Will this summer be similar to the poor ones of the 1980s?

[B87]

10 minutes ago, cheeky_monkey said:

i dont believe Aug 2006 was a poor month...yes it was cloudy, dry and relatively cool..but coming after a record breaking July it was a blessed relief..so in that respect it was just what the doctor ordered.

Avg highs were 1c below average here (or 6c cooler than the July), so it felt worse than had it followed an average July. It was frequently cloudy as well, only managing 140 hours. 

August 2010 and 2014 were both worse though (cooler and cloudier).

[MP-R]

The first half of August 2006 was actually mostly warm and dry in my location, and at least the first 10 days were pretty sunny. The snyoptics very much favoured the west before a switch to more Atlantic influenced weather in the second half of the month which kinda set the tone for September here - warm, thundery and quite humid. It just felt underwhelming in comparison to June and July but at face value wasn't too bad until later in the month by which time I'd gone on holiday anyway 

[B87]

August 2006 was normal for the first 9-10 days, then collapsed and never recovered. Looks like it was also wetter than usual.

http://www.meteociel.fr/climatologie/villes.php?code=3772&mois=8&annee=2006

[hillbilly]

7 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

All those summers were great, and I would gladly welcome any of those. 2013 was probably my favourite out of the 3, because the August was better, and it was the best August since 03.

 

1995 was one of those rare occasions, when the sun just seemed to shine for days and weeks on end. I just remember London being very sunny from mid June until about mid August, apart from a couple of dull days. And this followed a decent summer in 1994, which had a hot July. Most people forget 1994 though. 

August 2013 may have been dry but was mostly a cloudfest here.

Edited May 11, 2018 by hillbilly

[Sunny76]

Someone mentioned how summer 82 was on the cool side. Didn’t we get a decent August that year? 

Or was it just a slight improvement on 80 and 81. 

[B87]

22 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

Someone mentioned how summer 82 was on the cool side. Didn’t we get a decent August that year? 

Or was it just a slight improvement on 80 and 81. 

It was a poor month in London:

http://www.meteociel.fr/climatologie/villes.php?code=3772&mois=8&annee=1982

[Sunny76]

6 minutes ago, B87 said:

It was a poor month in London:

http://www.meteociel.fr/climatologie/villes.php?code=3772&mois=8&annee=1982

I’m mixing August up with June. I vaguely remember some hot weather during that summer. We spent the whole day in the park, then I came back to watch Planet of the Apes on LWT. 

Why I have memories of that, I will never know lol. 

[B87]

36 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

I’m mixing August up with June. I vaguely remember some hot weather during that summer. We spent the whole day in the park, then I came back to watch Planet of the Apes on LWT. 

Why I have memories of that, I will never know lol. 

June looked to be about 0.5c above average, but quite wet.

http://www.meteociel.fr/climatologie/villes.php?code=3772&mois=6&annee=1982

July that year was 1c below average, but a bit drier than normal.

http://www.meteociel.fr/climatologie/villes.php?code=3772&mois=7&annee=1982

Edited May 11, 2018 by B87

[cheeky_monkey]

10 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

And this followed a decent summer in 1994, which had a hot July. Most people forget 1994 though. 

Interestingly July 1995 and July 1994 were equally hot 1994 had a mean temp of 20.4c in London and 1995 was 20.5c  and both were hotter than July 1976

[Sunny76]

1 hour ago, cheeky_monkey said:

Interestingly July 1995 and July 1994 were equally hot 1994 had a mean temp of 20.4c in London and 1995 was 20.5c  and both were hotter than July 1976

I enjoyed summer 94, despite the fact that August ended up being a slight disappointment, after the hot second half of June and hot July. It was a very thundery summer. 

The June 24th storms were one of the most memorable for severity and longevity. They moved in around 8pm into the London area, and rumbled on into the night. 

[Ice Man 85]

To answer the question, no. Because I'm not that lucky.

[Weather-history]

20 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

All those summers were great, and I would gladly welcome any of those. 2013 was probably my favourite out of the 3, because the August was better, and it was the best August since 03.

 

1995 was one of those rare occasions, when the sun just seemed to shine for days and weeks on end. I just remember London being very sunny from mid June until about mid August, apart from a couple of dull days. And this followed a decent summer in 1994, which had a hot July. Most people forget 1994 though. 

Summer 1996 wasn't too bad. Summer 1995 was the pinnacle but the summer before and after were pretty decent overall. 

The summers of the 1990s were overall one of best decades for summer weather. Even the two poor summers of 1993 and 1998 were not as bad as 2007, 2008 and 2012. 

