Favourite and least favourite years of the 1980s?

[Sunny76]

Favourites :

1987

January snowfall and bitter cold. Snowed for over a week in London.

April was one of the sunniest for some time, and it was very warm during Easter.

August 22/23 thunderstorms. Severe storms broke out all over the south and south east regions, and other parts of England. This followed a week of hot weather. It was very humid during this time.

October hurricane. This was probably the most destructive storm I’ve ever witnessed in the southeast of England. We lost power during the night, and the winds were pretty fierce. 

I wonder if some flights were grounded that evening, due to the strong winds?

1981

Was very young this year,  but I do remember the August 5/6th storms, which caused pitch black darkness at midday in London. Think it was a Thursday or Friday. Weirdest weather event I’ve seen.

Christmas snow in 1981. The December was very cold, going by the stats. 

Summer of 1983. The heat of July and August was the best. 

Summer of 84(similar to 83)

1989

May to August was sunny and hot, with plenty of thunderstorms, and some cooler rainy interludes. But, the hot and warm spells were plentiful. 

Least favourite :

1988

This year seemed to herald a change in our climate, with milder winters, and the summer was very unsettled. I don’t remember anything exciting about it.

1986

Terrible summer. Just remember a warmish spell in June, but apart from that, my only memories of this year is cold and cloudy weather.

[Leo97t]

Worst 1988 by a mile and best probably 1981 or 1983

[Snowyowl9]

I`ve down a best months for this already,but not year,just work than one out from that.

January 1982/84/85/87

February 1985/86

March 1987

April 1981/1986/1989

May 1982/1989

June 1980/81/82 best spell of thunderstorms.

July 1989

August 1985 dangerous thunderstorm.

September 1986

November 1985/88

December 1981

Summer of 1989 did produce some amazing thunderstorms if I remember but can`t pin down when exactly it was.

[BruenSryan]

Wasn't alive but statistically wise, 1988 seems very boring and forgettable. All that seemed "nice" about it was a chilly, sunny and frosty November but other than that, cool and unsettled Summer, mild Winters and becoming exceptionally so in 1988-89. 1980 doesn't seem particularly amazing either especially for how dull the Summer was.

Edited August 18, 2018 by BruenSryan

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Suppose has to be Sept '89, although May 2000 was when I came across it

[Mapantz]

June 1983 as a fav for me. Supercell thunderstorm hit here, dropping golf ball sized hail.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I was only alive for half the 1980s and the only weather memory that I can trace to a specific year was the long spell of sunny weather in 1989.  For the South Tyneside area however I think the odds are that winter 1981/82, spring 1982 and summer 1989 would have come out tops at a seasonal level, and that January 1984 would have been my favourite January.   For its combination of raging westerlies and frequent snow that month appears to have been without parallel in the 20th century.

1988 certainly looks like it was a mostly boring year but I might well have enjoyed the February (high sunshine total, contrasting weather types albeit not much temperature variation) and the November (cold & bright, snowy spell around the 20th).  Can't identify a standout likely favourite year for the 1980s, as for instance summer and autumn 1982 and January & December 1989 look somewhat uninspiring.  1984 is another candidate (January as already mentioned, and a good April and summer) but that year had a very dull cold March with not much snow, and a rather dull wet mild autumn.

[==MeteoMan==]

I was dead until 1987 but from the statistics and information I've seen, 1983 was an excellent year with a warm summer and a lot of thunderstorms by UK standards. 

Looking at the stats for the worst; I'd go with 1986 because it had a never ending winter and lame summer. 1988 is a close second worse with a slightly worse summer.

[Weather-history]

Can only go from second half of 1984 onwards but I go for 1985

Winter, mid March snowfalls, late April snowfalls, mid May night thunderstorm, late May-early June sunshine, late July thunderstorms, September and October weren't too bad, cold November with the snow near the end, post Christmas cold spell. 

Least favourite? 1988

[Walsall Wood Snow]

Once again I'm someone who wasn't born until 1985 and can't recall much of anything before around 1988 and even then nothing really weather related. So I have to base this on the statistics.

As a snow and cold lover though I guess the years 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987 could all be contenders but especially 81, 82, 85 and 87 I think. 

On the other hand if I was to choose any year with the most overall variety though, 1984 could possibly win it, although 1985 would have been more snowy in Jan and Feb and also featured a very cold November so it would probably be a choice between one or the other. 

I might even go for 1981 as that featured like 2010 a very cold and snowy December, but unlike that year extended past the New Year.

Point is I think I would find it difficult to choose a specific year from the 80s as a favourite for weather as there seems to be quite a few good ones.

