Best and worst years in the 2010’s

[Harry233]

Now that last decade is over would be good to see what years brought the best and worst weather. For me

 

Perth, Scotland

best:

1) 2018: Phenomenal year for weather. The cold and snowy winter, middle of January brought the deepest snow in my area since 2013 and then a change to a calm and sunny although cold February with many frosts before the beast from the east. Then the spring transition to cold and wet to very warm and sunny. Phenomenal May that year with plenty of summer weather. Then for the summer itself where it was warm, sunny and dry for weeks. The September storm and the freezing rain in December rounded off a fantastic year. Only downfalls that year where a average August and the November that year was extremely boring.

2) 2013: The cold and snowy January turning into the best March for snow and wind I can remember. The cold in March that year was exceptional and it lasted all spring before summer transitioned into the best for six years with July being exceptional. The st Jude’s storm while not as severe as down south still was interesting to watch and a very sunny and frosty November followed by the stormiest December I can remember until 2015. Let down purely on how long the cold weather lasted in the spring,

3) 2010: By far the best winter ever deep snow, severe frost and bright sunshine the spring that followed was very pleasant with a long of sunny, mild days and then some very warm weather in the May after a cold start. A very good June although July was pretty disappointing, August continued very sunny and before that exceptional December. Let down by the autumn being pretty boring.

Worst

1) 2014: Purely on how dull and mild it was. The winter was awful with very little snow and constant mild, windy and wet weather. A spring which got off to a good start but then fell short on being very dull and wet and also stupidly mild at night while daytime temperatures were only average. Autumn that year aside from September which was very dry and mild was still let down by being dull and the October and November that followed were constantly mild, wet and dull. The lowest temperature that year was -4.C which is what I usually record at least once a week from December-March. The year was saved by an excellent July.

2) 2011: January was good, February was abysmal with constant rain and very little frost. March and April were good months with March recording deep snow and the sheer warmth in April which was spoilt but a very unsettled May. The summer that year was also very poor especially in August while autumn was mild and wet once again. Only saved by that very warm spell in September and the April that year.

3) 2012: Just a kick in the teeth considering how well the year started with a January that had everything, February starting extremely cold to then extremely mild and the March that followed was exceptional. April was abysmal and was about 3.C colder than March. May was much the same aside from that very warm spell in the last week. The summer the least said the better. At least the autumn was saved slightly by being dry and sunny albeit cold. December was like January it had everything.

 

2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 all had bad weather but redeeming factors

2015: A record breaking sunny winter, a good April and a very pleasant early autumn

2016: A very good May, a decent August a warm September and a frosty November.

2017: A very good spring, a frosty November and December.

2019: A very dry winter, decent April, a wet but at least warm summer, a good September, cold November 

 

be nice to compare.

[B87]

For London, from best to worst.

1. 2018

2. 2014

3. 2019

4. 2017

5. 2016

6. 2015

7. 2011

8. 2013

9. 2012

10. 2010

[Harry233]

14 minutes ago, B87 said:

For London, from best to worst.

1. 2018

2. 2014

3. 2019

4. 2017

5. 2016

6. 2015

7. 2011

8. 2013

9. 2012

10. 2010

Interesting to see 2014 so high and 2010 rock bottom. Amazing to see how much variation the weather can bring. 

[B87]

38 minutes ago, Harry233 said:

Interesting to see 2014 so high and 2010 rock bottom. Amazing to see how much variation the weather can bring. 

2014 had a mild winter, a very good spring, and a hot July. It was also the 2nd sunniest year of the decade, after 2018.

Years lose points for being cold and cloudy, which is why 2013 is so low despite the hot and sunny July (the rest of that year was mostly terrible).

[Sunny76]

21 minutes ago, B87 said:

2014 had a mild winter, a very good spring, and a hot July. It was also the 2nd sunniest year of the decade, after 2018.

Years lose points for being cold and cloudy, which is why 2013 is so low despite the hot and sunny July (the rest of that year was mostly terrible).

I thought 2013 improved from mid June onwards, but the first half was cold or very cold and even early summer was chilly.

The second half saw the return to good summers since 2006, but also saw the end to the colder winters. It was much milder towards the festive season that year. Some cold frosty weather in November though.

Best years were:

2018

2013

2010

2014

2017

Worst

2015

2019

2016

2011

2011 was vile, although London had a warm sunny April with a thunderstorm on Easter weekend, the May was also warm and sunny, early and late June. Apart from that, the main part of summer was very poor.

[SummerShower]

In terms of weather interest for me the order would be:

1. 2018.  Snow events in march, near record breaking day in April, amazing may-early august.  Note nothing memorable after this though

2. 2013.  Snow early in year, stormy 2nd half of dec.  Great july.  Heat early September.