Most summers of the 1990s had at least one pretty decent month. 

[Sunny76]

46 minutes ago, Weather-history said:

Summer 1996 wasn't too bad. Summer 1995 was the pinnacle but the summer before and after were pretty decent overall. 

The summers of the 1990s were overall one of best decades for summer weather. Even the two poor summers of 1993 and 1998 were not as bad as 2007, 2008 and 2012. 

Most summers of the 1990s had at least one pretty decent month. 

Yes most of them did, even 1993 had a decent June spell, and some warm sunny days in August. I remember 93 being poor and 98 being the worst of the bunch. 91 took time to get going, but improved from mid July onwards.

92 started off well with a hot May and warm June, early July, and some hot periods in August, but things went downhill as summer progressed.

1990, 94 and 95 were the best, for longer spells of sunshine, with 99 and 96 not far behind. Didn’t rate 97, because it was always cloudy and wet at times.

[Thundery wintry showers]

The decent August you're recalling from the early 80s was most likely 1981.  There were some spectacular thunderstorms in parts of the country in the first week of that month, and then a fair amount of warm dry sunny weather (though not exceptionally so).

The first half of June 1995 was dominated by northerly and north-westerly winds and a prominent mid-Atlantic high, a pattern that had also been responsible for several cold snaps during the preceding spring.  I recall that the first nine days were predominantly cloudy and showery, although the 7th and 9th had a decent amount of sunshine in between.  Then the Arctic air got mixed out by stable Scandinavian air and the 10th-15th were cool, dry and cloudy for most.  After a brief westerly interlude the high then settled on top of Britain from the 21st onwards.  Lancaster had 84 hours of sunshine in the first 20 days and a staggering 148 hours in the last 10 days. 

Interestingly both 1976 and 1995 saw an anomalously high frequency of southerly winds in July, but not much of an anticyclonic bias, while August of both years was very anticyclonic.  1947 was another year with a very anticyclonic August following frequent southerlies in June and July, although the stats suggest that June and July 1947 were much cloudier and wetter than June/July 1976 and July 1995.

July 1994 was also unusually "southerly".  The summer of 1994 was also quite thundery in Tyneside with particularly big ones on 24 and 30 July and 3/4 August.

The summers of 1993 and 1998 both contained a marked north-south split month (June 1993, August 1998) with plenty of dry sunny weather for the south but cloudier weather further north.  I think summer 1993 has the better reputation mainly because August 1993, although notably cool, contained a couple of generally dry sunny anticyclonic spells, whereas June and July 1998, apart from a brief heatwave for some around the 20th of both months, saw the westerly/cyclonic regime interrupted by only brief transitional ridges of high pressure from the Azores.

 

Edited May 12, 2018 by Thundery wintry showers

[Roger J Smith]

On 09/05/2018 at 07:20, cheeky_monkey said:

what about summer prospects for Western Canada...BC and Alberta? a repeat of last year's hot dry summer or no?

Yes, would expect that sort of outcome, already quite hot here. Not sure if the pattern will be as favorable for Edmonton as would be expecting a frequent frontal boundary from eastern Alberta to North Dakota. Let's say trending more towards a normal outcome there, hot and dry in BC and Pacific northwest states. 

[hillbilly]

13 hours ago, Weather-history said:

Summer 1996 wasn't too bad. Summer 1995 was the pinnacle but the summer before and after were pretty decent overall. 

The summers of the 1990s were overall one of best decades for summer weather. Even the two poor summers of 1993 and 1998 were not as bad as 2007, 2008 and 2012. 

Most summers of the 1990s had at least one pretty decent month. 

Yes there really was little to complain about in the 1990s,no wonder at the time forcasters were talking of more 'Mediterranean' summers.1995 really was the best but 1990,1996 and 1997 were also very good,1992,1994 and 1999 were all better than average with 1991 and 1993 about average.Only 1998 was poor but had a reasonable August.Strange how weather has changed since then when we had more Drought conditions which are almost unheard of nowadays.Droughts of 1976,1984,1989,1990,1995 and 1996 I remember well but I don't believe we have had any drought in the last 20 years that compared to any of these.

[damianslaw]

Memories of 80's summers as a child are a little hazy, especially those pre 1984, indeed I can't recall them really, however, remember 1984 being a very good summer here at least, lots of dry very warm sunny weather and brown grass - have pictures to prove it.

The summers of 1985-1988 were very poor overall, only limited warm dry spells, of the 4 probably 1986 was the better one, but after a rather ok June it turned very cool especially in August. 1987 was preety dire overall, likewise 1988, the summer holiday period a washout - not good when you are 10 years old!

