Worst summer of the 1980s?

[Methuselah]

1 hour ago, Sunny76 said:

And these were sandwiched by the really cold winters of the 80s. 

Hot summers don’t always bode well if we want a cold snowy winter. 

August 93 and 2010 were other poor ones,  but 86 was possibly the worst ever. 17-20c summers are depressing. 

IMO, hot summers don't bode anything...just like cold winters don't bode anything?

[mushymanrob]

checking my work diary from aug 85 ..... actually it was quite dry. that was the august i spread sand on new football pitches and the sun dried it so it ran into the cracked ground.... it worked well (drainage) . thought that was aug 86, but no, twas 85.

whilst 85 wasnt good, by a long way, there was a drier period (if not warm) because the ground needed to dry out to crack, and i needed several dry sunny days to drag the sand around 9 football pitches.

the warmest day here was october 1st ! when we got 25c, and very high humidity.

[Snowyowl9]

Taking a look at 1986 summer it had more HP than LP.

This was hot.

 

Coldest night in one spot in powys at -2.5c  cold start to june well that was normal for june anyway with NWlys.

Didn`t look bad at all. August by far the coldest wettest month that summer and bank holiday the worst well that's bank holiday for you.

Edited August 13, 2018 by Snowyowl9

[cheeky_monkey]

4 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

I remember 85 having some hot weather in the London area for a while during July, especially the day Live Aid took place. 

The August was cold and dull for the most part though. I remember my summer holidays between 85-88. 

1985 was cool and cloudy, but 1986 appears to be the one which was really bad. June was hot, but August was dire.

I recall 1987 being hot and thundery at times. Maybe it’s the mid August hot spell that just seems to stand out in my mind.

25c in London for Live aid..warm but not hot.

[DAVID SNOW]

3 minutes ago, cheeky_monkey said:

25c in London for Live aid..warm but not hot.

Perhaps its my memory but I remember that day being hot,  80+ ?

[Methuselah]

6 minutes ago, DAVID SNOW said:

Perhaps its my memory but I remember that day being hot,  80+ ?

Was that the hot, sticky, sultry day that preceded a night of whopping thunderstorms, Dave?

[reef]

38 minutes ago, Snowyowl9 said:

Taking a look at 1986 summer it had more HP than LP.

This was hot.

Coldest night in one spot in powys at -2.5c cold start to june well that was normal for june anyway with NWlys.

Didn`t look bad at all. August by far the coldest wettest month that summer and bank holiday the worst well that's bank holiday for you.

I think summers like 2007 and 2012 were seen as so poor because they were so wet. The 1985-1988 summers were most notable for how cool they were, something which we would struggle to attain nowadays I imagine.

I suppose if 2007 and 2012 were 1C cooler on average then no-one would have noticed, they'd have been perceived as being just as poor. Likewise there are several 'good' summers from the past which wouldn't be much warmer than 2007 and 2012.

I guess that's the way of things. Similar weather as before, just with temperatures on average a degree or so higher.

Edited August 13, 2018 by reef

[Snowyowl9]

Re storms live aid looked like it looking at these charts.

Edited August 13, 2018 by Snowyowl9

[I remember Atlantic 252]

[Snowyowl9]

Yes remember mens final 1985 being a washout womens final was sunny though.

Those cold chilly Nlys and HP gave colder nights knocking the temps down more then.

More cloud during those 2007-2012 summers yes its warmed somewhat since the 80`s.urban warming also.

This was the severe thunderstorm I remember back on 1985 worked the day out after that live aid date.

 This looked the wettest day that summer.

 

 

[I remember Atlantic 252]

I don't but seen it on internet, was a wet Wimbledon

 

 

[DAVID SNOW]

1 hour ago, Ed Stone said:

Was that the hot, sticky, sultry day that preceded a night of whopping thunderstorms, Dave?

Not sure Pete we were travelling down to the kent  coast that day, and it felt hot and humid, after that , on arrival the booze took hold.

[Snowyowl9]

Summers during those shocking extreme wet summers 2007 to 2012 were in a different league to the worst of the 80`s.

