The Cold June Of 1991

[Weather-history]

June 1991 is the 8th coldest June on record for the CET with a value of 12.1C

Overall, it was a cold, dull and wet month and thus is one of the worst summer months since 1990. Some locations had yet to record their first 20C of the year.

Highest maxima for that month

Stornoway: 16.2C

Dyce: 20.3C

Abbotsinch: 20.6C

Tynemouth: 19.6C

Ringway: 20.0C

RAF Valley: 17.2C

Cambridge: 22.1C

Heathrow: 22.6C

Rhoose: 19.7C

Hastings 17.1C

Aldegrove: 19.1C

The start of the month was very cool with snow even reported at higher levels, air frosts and maxima below 10C

The last week of June was particularly wet with the first week of Wimbledon's tennis championship severely disrupted and as a result the organisers were forced to play on the Sunday rest day for the first time.

Rainfall %s of June average

Dyce: 213%

Abbotsinch: 155%

Ringway: 110%

Cambridge: 188%

Heathrow: 175%

Hastings: 264%

Aldegrove: 119%

[Somerset Squall]

Interesting stuff, a very wet month aswell looking at those rainfall percentages against the mean! An awful month which thankfully I can't remember LOL

Which June was the coldest on record? Can't seem to find it.

Edited May 23, 2011 by Somerset Squall

[damianslaw]

I do remember June 1991 fairly well. After the dry May it came as a bit of a shock in terms of its wet dull cool theme. I went to North France for a few days with school and the weather there was distinctly chilly aswell. However, the rest of the summer was quite good with lots of sunshine and many warm days.

[feb1991blizzard]

I do remember it. You have to say that chart really is a stonker for June. Cold fans like me just have no right whatsoever to expect charts like that in June.

[Gavin P]

The odd thing about June 1991 was that it came right in the middle of an extended drought which started at the end of 1988 and didn't end until the summer of 1992.

Edited May 23, 2011 by Gavin P

[feb1991blizzard]

The odd thing about June 1991 was that it came right in the middle of an extended drought which started at the end of 1988 and didn't end until the summer of 1992.

I never knew we had a drought that lasted that long. Just shows you learn something new everyday. I do remember some hot dry weather in the july of that summer.

[sundog]

I remember June 91 well. I was doing my final school exams that month (called leaving cert in ireland). I remember it being very cold for the time of yr. Snow on the scottish hills and some frosts. In the irish midlands the night temps got down to around -2c i think early in the month. Cold and wet with some days not getting above 11 or 12 degrees here.

[Weather-history]

The West Indies were playing against England at Headingley during that first half of June. It was a real shock for some of the West Indian players playing in temperatures of 10C to 11C on the opening two days in a blustery wind. England beat the West Indies in England for the first time since 1969.

Edited May 24, 2011 by Mr_Data

[EaasmanG]

Yes, that's one bad month. Here's what it was like in Birmingham near where I lived then.

http://www.tutiempo.net/en/Climate/Birmingham_Airport/06-1991/35340.htm

[Gavin P]

I never knew we had a drought that lasted that long. Just shows you learn something new everyday. I do remember some hot dry weather in the july of that summer.

Well, not every month from 1988 to 1992 was dry. There were some isolated wet months like April 1989 and June 1990 and as we're discussing June 1991, but overall November 1988 to June 1992 was an incredibly dry period with the majority of months coming in with below average rainfall.

Then from July 1992 to February 1995 we had a much wetter period with a lot of above average rainfall months.

April 1995 to April 1997 had another extended dry period, including the incredibly dry and hot summer of 1995.

May 1997 to December 2000 saw a very wet period, including the incredibly wet autumn of 2000.

It amazing how rainfall evens itself out. This actually has some relevence on the current situation, because since about October 2008 we've had a lot of drier than average months. As we can see these periods usually last 2-3 years, so we've probably not got much longer to go before we get a switch into a much wetter period.

Edited May 25, 2011 by Gavin P

[Terminal Moraine]

June 1991 wasn't all that wet here although rain did fall on a lot of days, 24 to be precise which is equal most on record for the month with 1998. I recorded 94.3 mm in 1991 but there have been many wetter Junes, including those of 1989 and 1990 both of which had over 100mm.

The most outstanding feature was how cold it was, the mean maximum here was just 13.3c and the highest max' was 18.7c on the 25th, the coldest June on record although 1971 ran it close. The lowest maximum was 8.6c on the 2nd and only 1971 and 1985 have produced colder days in June.

More please!

[Weather-history]

Well, not every month from 1988 to 1992 was dry. There were some isolated wet months like April 1989 and June 1990 and as we're discussing June 1991, but overall November 1988 to June 1992 was an incredibly dry period with the majority of months coming in with below average rainfall.

2nd wettest winter on record for England and Wales (1989-90) fell within that period.

[Gavin P]

I can't remember much about the 89/90 winter. The only thing that really stands out is the Burns Day storm.

[damianslaw]

I can't remember much about the 89/90 winter. The only thing that really stands out is the Burns Day storm.