1989 however, was excellent, dry warm sunny weather from May through into September only limited wet periods. Proper heat at times especially in July. Its often forgotten and never mentioned in the same breath as 1975, 1976, 1995, 1990, 2003 or 2006 because no records for heat were broken, but it really is up there with them.

I'd be happy with a summer like 1984 or 1989 please, and if we returned a month like July 1983 that would be good as well. We are overdue a dry summer I feel, but the weather doesn't work like that. I've no real idea how it may pan out, but not expecting a washout at least.

[MP-R]

52 minutes ago, damianslaw said:

Memories of 80's summers as a child are a little hazy, especially those pre 1984, indeed I can't recall them really, however, remember 1984 being a very good summer here at least, lots of dry very warm sunny weather and brown grass - have pictures to prove it.

The summers of 1985-1988 were very poor overall, only limited warm dry spells, of the 4 probably 1986 was the better one, but after a rather ok June it turned very cool especially in August. 1987 was preety dire overall, likewise 1988, the summer holiday period a washout - not good when you are 10 years old!

1989 however, was excellent, dry warm sunny weather from May through into September only limited wet periods. Proper heat at times especially in July. Its often forgotten and never mentioned in the same breath as 1975, 1976, 1995, 1990, 2003 or 2006 because no records for heat were broken, but it really is up there with them.

I'd be happy with a summer like 1984 or 1989 please, and if we returned a month like July 1983 that would be good as well. We are overdue a dry summer I feel, but the weather doesn't work like that. I've no real idea how it may pan out, but not expecting a washout at least.

From your description of 1989, that sounds similar to July 2013 i.e. consistently very warm/hot but never outstandingly so? I'd take that, with a few thunderstorms and the odd cooler grey day for sure!

[Thundery wintry showers]

Yeah, 1989 is often a "forgotten summer" because it wasn't as outstanding as 1976 or 1995 for heat or drought, and ranked slightly behind them for June-August sunshine in most parts of the UK, but the May-August sunshine totals beat those of both 1976 and 1995 (from https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/pub/data/weather/uk/climate/datasets/Sunshine/ranked/UK.txt ).  I vaguely recall long runs of predominantly sunny days in South Shields, although I was only five years old at the time.  Taking the UK as a whole May 1989 was the sunniest May on record, July was the 4th sunniest July, and August was the 7th sunniest August, and June, while less exceptional, was still comfortably inside the top 20.

Edited May 13, 2018 by Thundery wintry showers

[Weather-history]

23 hours ago, Weather-history said:

Summer 1996 wasn't too bad. Summer 1995 was the pinnacle but the summer before and after were pretty decent overall. 

The summers of the 1990s were overall one of best decades for summer weather. Even the two poor summers of 1993 and 1998 were not as bad as 2007, 2008 and 2012. 

Most summers of the 1990s had at least one pretty decent month. 

Another thing, the summers of the 1990s were pretty good for plumes and home grown thunderstorms as well. Those of 1992 and 1994 have stuck in the memory. 

[B87]

August 1981 doesn't seem that great; temps slightly below average with well above average rainfall (due to thunderstorms in the first week).

http://www.meteociel.fr/climatologie/villes.php?code=3772&mois=8&annee=1981

Summer 1989 recorded almost as many 25c+ days as 1976 in London.

1976: 59 days, 1989: 55 days

[BruenSryan]

On 12/05/2018 at 20:07, hillbilly said:

Yes there really was little to complain about in the 1990s,no wonder at the time forcasters were talking of more 'Mediterranean' summers.1995 really was the best but 1990,1996 and 1997 were also very good,1992,1994 and 1999 were all better than average with 1991 and 1993 about average.Only 1998 was poor but had a reasonable August.Strange how weather has changed since then when we had more Drought conditions which are almost unheard of nowadays.Droughts of 1976,1984,1989,1990,1995 and 1996 I remember well but I don't believe we have had any drought in the last 20 years that compared to any of these.

Well there was the 2004-2006 and 2010-12 droughts though Summer being the exception of course in the latter. Unsure if people regarded 2016-17 as a drought but it sure was very dry.

Edited May 13, 2018 by BruenSryan

[cheeky_monkey]

On 12/05/2018 at 12:15, Roger J Smith said:

Yes, would expect that sort of outcome, already quite hot here. Not sure if the pattern will be as favorable for Edmonton as would be expecting a frequent frontal boundary from eastern Alberta to North Dakota. Let's say trending more towards a normal outcome there, hot and dry in BC and Pacific northwest states. 

thanks for the info..has been a warm start to May and could touch 30c tomorrow.