3. 2014.  Decent gales early on, hot july.  The most thundery year of the decade here by far.  

T4 2010. All winter months very good, best in my lifetime.  Good june/early July.  Nothing else too memorable but the year for snow!

T4. 2019.  Maybe from a local perspective, deepest snow I've seen 1st feb, several short but quite intense heatwaves, and 20c in feb.  

T6. 2016.  Decent hot spells, some good thunderstorms.  Good september this year.

T6. 2017.  Decent 1st half of summer, some good storms.  Actually not a bad December this year but not a white out.

8. 2012.  Interesting because of the poor summer.  Decent 2and half of march

9. 2011.  Hot april and sep/oct spells.  Literally nothing else

10. 2015.  Hot 1st july.  Literally nothing else 

 

[Thundery wintry showers]

I can say with confidence that my favourite years of that decade were 2010, followed quite closely by 2018, and I also had a positive overall opinion of 2013 and 2015.  The first three years were because of snowy winters and/or warm sunny spells in the summer, while 2015 made the good category because of the sunny polar maritime-dominated winter and early spring, and the very sunny April and September.

My two least favourites were 2011, followed by 2012, 2011 because not a lot happened that year and 2012 because of the summer washout.

2014 is somewhat difficult to place because I spent most of that year in North Yorkshire, where I had a low opinion of the year (maybe even 3rd bottom after 2011 and 2012) but I am well aware that had I spent that year in Exeter, where 2014 was easily the most thundery year of the 2010s and had a particularly wild winter, it might well have ranked as my 3rd or 4th favourite year of the decade.

Edited June 13, 2020 by Thundery wintry showers

[Harry233]

2 hours ago, B87 said:

2014 had a mild winter, a very good spring, and a hot July. It was also the 2nd sunniest year of the decade, after 2018.

Years lose points for being cold and cloudy, which is why 2013 is so low despite the hot and sunny July (the rest of that year was mostly terrible).

2014 was my second cloudiest year on record behind 2002. July was the only month that was significantly sunnier than average and autumn had half the average sunshine.

[Harry233]

2 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

I thought 2013 improved from mid June onwards, but the first half was cold or very cold and even early summer was chilly.

The second half saw the return to good summers since 2006, but also saw the end to the colder winters. It was much milder towards the festive season that year. Some cold frosty weather in November though.

Best years were:

2018

2013

2010

2014

2017

Worst

2015

2019

2016

2011

2011 was vile, although London had a warm sunny April with a thunderstorm on Easter weekend, the May was also warm and sunny, early and late June. Apart from that, the main part of summer was very poor.

What about 2012? 

[Daniel*]

2014 was a rubbish weather year imo I do remember some great nighttime thunderstorms in the July, 2013 is better in every way good winter & good summer. For me 2013 and 2018 were the best weather years of 2010s, I’d add 2010 also for wintry spells on both ends the summer was alright. 2011 probably the worst year of 2010s very forgettable, the summer was poor and London riots were in full swing that was most memorable aspect to me. I actually quite liked 2012. 

[Sunny76]

12 minutes ago, Harry233 said:

What about 2012? 

2012 was even worse than 11. A forgettable year, because of rotten summer and no decent storms in London. London did have a light covering of snow in February that year, and it was the 4th winter in a row where snow had fallen and settled in London by that stage.

 

[Weather-history]

A lot of the years for me were forgettable.

Standout year was 2018 but even that had a forgettable last quarter.

2014 was tedious, the worst. 2011 was forgettable.

2010 was memorable but only at the bookends. 

2012 after March felt consistently "cool" 

2013 was a better year with the winter and summer but that tanked somewhat during the final 4 months

2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 generally unmemorable apart from odd months and weather events.

The 2010s was not a great decade for weather, IMO, I suppose at least it did have some notable wintry episodes.

The 1990s were a much more memorable decade for weather than the 2010s. 

[Derecho]

From top to bottom, locations in brackets

2018 – Cracking late winter with the beast from the east to end it and a second event in March. Then we had a fantastic April and May with many sunny and warm days. This continued into a superb summer coinciding with the World Cup. The rest of the year was fairly boring but that doesn’t pull this year further down. (Southampton / Hull)

2010 – As someone who is a snow lover, this was as good of a year as I can remember. The first half of January was very cold and snowy. The rest of the winter was cold but not especially so. Spring was reasonable with a few chilly nights. The first half of summer was also pretty good. Autumn was uneventful (besides a chilly October northerly) until late November. The rest of the year was extremely cold with some huge snowfalls in early December. A great year with an exceptional December. (Northampton / Hull)

2013 – Another year with plenty of large temperature variations. January saw plenty of snow in Hull with snow cover lasting 2 weeks. March then also turned very cold with a substantial snowfall in the middle of the month. Summer was really good with July being persistently warm and turning thundery later in the month. I was in Norfolk at the start of August and there was some very impressive thunderstorms. A warm October too and a very windy December. (Hull / Norwich)