Winter 89/90 saw a classic NW/SE split. Dec 89 was preety average temp wise with some snow in the north and fairly evenly spread rainfall, however, by the end of the month conditions changed and we then saw 2 very contrasting months for the NW and SE. The NW was enveloped by very mild moist southwesterlies for much of the remainder of the winter producing copious amounts of rain especially in W/NW Scotland. The SE however saw weak ridging of heights from the south influencing conditions any fronts from the atlantic quickly weakened producing little rain and there were few showers. The rest of the winter was thus very dry and very mild. Winter 88/89 was very similiar.

[Thundery wintry showers]

You might be confusing the two winters. Winter 1989/90 was wet everywhere, with an unusually vigorous jetstream during the second half of January and throughout February, bringing deep lows and active rainbelts with sunshine and squally showers in between. The NW-SE split you mention was characteristic of the winter of 1988/89 which had a persistent Bartlett High sat over Europe during January and the first half of February. December 1988 was also very mild, wet in the NW and dry in most other regions, but high pressure was centred a bit further west and brought generally cloudier weather than we saw in January and February 1989.

[damianslaw]

You might be confusing the two winters. Winter 1989/90 was wet everywhere, with an unusually vigorous jetstream during the second half of January and throughout February, bringing deep lows and active rainbelts with sunshine and squally showers in between. The NW-SE split you mention was characteristic of the winter of 1988/89 which had a persistent Bartlett High sat over Europe during January and the first half of February. December 1988 was also very mild, wet in the NW and dry in most other regions, but high pressure was centred a bit further west and brought generally cloudier weather than we saw in January and February 1989.

Yes your right I am getting mixed up between the two winters.

Spring 89 saw a continuation in the dry conditions apart from a blip during April, followed by a notably dry summer.

Back to June 91 - this month was unusual in its northerly/northeasterly airstream bias which helped to supress temps markedly. It was a more extreme version of the first half of June 95 but lasting much longer than that month.

As I said July and Augst 91 were quite good summer months with some good lengthy settled warm weather - though often forgotton given the two very good summers which occured previously but compared to 92 and 93 overall summer 91 was a good one despite the cool June.

[Weather-history]

As I said July and Augst 91 were quite good summer months with some good lengthy settled warm weather - though often forgotton given the two very good summers which occured previously but compared to 92 and 93 overall summer 91 was a good one despite the cool June.

Yes, July 1991 was warmer than July 1990 for the CET and August 1991 was drier than August 1990. Two pretty respectable summer months. July 1991 was warmer than any of the last 4 recent Julys and August 1991, warmer than the last 6 recent Augusts for the CET.

One thing to point out, we can't blame Mt Pinatubo for the poor June as the major eruption didn't happen until the middle of June and the summer markedly improved after the June. I know some people have in the past blamed this eruption on the poor June but the pattern had been set about middle April.

Edited May 27, 2011 by Mr_Data

[AderynCoch]

The beginning of September was also very warm.

I'd easily take a summer which sacrifices the early summer for a fine high summer over one which promises much in June only for July and August to be garbage *cough*2010*cough*.

[cheeky_monkey]

You might be confusing the two winters. Winter 1989/90 was wet everywhere, with an unusually vigorous jetstream during the second half of January and throughout February, bringing deep lows and active rainbelts with sunshine and squally showers in between.

not in essex it wasnt...janaury was windy but not wet february was dry and mild very mild at times..as i remember we didnt lose any football matches to the weather all winter that year and by the time we got to march pitches were bone dry and i was playing in astro boots!

[WhiteFox]

Talking of bad Junes, and this may have been covered in another topic by our resident archivist Mr Data (hats off to you sir), but I also recall a very dry period running from 1995 to 1997. Then June 1997 occurred which I remember as being exceptionally wet with flooding in places. I was living in Nottingham at the time having just started work on leaving university and every day seemed to bring downpours and heavy showers.

Edited February 2, 2012 by WhiteFox

[Thundery wintry showers]

In the Tyne and Wear area June 1997 started off in reasonably summery manner then descended into a washout. After a chilly easterly during the first two days, the 3rd-5th were mostly sunny and warm, and the 6th-10th were also generally bright and warm despite low pressure, with some sharp showers during the evenings plus thunder on the 7th. The average maximum temperature at Cleadon during the first 10 days of the month was 18.9C, while the long-term normal for the first third of June is nearer 16C. After that the weather became progressively more Atlantic-driven, and the average maximum temperature during the last third of the month was a mere 12.9C, with almost inceasant rain and biting north-easterly winds from the 25th June to the 1st July. Durham had an incredible 174.4mm of rain, most of which fell during the last week.

In the North East the month as a whole was duller and wetter than June 1991, though not as dull as June 1987. The warmth of the first third prevented it from being an unusually cold month, although the average maxima were lower than in any other June from 1992-2011.

[WhiteFox]

Thanks Ian. A classic case of the "June Monsoon" I think! Yes, I remember the endless wet days towards the end of the month; it never seemed to stop raining and it was pouring rain as well. Pretty impressive maxima there for that period as well.