Overview of 2019 - thoughts and musings

[damianslaw]

As we near the end of 2019, please use this thread to post your thoughts, musings, stats about the weather this year.

2019 for me will leave little or no lasting impression, as I type this, I can't think of one event or spell of memorable weather- it has been a very benign year overall here at least. I know for some there has been recent very bad flooding so perspectives will be different.

In summary:

Jan - Mar 2019 non-descript blandness, often wet, far too mild for my liking, a little dose of snow end of Jan into Feb.

April- May 2019 - mixed weather some decent spring conditions at times, May notably cool at times though. Easter and May Bank holidays were very good mind.

Summer 2019 - quite a frustrating one, promised to be a very good one, ended up rather average, not bad, but no exceptional heat, though the occasional heat plume made it interesting at times. Yet again no thunder! - where has it gone!

Autumn 2019 - Overall the best season of the year, trended colder, some decent early frosts late October and November, but again very quiet with no storms. Often wet though.

December 2019 - started off very well, a snowfall last Sunday, a fairly decent first half, second half looking to be an exceptionally cloudy mild rather mild affair though - following on from the theme of the year:

A bland affair.

Hoping 2020 heralds more exciting weather at times.

[SqueakheartLW]

2019 overall mixed and average but with some notable extremes at times even if they were short lived in most cases

January 2019 mixed with mild and dry the main theme but some marginal snow events in the second half of the month

February 2019 made the headlines for that very warm period where we broke the all time daytime maximum record for the month

March and April 2019 were a bit more average and unsettled at times but also some warm settled periods in April. These were probably the least memorable months of the year

May 2019 was when the main pattern change came and this is what started off the more unsettled weather we have had really since then. May was cool and wet at times with a lot of northern blocking. If only that had happened in the winter.

June 2019 was cool and wet as well and some exceptional rainfall was recorded in Lincolnshire especially not far from where I live in fact and the start of the flooding too. We did get one quite hot day near the end of the month that could have broken records if we had the right wind direction on the day.

July 2019 was generally average and mixed but contained the other very memorable heat day of the year after February when late in the month we broke the all time daytime maximum record in the UK. I also experienced some thunderstorms in the same week that temperature record fell.

August 2019 was like July and also ended the month with another short lived hot spell which produced the best thunderstorms of the year for me.

September 2019 started out dry and right up to around the equinox barely a drop of rain had fallen in North Lincolnshire and it was a relief after the wet weather of the summer but the last 10 days of September the deluge was unleashed and despite the 2/3 dry part of the month September somehow finished up wetter than average for me.

October and November 2019 dominated by the deluges which have turned everywhere into flooded and boggy almost marsh like conditions. I don't think I've seen so much rain in such a short time period as these two months.

December 2019. Although not quite as wet so far as October and November the damage is already done and any rain event now is just swelling up the large puddles near where I live but thankfully I'm not in a flood prone area at least.

Hope January to March 2020 can be memorable for another reason, cold and snow. We shall see ...

[damianslaw]

Oh forgot about the unusual warmth of Feb 2019, yes stand corrected this was a memorable spell. Post above - right there were a few one-two day warm wonders,but it is spells of weather, periods that last longer in the memory, rather than just brief shots.

[Weather-history]

One thing that stood out for me this year and it has been the lack of gales. I am struggling to remember a forecast that said "gale to severe gales" for the NW of England this year. To me, it doesn't feel like it has been a windy year. 

Edited December 21, 2019 by Weather-history

[Kirkcaldy Weather]

A year I will remember for being the most thundery year / summer I have experienced with thunder at some point during April, May, June, July & August including the most intense rainfall I have witnessed and plenty of flooding. Also to see the +20 C 850's nearly reaching here was something exceptional 

[SqueakheartLW]

6 hours ago, Weather-history said:

One thing that stood out for me this year and it has been the lack of gales. I am struggling to remember a forecast that said "gale to severe gales" for the NW of England this year. To me, it doesn't feel like it has been a windy year. 

I'm surprised how long it took into the storm season before we got our first named storm system, Storm Atiyah on 9th December and that was named by the Irish met office, not the UK met office. If we didn't take them naming the storms then we'd still be on 0 named storms for this season.

[Met.]

January - typical cold/grey/boring rubbish, nothing of note.

