th: Very wet and thundery, cooler with limited sunshine

[johnholmes]

perhaps we should extend the title to include September as well?

Joining in the off topic posting here was very warm, over 3C above average on the maximum temperature, with a bit below average rainfall, so as is often the case it depends where one lives?

[MP-R]

perhaps we should extend the title to include September as well?

Joining in the off topic posting here was very warm, over 3C above average on the maximum temperature, with a bit below average rainfall, so as is often the case it depends where one lives?

Yeah sorry about that, my negative mood is taking me off subject. Though are there other examples of warm and sunny Septembers following poor Augusts?

[Optimus Prime]

Ok.

Edited August 13, 2010 by Optimus Prime

[Bottesford]

This summer seems to have ramped up nicely in May and June. During July it's very steadily and slowly gone downhill. In July it was still warm and mostly dry but increasing cloud. As the weeks have gone on it's got increasingly duller, wetter and cooler which is rapidly leading to a poor August.

Despite above average temperature August's in recent years - this has often come from high night minima not from hot days. It's not much good being 16c (as opposed to say 13c) at 4am when it rains or is just dull and cool all day. Summer weather goodness is about sunshine levels, followed by dryness followed by temperature.

For those of us who don't relish cool temperatures and incessant rainfall (whilst sniggering at all those failed holiday plans and children stuck indoors... well maybe some do that I dunno ;-)) then August is rapidly failing us now.

For me I always prefer my good weather in May-July (around peak light levels) so if we had to have naff weather, better now than in June.

[AderynCoch]

We've been spoilt with lovely Junes and Julys for years, August seems to never live up to expectation when in reality it's rarely as warm or sunny as either of the other 2 summer months. September is quite often warmer and sunnier than August in this country.

I'd disagree with the first point, and you're definitely wrong on the other two. The 1971-2000 average temperature for August is 16.2C, compared with 16.5C for July and just 14.1C for June - a notable difference. For the record, a June averaging 16.2C would be the warmest since 1976. As for sunshine, August was actually sunnier than June during the period 1971-2000, though duller for the period 1961-1990 (June competes with August thanks to it having the longest daylight hours of any calendar month).

September being warmer than August is very unusual, having occurred only twice since 1900 (1956 & 2006). September being sunnier than August is more common, though still unusual.

[Optimus Prime]

Difference is August 1956 was exceptionally cold with a CET of just 13.5c. September came in a little above average only at 14.3c. August 2006 was rather average at 16.1c but September was remarkably warm at 16.8c.

Edited August 13, 2010 by Optimus Prime

[Storm Animal]

12oC and not a glimmer of sunshine, been like this since 1st week in July! Flooding yesterday & heavy rain today...roll on winter! lol I wouldnt mind, but I get irritated when I see southern areas having pleasant weather on the tv all the time..grrrrrrrrr

[Weather-history]

The best summer month generally over the last few years IMO has been June in contrast to the 90s, when June was generally the poorer of the summer months.

[Iceni]

September being warmer than August is very unusual, having occurred only twice since 1900 (1956 & 2006). September being sunnier than August is more common, though still unusual.

I know it's the average CET, but the w/e 16th/18th September 1998 was my parents' Golden Wedding Anniversary… Anyway, we had a lot of people for lunch with tables set out on the lawn and I'd put bottles of red wine on the tables. After about an hour, I had to collect them all in again as they were boiling (well not quite). It was a scorchingly hot day.

[Thundery wintry showers]

The best summer month generally over the last few years IMO has been June in contrast to the 90s, when June was generally the poorer of the summer months.

I agree with that- apart from the temperatures it has been quite reminiscent of the 1960s and early 1970s, which had many sunny, fairly dry Junes followed by distinctly "westerly" Julys and Augusts with cloud, frequent rain and suppressed maxima.

[Duncan McAlister]

Augusts certainly have taken a turn for the worst. My parents say that the best summer weather used to come in July and August yet now it comes in May and June

It's the same up here and it's funny I made the same point in another thread not so long ago. There seems to be a perception by many up here actually that August is the start of autumn. Maybe it's the Celtic connection with Ireland, their calendar is:

Spring - Feb/Mar/Apr

Summer - May/Jun/Jul

Autumn - Aug/Sep/Oct

Winter - Nov/Dec/Jan

But the recent poor run of Augusts is a disappointment nonetheless. Maybe I've just been spoiled in my short time with years like 1995 and 2003!

Actually this August hasn't been too bad here so far and is fast catching up with July for number of days over 4 hours sunshine (7 to July's 11)

Edited August 13, 2010 by Duncan McAlister

[frostyjoe]

It's the same up here and it's funny I made the same point in another thread not so long ago. There seems to be a perception by many up here actually that August is the start of autumn. Maybe it's the Celtic connection with Ireland, their calendar is:

Spring - Feb/Mar/Apr

Summer - May/Jun/Jul

Autumn - Aug/Sep/Oct

Winter - Nov/Dec/Jan

But the recent poor run of Augusts is a disappointment nonetheless. Maybe I've just been spoiled in my short time with years like 1995 and 2003!

Actually this August hasn't been too bad here so far and is fast catching up with July for number of days over 4 hours sunshine (7 to July's 11)

Aye it must be these irish ones on this weather forum were saying that autumn had started and i was like............ dosen't autumn not start near the end of september! Not friggen august, (mind you, you'd think it was setptember now at 13/14c maxes i wonder what october will be like!!!!

