Summer 2001

[Philipsfd]

Summer '01 doesn't seem to be as often remembered as most of the ones around it. What are people's memories of this summer? From my vague memories, I seem to remember it being fairly similar to last year and perhaps 2005; roughly average temperatures, sunshine and rainfall, with occasional short hot spells every so often.

[AderynCoch]

I remember the heat and storms in early July (one of the best thunderstorms I've ever seen actually).

Other than that, meh.

[Carl46Wrexham]

The insane thunderstorms of July 3rd/4th. Lightning strikes in excess of 80 per minute.

[MP-R]

Here, the first half of June was pretty something or nothing. There was a widespread thundery day on June 15th, then the weather improved and the final third was often warm or very warm. It was hot in the final week.

A 1-2 day break was then followed by another heatwave which culminated in the said amazing storms of 03rd and, here, 04th July. This thundery spell continued until the 08th, then a lot of July was again rather naff until the warm, sunny spell in the final week, which also ended up hot here.

August was perhaps the most interesting month, frequently thundery, sometimes cool and sometimes very warm/hot and quite humid.

All in all, could've been a lot better but it's not among the worst. 2002 was worse.

[Philipsfd]

Better than 2000, or even the best since 1995? 

[Summer of 95]

I always put summer 2001 down as the definition of the word "average". It had a few heat waves of 3-4 days, a couple of thunderstorms, some nasty cold wet weather and plenty of "average" stuff- maxes of 20-22C with sunny spells. 

Compared to 2005 the good spells were not as good (didn't last so long) but the bad spells not as bad (that appalling end of July 2005 had no parallel in 2001). 2001 was better than any summer between 2007-2012, not quite as good as 2013 or 2014, better than 2015, about equal to (but different from) 2016. 

It was probably the most "typical" British summer here of the last 25-30 years. 3 fine days and a thunderstorm, sun, rain, hot, cool. Not a 1995 but not a 2007-2012 either. 

[Weather-history]

Manchester Summer Index of 211

Better than recent summers (2007 onwards) apart from 2013 and 2014 but nothing that special.

Nothing really stands out for me about this summer.

[Philipsfd]

About the 2007-12 spell, was 2009 really a bad summer? I know it was a bit of a washout in the statistics but didn't most of the rain come in the second half of July?

 

I remember the first half of July and most of June being fairly decent and whilst August wasn't brilliant, it was sunnier than 2008 (and 2010?) and warmer than both 07 and 08.

[cheese]

2009 and 2010 weren't too bad temperature-wise. 2010 was quite dry here from what I recall. Quite cloudy though.

[damianslaw]

Summer 2001 - mmm struggling to remember much about it, I don't recall it being all that bad - otherwise I would remember it, nor did it bring anything especially notable summer heat wise. I think it brought shortlived decent conditions at times, but it was very episodic. It wasn't as bad as 2000 or 2002 which brought persistant wet dull grey non-descript weather with little in the way of warmth. Certainly very average though. Overall though 2001 was one of the more varied years of the 00's, I think it was the coldest year of the decade with lengthy dry periods, the first 5 months brought quite a bit of easterly weather, September 2001 was preety chilly, but October 2001 was very mild. Nov brought an early arctic blast, and Dec 2001 brought alot of cold frosty and at times snowy weather. Certainly not a year dominated by the atlantic which most of the 00's was (summer 2003/ and much of 2005/2006 excepted).

 

 

[MP-R]

Indeed, summer 2001 had pulses of heat rather than notably long spells.

24th-26th June

02nd-05th July

26th-30th July

14th-15th August

24th-25th August

Equally, though, there were notably cool days in June and July, as well as minima in mid July. August also had one or two shockers.

[hillbilly]

Pretty average for that time but would be put in a good bracket compared to recent summer's.september however I do remember as being very good 

[MP-R]

11 hours ago, hillbilly said:

Pretty average for that time but would be put in a good bracket compared to recent summer's.september however I do remember as being very good 

You could be thinking of 2002, which was very dry and largely settled. 2001 was very northwesterly so cool and often cloudy, the second half being quite wet at times.

[hillbilly]

On ‎01‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 10:47, MP-R said:

You could be thinking of 2002, which was very dry and largely settled. 2001 was very northwesterly so cool and often cloudy, the second half being quite wet at times.