2014 – Winter was very stormy but a fine Spring followed. Summer was also reasonable but this year was probably the most thundery of the decade for me. Late July was particularly impressive. August was poor but September made up for it. By October I was in Southampton and there was a day early on in this month where I saw 4 thunderstorms in 1 day. Also a decent little snow event on boxing day when I returned to Hull. (Norwich / Southampton)

2012 – Mild winter but we had a very cold first half of February with some snow. We were so close to a beast! A very warm end to March and May but a shocking April. Summer was really poor too but contained some good thunderstorms. Saw snow in late October and in early December. (Hull)

2017 – Winter didn’t provide much interest but we had a very warm Spring. The first half of Summer was also very warm and thundery. The second half of summer however was poor. October saw that weird day where the skies turned yellow ahead of Hurricane Ophelia, a surreal day of weather. Sadly in December I was on the wrong side of a marginal snow event…. (Southampton)

2016 – Not much to write about really. I saw some snow showers in Southampton during late April. May was warm and June was thundery. The second half of summer was really good and we saw a very warm September but missed the thunderstorms. (Southampton)

2019 – Notable for its exceptionally mild late February. A fine April but awful May bank holiday early in the month with cold northerlies across Humberside. June saw flooding but July was great and we saw a sweltering heatwave later in the month. August had its moments too but the rest of the year was exceptionally wet and miserable. (Hull / Buckinghamshire)

2011 – Not much to write about this year. A fine Spring and exceptional April. A poor summer but Autumn was very warm at times. A stormy December to end the year. (Hull)

2015 – A very uneventful year. January, February, March, May, June, July, August, September and October were all average. A very hot start to July but we missed the thunderstorms. November and December were extremely mild and very unseasonal. (Southampton)

Edited June 12, 2020 by Quicksilver1989

[hillbilly]

Best

2018 what can I say,Beast from the East,Beast from the East part 2 and the best summer in 23 years,Respect!

2nd best 2013 ,what a great winter for the coldies,progressive cold from January into April,the March Blizzard,the most air frosts since 1979 and a great start to summer.

Worst...Too many to list 8 poor summers,enough said!

[Summer18]

From Leeds:

Best: 

1. 2018: Coldish February with a few snowfalls, Beast from the East and the World Cup summer, final few months were a bit drab though (December was rubbish). 

2. 2013: Cold January and February with snow (February very much like 2018 But colder), that freezing March and the summer which seemed like such a relief after the rubbish summers of the previous 7ish years. 

3. 2010: Coldest year I can remember, the December alone gets this in the top 3, seem to remember the June being fairly nice too even though the rest of the summer was forgettable.

Worst:

1. 2012: The summer was so bad and wet this is an easy winner for me. It seemed like it didn’t stop raining from the first week of April until December. Every Friday in June seemed wet and cold. I remember a week in September it rained from Sunday afternoon until Wednesday morning! 

2. 2015: Winter 2014-2015 wasn’t too bad here, had snowfalls end of January and it was never particularly mild, I spent a few weeks of the summer abroad so it wasn’t too bad for me. The December was on a another level of terrible though, I remember being in a queue outside a nightclub in Leeds and the wind was so warm it felt more like May. 

3. 2017: This year seemed fairly boring really, winter 2016-2017 was a bore fest and apart from June the summer was poor. The October was memorable though with the Orange sun.

The rest of the years had their moments, I was going to put 2011 in the worst but loved April and late September so it gets a reprieve. 2014’s summer was lovely here (apart from August) and we just missed out on a white Christmas with heavy snowfalls on Boxing Day. 2016 was fairly dull, however I saw the latest laying snow I have ever seen, April 29th and we had a cracking Thunderstorm in September. The summer didn’t seem too bad either. 2019 was memorable for that hot spell in February and I saw a few good thunderstorms in the summer. September onwards was like 2012 all over again though! 

Edited June 15, 2020 by adam93

[cheeky_monkey]

IMO the best year was 2010...was in the UK for the first 2 weeks of the year which were cold and snowy..spent the rest of the year In Edmonton..spring was a classic back and forth between warm and cold..with a notable blizzard in May..summer was very stormy again with big swings from hot to cool with numerous big storms and even the odd tornado thrown in..autumn was warm and sunny..the year ended with some extreme cold and lots of snow in Nov & DEC.

[Met.]

Awful years:

2010 - coldest since 1986, garbage Jan, Feb, May (except 3 days near the end), Jul, Aug, Nov, Dec. Rubbish through and through.

2011 - crap non existent summer

2012 - washout crap non existent summer

2015 - crap summer

Best years:

2018 is the winner for being most interesting and with an actual summer.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Thundershine