[mushymanrob]

hmmm.... what part of my original question dont you guys understand?

why dont we get 'hot' spells in august"? .... im not bothered about the cet, monthly sunshine totals or precipitation (which a good storm could statistically make the month look wetter then in reality). i find it odd that august seems to be the only month for many years that you dont get a hot spell (ie 3 + days over 25c in the cet zone). it is even rarer if the previous summer months failed to be warm.

[Tom D]

It might be worth you taking a look at the BBCs 'monthly summaries' for the past few years for August.

Ones I've noticed with hot spells are August 2003 and 2004, with the best being largely dominated by high 24hr rainfall totals and thunderstorms.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/ukweather/year_review/reviews/august2004_review.shtml

Summer is always a very mixed affair in this country, with a rainy day easily followed by a hot sunny one. I don't think this current weather we're having is anything unusual as I have photos of storm clouds and rain during the first part of August for the last few years; it's just June and July have been on the whole very pleasant this year, for a long spell of heat and dry is now being made up for particularly around my area.

[Weather-history]

hmmm.... what part of my original question dont you guys understand?

why dont we get 'hot' spells in august"? .... im not bothered about the cet, monthly sunshine totals or precipitation (which a good storm could statistically make the month look wetter then in reality). i find it odd that august seems to be the only month for many years that you dont get a hot spell (ie 3 + days over 25c in the cet zone). it is even rarer if the previous summer months failed to be warm.

I think titling the thread "Lack of hot August spells" would have been better.

Calling it "Rubbish Augusts" and opening it with the very first question "what has happened to August?" has completely opened the debate on whether recent Augusts have been that poor.

Edited August 14, 2010 by Mr_Data

[Milhouse]

August may well end up disappointingly cool and wet but the best weather of the summer so far was where it should be. In late May, June and July. Warmth is so much more appreciated when the days are long and the countryside is full with colour and vibrancy. When the fields are being ploughed and the hedgerows turn a dull green colour i dont mind the rain as much. Still hoping for a lovely September like last year though.

[Snowyowl9]

August is the 2nd warmest month of the year after July on average.

But from 2005 another thing that has really lacked here is thunder just 1 day in 2005 with 3 rumbles.

Nothing since in august, that tells me one thing the atlantic Driven W/SW-lys or NW-lys or just a HP settled warm spell but getting to be one of the cloudiest months of the year.

1991 to me seemed just a typical month,for weather to get for august.

Last hot period was in august 2004 but we all know how wet that summer was,most memorable august to me.

August 1995 is a distant dream.

[reef]

hmmm.... what part of my original question dont you guys understand?

why dont we get 'hot' spells in august"? .... im not bothered about the cet, monthly sunshine totals or precipitation (which a good storm could statistically make the month look wetter then in reality). i find it odd that august seems to be the only month for many years that you dont get a hot spell (ie 3 + days over 25c in the cet zone). it is even rarer if the previous summer months failed to be warm.

To be fair, since 1998 the only time there have been 3 days averaging 25C or above in August in the CET zone is 2003. Contrary to many people's beliefs, such spells have never been very common in the UK. Isolated warm spells in the south-east perhaps, but widespread warmth is not - and its not a recent phenomenon either.

This is the UK, we have a temperate maritime climate, like potent cold spells in winter, widespread warm spells arent guaranteed in summer either.

[J10]

In recent years, June has been the best summer month locally, followed by August with July in 3rd. (with 2006 being a huge exception)

[mushymanrob]

I think titling the thread "Lack of hot August spells" would have been better.

Calling it "Rubbish Augusts" and opening it with the very first question "what has happened to August?" has completely opened the debate on whether recent Augusts have been that poor.

absolutely... i agree that i made an error of judgement in titling the thread.

To be fair, since 1998 the only time there have been 3 days averaging 25C or above in August in the CET zone is 2003. Contrary to many people's beliefs, such spells have never been very common in the UK. Isolated warm spells in the south-east perhaps, but widespread warmth is not - and its not a recent phenomenon either.

This is the UK, we have a temperate maritime climate, like potent cold spells in winter, widespread warm spells arent guaranteed in summer either.

it just seems strange that a month regarded as the height of summer has so few 'hot spells'.. i know we are a temperate climate and hot spells arnt guaranteed, maybe i was spoilt in 75, 76, 83, 95, etc, it just seems that there always used to be a hot spell in august... i mean, is 3 days really too much to ask?..

[damianslaw]

To be fair, since 1998 the only time there have been 3 days averaging 25C or above in August in the CET zone is 2003. Contrary to many people's beliefs, such spells have never been very common in the UK. Isolated warm spells in the south-east perhaps, but widespread warmth is not - and its not a recent phenomenon either.

This is the UK, we have a temperate maritime climate, like potent cold spells in winter, widespread warm spells arent guaranteed in summer either.

Its a very telling statistic confirming that to get long sustained very warm spells in Britain is not the norm. People think back to Augusts like 1995 and 2003 and expect every August should be like them, in truth such months are anomalies.

I have never rated August here in N Britain. It is on average wetter than April, May, June and July up here and sunshine levels on average are lower than May, June and July. I rate my summer months in terms of dry sunny weather not necessarily temps. 5 day + spells of sunny dry weather with maxima in low - mid 20's is usually the best the majority of the country away from the SE can expect in an average summer. Dry sunny settled conditions are much more likely in May and June here than in August. What has dissapointed me has been the relatively poor July's we have experienced in recent years in terms of warm weather , it is when we generally expect our warmest weather. I'm indifferent to August.