It was definitely a good September here in 2001,maybe a lot different to somerset,i remember working on a big roofing job for much of the month and the news of 9/11 attacks happening.

 

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Fantastic summer, some of my favourite is music from that year, spent most days listening to the 'new' Atlantic 252

[MP-R]

1 hour ago, hillbilly said:

It was definitely a good September here in 2001,maybe a lot different to somerset,i remember working on a big roofing job for much of the month and the news of 9/11 attacks happening.

 

It was probably worse up there as the southwest is most sheltered from northwesterly winds. That's not to say there weren't better days, which are often better remembered. Indeed I do remember a few days near the end of the month turning noticeably warmer, a precursor to the warm October that followed.

[danm]

Average with some short lived hot spells best describes it. 

(All temp readings taken from Heathrow)

In London we had a short hot spell in late June:

24th 27.4c

25th 29.1c

26th 32c

27th 25.1c

 

July was quite good actually looking back at the records. 

It started off quite hot: 

1st 26.2c

2nd 27.1c

3rd 29.5c   

4th 29.2c

5th 30.5c

6th 26.2c

The middle of the month was average, but then there was a decent warm/hot spell in the final third of July:

23rd 25.3c    

24th 23.2c  

25th 26.3c

26th 28.7c 

27th 29.3c  

28th 31.6c  

29th 31.9c  

30th 28.9c  

31st 26.6c

August had a couple of short hot spells as well:   

13th 26.3c

14th 27.4c

15th 30c

 

22nd 25.8c

23rd 24.1c 

24th 28.4c  

25th 31.5c   

 

Edited July 12, 2017 by danm

[1990sWereBest.]

As I remember 2001 began with a very wet start but June was quite hot especially around 21st. A half marathon race in Torbay was described as microwave conditions. July remained warm but it got cooler and wetter in August so much that  it felt like Autumn had come early. During most of the 2000s August was a cooler fresher wet autumnal like month. 

[LetItSnow!]

An extremely episodic summer, perhaps best typified as a bog standard UK summer.

June 2001 typifies the whole summer really. Generally unsettled and very cool until the 18th, then hot and thundery.

The first half of June 2001 had an average C.E.T. of just 12.1. Winds often came from the north.

Wintry showers fell across the Scottish Highlands on the 6th. The 9th saw unseasonal air frosts in places. At Stratfield Mortimer, the minimum of -0.1C was the first June air frost in the area for at least 30 years. In Faversham (Kent) it was reported that runner beans on one allotment had been turned black by frost, while in other parts of SE England potatoes were similarly affected. Around Kyle in Sutherland the day dawned with a good covering of snow down to about 600m and a minimum temperature of 1.8C.

The middle part of June 2001 became very unsettled with some 2007-style charts. This period was very wet across the southeast.

High pressure built in on the 18th and the rest of the month became much warmer. By the 24th it started to turn very hot. The 26th was one of the hottest June days in many years - 32.1degC was the highest reading in Maidenhead since August 1995. The heat peaked at 33degC in Barbourne. With the heat came exceptional thunderstorms. Storms in Kent produced hail about 20mm diameter at about midnight (but also chunks of ice up to 40mm x 10mm diameter) in South Darenth (I probably experienced this storm, living in that area as a baby. Obviously no memories!).

July 2001 strikes me as an unusual month in terms of temperature variability. For example:

The first 7 days of July averaged a sweltering 20.3 - then the 8th to the 24th averaged a very cool 14.8. The heat returned thereafter and the remainder of the month averaged a steamy 19.8. Overall it averaged 17.1.

Early July was typified with hot days and sweltering nights. Local stations recorded some of their hottest ever minimum temperatures on the 3rd. Thunderstorms on the 4th at Uplyme gave 37mm of rain between 1:30AM and 7AM. At Pembroke Dock the rainfall in 24 hours ending 0600GMT amounted to 74.1mm, of which 55mm fell in three. In Aberystwyth thunder endind shortly after 1200BST, after about 20 hours of thundery activity. Following heavy rain in Cardiff every major road into the city centre was flooded, with traffic at a complete standstill. Roads going under bridges were under 2-5 feet of water, and cars were stranded with water at windscreen level. Thunderstorms around Portsmouth during late morning resulted in flooding around Chichester. A man needed hospital treatment after his house was hit by lightning in south Wales and a church may have to be demolished after lightning started a fire in the building's roof near Portsmouth. 45k people in mid and south Wales and 20k in SW England were without power. In Wales pensioners had to be evacuated after water poured into their homes in Llandudno and there was widespread damage to roads and property around Colwyn Bay and the Conwy Valley.