As a worst year though I don't think I would like 1988  as it contained the end and beginning of two mild Winters and had a cool Summer, not that I would have taken any notice back then, but now after experiencing the likes of 2014 and 2015 as an adult I would certainly find it pretty uninspiring. At least 1989 say had a good Summer. 1980 doesn't look great either but it seemed to have a fairly cold January (though I don't know if it was particularly snowy) so it can't have been as bad as 1988.

[hillbilly]

Best for me is 1984

A violent storm on Friday 13th January which blew away one of our farm buildings

huge snow and drifts at the end of Jan and into feb

an exceptionally dry April

a long hot summer with a severe drought only beaten since by 1995

 

The worst being 1988 A mild wet winter and poor summer,enough said.

 

For you coldies out there little beats 1986

February the coldest of any month since 1963

The coldest april since 1917

The coldest August for over 60 years

The coldest September for over 60 years

Other notables

1981  The craziest weather event in my life,the huge blizzard in the last week of April and the severe December ,colder than 2010 with huge drifts.

1989 I was lucky to witness the 'Halifax storm'[the uks record 2 hour rainfall] and a glorious long hot summer

 

 

 

[Sunny76]

5 minutes ago, hillbilly said:

Best for me is 1984

A violent storm on Friday 13th January which blew away one of our farm buildings

huge snow and drifts at the end of Jan and into feb

an exceptionally dry April

a long hot summer with a severe drought only beaten since by 1995

 

The worst being 1988 A mild wet winter and poor summer,enough said.

 

For you coldies out there little beats 1986

February the coldest of any month since 1963

The coldest april since 1917

The coldest August for over 60 years

The coldest September for over 60 years

Other notables

1981  The craziest weather event in my life,the huge blizzard in the last week of April and the severe December ,colder than 2010 with huge drifts.

1989 I was lucky to witness the 'Halifax storm'[the uks record 2 hour rainfall] and a glorious long hot summer

 

 

 

Did it snow in London during 1984?

I only remember 1982, 85.86, and 87 for snowy spells in the London region.

[Froze were the Days]

Probably Best, 1987 - Extensive bitter cold and heavy drifting snow, Hurricane in October (89 mph registered here).

Worst, maybe 1988, can't remember a lot happening other than the deluge July and a brief bit of snow around mid-month of November. 1989 not much better but at least the summer was fairly good.

Feb 1983 had some snow in London (an inch or so), and most of Xmas holidays 1981 in the south east only had patchy snow on the ground and became foggy for a while, only parts of Kent and East Sussex had any substantial snow remaining (in the south east) from a fall around 21st or so if I remember rightly.

 

Edited August 19, 2018 by Froze were the Days

[hillbilly]

1 hour ago, Sunny76 said:

Did it snow in London during 1984?

I only remember 1982, 85.86, and 87 for snowy spells in the London region.

Yes it snowed in London but did not stick around long, nothing like it did here in the pennines.

[Sunny76]

28 minutes ago, hillbilly said:

Yes it snowed in London but did not stick around long, nothing like it did here in the pennines.

Sounds like snow fell in many years in London during 1979-1987.

Saying that, I recall snow having fallen in most winters between 2008-2013.

I recorded thick snow on the ground in February 2009, December 2010, and lighter dustings in January 2010, February 2012, and January 2013.

Just goes to show how often snow fell towards the late 2000s and early 2010s. 

And until this year, we had quite a gap. Sorry to digress, but it does seem that snow comes and goes in cycles.

[damianslaw]

Too young to remember the first half of the decade, other than the very good summer of 1984. Strong memories of 1987, 1988 and 1989, the latter was excellent for sunshine and warm weather.

Statistically 1981 delivered significant variety. However, no year stands out particularly, if you like a cold winter, warming Spring,warm dry sunny summer and stormy autumn with a bit of everything followed by a cold December. 1981 probably the closest.

1986 was cold and cloudy throughout.

[cheeky_monkey]

i'm old enough to remember the 1980s...Dec 81 was great had a few snow days from school..summer 1983 was amazing esp July..Feb 86 was cold from start to finish without a break its the closet UK winter month i have experienced that mirrors a winter month in Canada..that cold spell in Jan 87 was remarkable..and finally the hot Thundery summer that was 1989.

[Badgers01]

July 89 for the amazing high summer weather the first decent In 5 odd years was great.

February 88 was a mild and dull snooze fest ...

[Sunny76]

Christmas Day 1987 was another strange one. I remember it feeling quite warm and sunny on that day, and this was the first winter in my childhood, as being mild.

I know there were mild winters before that, but for some reason winter 87-88 stays in my memory for being mild.