February - a lovely month, especially in the second half. Lovely springlike weather

March - Dreadful stormy/wet first half, second half was OK though

April - First half sucked second half OK

May - Non-descript with no interesting temperatures, and even some very cold wet days.

June - complete rubbish except a couple of days in the second half.

July - A typical average month for temps but very wet due to numerous downpours in the second half. Record broke but otherwise nothing interesting.

August - Not much happened.

September - OK til the last third then it didn't stop raining.

October - Very cold, and rained constantly, 2.5 times the normal rainfall

November - Wettest on record here with 3 times the normal rainfall. Very cold as well. Never stopped raining. Horrific beyond words.

December - average so far.

Overall it looked like it could have been a dryish year til all those summer downpours and then of course that horrifically wet autumn which was in fact the wettest on record locally. There was no snow at all in any winter month. I'd say the bad outweighed the good. I won't remember it with much interest.

[CheesepuffScott]

Jan: Not too exciting, a few chilly, but grey days thanks to the anticyclone (was it?) at the start of the month... snow event at the end of the month.

Feb: Quite interesting with snow and cold to begin the month, turned exceptionally mild in the final 3rd. Sunny days with clear nights. Here from the 23rd to 27th I recorded maxes of... 15.2°C / 14.8°C / 16.8°C / 16.6°C / 18.3°C. I can remember it feeling pleasantly warm even in a tshirt

Mar: Boring, certainly not as eventful as 2018. Some warm sunny days at the end though.

Apr: Warmer and more settled than March, a warm spell around Easter with 26.4°C on the 20th. Similarly timed to the April 2018 spell.

May: Some chilly nights at the start, apart from that nothing to write home about. 

Jun: Warm start but wetter and much cooler for most of the month thereafter, didn’t reach 20°C until the 17th after the 3rd.. the final 10 days were nice, warm and settled with a hot Armed Forces Day. Glasto was lovely too. Good model watching believing we’d get the record but that pesky NE’ly surface flow spoilt it!

Jul: Certainly better than June, only 2 days didn’t reach 20°C here. 34.4°C on the 25th... and all time UK record set

Aug: Better than some recent Augusts. Pleasant enough, generally in the low 20s. Another hot spell around the last week with 31.5°C on the 25th.

Sept: Wasn’t bad with some warm, sunny days but all change before month closed out.. wetter

Oct: Wet, no notable cold nights.

Nov: Handful of frosts and cold days / nights but wet...

Dec: Been an absolute deluge although it’s felt sunnier than average

[Kirkcaldy Weather]

 

[cheeky_monkey]

here it was the coldest year since 1996 which was one of the coldest years of the 20th C

apart from January every month came in below average.

February was the coldest since 1939 and the third coldest on record

Spring was cool with one hot spell in the last week of May where we hit 30c for the only time this year.

Summer was cool, cloudy and wet highest temp was 29c in August..rarely did it get above 25c 

Autumn followed on in the same pattern of cool and cloudy..and got down to below -30c on my birthday (Nov 12)

For one of the sunniest cities in Canada its been a remarkably dull year

[ArHu3]

I will remember 2019 as the year of the hottest day ever in the Netherlands, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees in my neighborhood. I don't remember any other memorable event but those 40 degrees were damn hot

[BruenSryan]

January - Very boring. Second half was at least seasonable but it was not an exciting month at all with mainly dull conditions especially early on.

February - Fantastic. Not much more to say.

March - Actually enjoyed as there was good sunny intervals in between wet periods and the last two weeks were also very anticyclonic with fair amount of bright weather.

April - Excellent Easter period but otherwise meh.

May - Meh, too dull here and felt very cool.

June - Atrocious. First half of June was one of my least favourite summer periods I've experienced, wet and at times very cool. Even the second half was largely disappointing here, had to wait until the 28th to get my first 20C.

July - Alright. Decent for warm weather but lacked the sunshine generally.

August - Best August in a while with sunny conditions scattered throughout the month and rather warm though mid-month was disappointing. Torrential rain on the 9th too. The wait for a "classic" August goes on.

September - First half was dry and boring but 13th-20th offered plentiful fine weather and my favourite period all year. Last week or so though became rubbish.

October - Generally quite good here compared to most with average rainfall and good sunny days. Temperatures nothing spectacular.

November - One of the worst months I've seen. Lots of inclement weather with it being one of the wettest Novembers on record here and cold too but just too mild to snow.