As stated, mid-July was much cooler. After recording one of the hottest nights on the 3rd, the 16th was one of the coldest July nights in over 25 years. There were some unusually low minima midmonth, with +0.3C recorded at Sennybridge (Powys) on the morning of the 16th, and 3C widespread across the Midlands. Heavy rainfall totals included 68mm at Dudley in 24 hours ending 0900h (the heaviest daily total since records started in 1968), 86.3mm at Keyworth in 18 hours ending 0900GMT (96.3mm fell in a 24-hour period), 78mm at Pennerley, 74.8mm at Shepshed, 56.7mm at Clunbury, 46.5mm at Timberhonger. 33mm at Epping was the wettest July day since at least 1979. In the Keyworth area serious local flooding resulted with water forcing it's way up through drains and tarmac. Roads that have never flooded before were underwater and several schools were closed. Worst hit for flooding were the villages in the Vale of Belvoir westwards to S Nottinghamshire and N Leicestershire. There was also severe flooding in the Cromer - Sheringham area; every track and road had been turned into a river, the water was flowing across the fields from the hills behind Cromer and through the main car park and into Cromer High Street where it entered several shops.

The heat returned by months end with 31.9degC at Heathrow on the 29th. A similar month to June but in opposite order.

August 2001 was generally more mixed throughout. A humid opening day gave way to a generally unsettled first-half to August. A rapid temperature rise sparked off a brief intense thunderstorm in Falmouth at around 10:15am on the 2nd, giving torrential rain; the intense rain only lasted around 10 minutes, but in that time the town centre shops were flooded to a depth of 2-3 feet. The 9th was a notably stormy day; two people were hurt and caravans damaged after a small tornado hit the Kingfisher Caravan Park (Stokes Bay, Gosport) just after 9am. Three tornadoes were also reported later in the day from Slough. Waterspouts were also reported off the coast of Southwold (Suffolk). A small tornado was also reported near Dunstable. In London, three Underground stations were closed due to flooding. At Benson 30mm fell in six hours (the monthly mean is 55mm). In Portsmouth part of a shopping complex was closed due to floods. Another spell of very humid, hot weather on the 15th with 32degC in Wainfleet. Parts of eastern England had dewpoints of over 20degC. A brief cooler interlude before the heat returns on the 25th with 32degC again in London.

 

Overall  a very changeable summer, but each month managed to record at least 32degC - and July and August did over two spells. Not a certified classic but definitely ahead of 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

   

 

[Sunny76]

Nothing special, but I remember the May being nice and sunny and warm. Clear blue sky days were plenty.

June to August was mostly dull. Remember there being a few weeks of hot sunny weather, but for some reason nothing stands out.

This was the summer which followed by 2 years in Toronto, so for me, it was a disappointment. 

[cheeky_monkey]

summer 2001 was decent for me..it was my last summer living in a cottage with small acreage before moving to a brand new house ..also it was my oldest Sons 4th Birthday on 24th August..remember buying him his first bike for his birthday and it being a lovely warm sunny day as he trekked around the garden..jeez he will be 25 years old this August..where has the time gone ?!?

[Don]

Summer 2001 would be nothing special these days but would have been seen as being decent in the past.

[MP-R]

2 minutes ago, Don said:

Summer 2001 would be nothing special these days but would have been seen as being decent in the past.

Wasn’t anything special at the time either lol.

[Don]

1 minute ago, MP-R said:

Wasn’t anything special at the time either lol.

Nah, but it would have been in the 1960's for example when our climate was better cooler!

[MP-R]

5 minutes ago, Don said:

Nah, but it would have been in the 1960's for example when our climate was better cooler!

I think just about every summer would seem good compared to the 60s...