[danm]

I was born in 1986 so don't really remember the 80s all that well. 

Looking back at the records, surely 1980 deserves more of a mention. Purely looking at temperatures it must have been one of the coolest summers of the 80s.

[Leo97t]

Has a 2007 vs 2012. Which was worst thread been made. If need we need one

[cheeky_monkey]

7 minutes ago, danm said:

I was born in 1986 so don't really remember the 80s all that well. 

Looking back at the records, surely 1980 deserves more of a mention. Purely looking at temperatures it must have been one of the coolest summers of the 80s.

yep was cool and dull but pretty dry..definitely the coldest summer i can ever remember

[Sunny76]

2012 was far worse than anything from the mid 80s. June and July 2012 were depressingly awful, and only August had a few warmish to hot days, but even August was mostly grey and cool.

Late May was the only decent hot spell of weather from 2012, that I can remember. 

2011 was also another depressing summer in recent times. 

[Weather-history]

Manchester Summer Indices

1980 173 1981 196 1982 203 1983 278 1984 271 
1985 180 1986 189 1987 169 1988 191 1989 262

[Relativistic]

Although monthly statistics don’t reflect it, people shouldn’t underestimate how cool some of the Summer months from recent years have been. June 2012, for example, was for the most part very cool, but a hotter spell at the end of the month was enough to drag the monthly figure from well below average to below average. The CET to the 24^th was just 12.7°C; had the weather not been as forgiving in the final few days then a sub-13°C finish (like 1985 and 1987, the two coolest of their decade) would have been likely, which would have put it in the top 30 coolest in 360 years of records. In terms of maxima, which is what many people’s subjective experiences of Summer temperatures are based on, June 2012 (17.4°C) really wasn’t that dissimilar to the Junes of 1985 and 1987 (16.5°C and 16.8°C, respectively).

July 2012 also suffered a similar fate when a short string of hot days at the end of the month skewed the monthly figures. For the most part, this month was also very cool, with sub-14°C CET daily means occurring frequently throughout.

Then the rainfall figures top the 1980s Summers quite convincingly. The Summer EWP figures for England & Wales place 2012 as the fourth wettest Summer in 252 years of records (375.0mm), while 2007 was the twelfth wettest (343.5mm). Summer 1985 was the wettest of the 1980s at 36^th wettest (293.0mm). In particular, the Junes of 2007 and 2012 can also respectively boast being the fourth wettest and outright wettest on record.

Onto another point, is record-breakingly cool weather still possible in the Summer months? The last record low CET daily mean that occurred in Summer was 25 years ago (10^th July 1993). Breaking daily records may be tough, but I believe exceptionally cool weather is still possible. July 2015 managed just that: owing to north-westerlies off a very cold north Atlantic, the mean CET for the final week was just 13.6°C (eight-coldest for this period out of 247 years). That was enough to drag that month down to slightly below average despite the exceptional heat at its beginning. With the potential for a very cold north Atlantic to persist in the years to come (due to a weakening AMOC), then perhaps spells like that of the end of July 2015 could become a little more common?

[AderynCoch]

51 minutes ago, Relativistic said:

Onto another point, is record-breakingly cool weather still possible in the Summer months? The last record low CET daily mean that occurred in Summer was 25 years ago (10^th July 1993). Breaking daily records may be tough, but I believe exceptionally cool weather is still possible. July 2015 managed just that: owing to north-westerlies off a very cold north Atlantic, the mean CET for the final week was just 13.6°C (eight-coldest for this period out of 247 years). That was enough to drag that month down to slightly below average despite the exceptional heat at its beginning. With the potential for a very cold north Atlantic to persist in the years to come (due to a weakening AMOC), then perhaps spells like that of the end of July 2015 could become a little more common?

Happened just this year in Belarus. Record low maxima at the beginning of July while Britain baked. A few places didn't get above 10C on the 1st.