December - Overall pretty meh. First few days awesome with amazing sunrises/sunsets and at times seasonable including the great Xmas Day. 

 

2019 overall a year I will not be returning to on the time machine very soon, contrast to 2018. Hopefully 2020 is more exciting.

Edited December 26, 2019 by BruenSryan

[Azazel]

January to March - we had that significant snowfall down here at the beginning of February which was nice to see though it meant getting to my dad in hospital was a pain. End of February we had those record breaking temperatures which was a beautiful early taste of spring. I don’t really remember much of March.

April we had a lovely spell coinciding with the bank holiday weekend where I was away for a stag do in Cardiff so that was nice. Also had a clap of thunder on one day.

May - non descript

June - one of the worst summer months I can remember, saved only partially by the last few days. I remember it absolutely pouring and being 8 degrees which blows my mind quite honestly.

July was good and as is often the case, appears to be our most reliable window of decent weather in this country. We had the record breaking heat which working in a non-air conditioned tin can office was too much for me. We also had the mega storm which was truly epic in my location.

August wasn’t bad actually - much better than recent years with another hot spell coinciding with the bank holiday weekend. We got really lucky with those this year it seems.

September had a lovely warm spell which coincided with my week off. Beautiful late summer weather.

Absolute horror show ever since.

[ManiaMuse]

From what I remember without looking anything up:

January - Pretty benign

February - Had that unseasonably hot spell which wa

March - Had that heavy snow event in Manchester which caused chaos during rush hour

April/May - Cool-ish, no early summer

June - Average, we've had worse in recent years.

July - Had the heatwave for a couple of days which was swiftly followed by the awful rains at the end of the month which carried on

August - Was this good or poor? Certainly wasn't hot and there was more torrential rain causing problems.

September - No Indian summer, rain eased off a bit at first but came back at end of the month

October/November - Didn't stop raining

December - Average, wet at first but no notable windstorms and improved towards the end

I think 2019 is notable for the lack of classic windstorms, instead replaced by low pressure systems coming from odd angles which just sat in one place causing terrible flooding.

[stainesbloke]

Here in Prague:

January-March: some colder weather with one large snowfall that caused a few dramas in a usually well prepared country, as it was very heavy and occurred early in the morning. Some smaller snowfalls but overall, often not that cold and felt warmer than average with snowfall melting quite quickly. Plenty of gales too, several caused extensive damage to infrastructure, which I was not expecting in Central Europe. A lot of Atlantic weather.

April-May: Much of April was cool and nondescript. May was a very wet month and often cold, not much sunshine, either.

June: As if a switch was pushed, the weather suddenly changed on the 1st to heat and sunshine and it continued on in that vein for most of the month. Some way above average temperatures recorded with quite a few thunderstorms and thundery showers sparked off by the heat.

July: Much cooler and cloudier in the first two weeks then the heat returned with more sunshine and also thunderstorms. Some record breaking heat late month, 39°C in Prague.

August: Mainly hot and sunny but with thunderstorms and some showers. 

September: A fair amount of above average warmth and sunshine and more thunderstorms. Cooler later with some rainfall. 

October: A more traditional month with a mixture of weather types, some good rainfalls. 
 
November-December: first frost recorded in November. Periods of quiet weather and many very foggy nights/mornings, with fog not lifting until afternoons. Above average temperatures generally, often mild weather with some rain/showers and strong winds and only saw falling snow twice.

Edited December 28, 2019 by stainesbloke

[Thundery wintry showers]

For 2019 the following events stick out for me:

January - surprisingly potent north-westerlies at the end of the month, delivering lying snow to Lancaster University, followed by a frontal snowfall in the south-west on the 31st

February - reports of thundersnow in north-east England on the 1st, otherwise memorable for its combination of exceptionally high daytime maxima and bright sunshine in the last week and to a lesser extent around the 14th

Spring - not particularly memorable, warm March, warmish April, relatively cool May

Summer - notable in that every heatwave that we got seemed to break temperature records, but that in between heatwaves the weather was often wet and quite cloudy.  Some fine and not particularly hot weather in early July in the south-west.

Autumn - over much of England and Wales, notable for being very dry until 21 September and then very wet.  

December - some quite exciting weather in Exeter midmonth with thunderstorms and squalls, but at the cost of causing flooding problems.  Otherwise not much of note.

Edited December 29, 2019 by Thundery wintry showers