[reef]

4 hours ago, Relativistic said:

Although monthly statistics don’t reflect it, people shouldn’t underestimate how cool some of the Summer months from recent years have been. June 2012, for example, was for the most part very cool, but a hotter spell at the end of the month was enough to drag the monthly figure from well below average to below average. The CET to the 24^th was just 12.7°C; had the weather not been as forgiving in the final few days then a sub-13°C finish (like 1985 and 1987, the two coolest of their decade) would have been likely, which would have put it in the top 30 coolest in 360 years of records. In terms of maxima, which is what many people’s subjective experiences of Summer temperatures are based on, June 2012 (17.4°C) really wasn’t that dissimilar to the Junes of 1985 and 1987 (16.5°C and 16.8°C, respectively).

July 2012 also suffered a similar fate when a short string of hot days at the end of the month skewed the monthly figures. For the most part, this month was also very cool, with sub-14°C CET daily means occurring frequently throughout.

Then the rainfall figures top the 1980s Summers quite convincingly. The Summer EWP figures for England & Wales place 2012 as the fourth wettest Summer in 252 years of records (375.0mm), while 2007 was the twelfth wettest (343.5mm). Summer 1985 was the wettest of the 1980s at 36^th wettest (293.0mm). In particular, the Junes of 2007 and 2012 can also respectively boast being the fourth wettest and outright wettest on record.

Onto another point, is record-breakingly cool weather still possible in the Summer months? The last record low CET daily mean that occurred in Summer was 25 years ago (10^th July 1993). Breaking daily records may be tough, but I believe exceptionally cool weather is still possible. July 2015 managed just that: owing to north-westerlies off a very cold north Atlantic, the mean CET for the final week was just 13.6°C (eight-coldest for this period out of 247 years). That was enough to drag that month down to slightly below average despite the exceptional heat at its beginning. With the potential for a very cold north Atlantic to persist in the years to come (due to a weakening AMOC), then perhaps spells like that of the end of July 2015 could become a little more common?

You can't really say they were just as cool "if you take out these few days". The point is, in the past there weren't as many "these such days". It doesn't change anything at the end of the day, they are still seen as rotten summers. However, the fact is that although they are cool by recent standards, they don't compare to past summers. Another fine example is the 1960s: seven summers of that decade were cooler than 2012 and only 6 out of 30 of the summer months were above 15.5C on CET. Wet or dry, that would surely have people up in arms these days!

[Weather-history]

38 minutes ago, reef said:

You can't really say they were just as cool "if you take out these few days". The point is, in the past there weren't as many "these such days". It doesn't change anything at the end of the day, they are still seen as rotten summers. However, the fact is that although they are cool by recent standards, they don't compare to past summers. Another fine example is the 1960s: seven summers of that decade were cooler than 2012 and only 6 out of 30 of the summer months were above 15.5C on CET. Wet or dry, that would surely have people up in arms these days!

Manchester Summer indices

1960 217 1961 203 1962 197 1963 194 1964 197 1965 189 1966 192 1967 223 1968 215 1969 234

Not as bad as you may think.

 

Edited August 14, 2018 by Weather-history

[Froze were the Days]

17 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

2012 was far worse than anything from the mid 80s. June and July 2012 were depressingly awful, and only August had a few warmish to hot days, but even August was mostly grey and cool.

Late May was the only decent hot spell of weather from 2012, that I can remember. 

2011 was also another depressing summer in recent times. 

rubbish!...1985, 86 and 88 (particularly one of the wettest July's of the 20th century) were all worse than 2012, make no mistake. Make's me wonder how old you are?

[Weather-history]

1 minute ago, Froze were the Days said:

rubbish!...1985, 86 and 88 (particularly one of the wettest July's of the 20th century) were all worse than 2012, make no mistake. Make's me wonder how old you are?

2012 is the worst summer I have experienced and I experienced those poor summers of 1985-88. 

[Froze were the Days]

Irlam - Manchester?...not here in the south east it wasn't, bad but some in the mid-80's here were worse.

Maybe it's a regional thing and people's memories of more recent events, Manchester probably has had many poor summers. 

Edited August 14, 2018 by Froze were the Days