Spring 1996

[Weather-history]

A CET of 7.4C, this was a chilly spring with one of the coldest Mays on record.

March: 4.5C

April: 8.5C

May: 9.1C

Personally, I didn't enjoy this spring, it seemed monotonous. To me, it seemed like everyday was just cloudy and chilly. Despite the chilliness, there was not a lot of snow at least around here. Everything felt late, there were still daffodils in bloom in May. Much preferred the previous spring. 

There was snow on the 12th March 1996 when an Atlantic system was pushed back westwards and turned to snow by a Scandi High

It happened again a month later on the 12th April 1996

That was about it around here, snow wise.

 

It was the supressed temperatures that were the stand out especially during May. It was only the last 3 or 4 days that stopped this May being the coldest ever record for the CET, the CET was just 8.4C up to the 28th May.

 

Manchester Airport recorded just 2 days where the maximum was above 20C during the spring: 21st April and 30th May.

[damianslaw]

Remember it well coming on the back of a cold snowy winter, it shares some similarities with Spring 13 but without the heavy snows and extreme temps in March and into early April.

March 96 was very much a dull bleak cold month here, there was snow on the 13th and the fells and low ground held onto large snow drifts from the Feb 96 falls throughout the month.

April was a topsy turvy month, further snow as pointed out but not consistently cold from memory though no particularly warm weather either.

May 96 very chilly and dull, what a poor show for what can and often be our best month. Remember looking at the state of plants thinking what slow growth. It was a mostly north easterly airstream off a much colder than average Scandinavia due to the cold winter and omni present high that sat overhead earlier in the Spring.

There was a marked change early June a sudden burst of heat, I remember everyone going a bit mad under the found heat. Summer 96 was fairly decent quite a bit if dry sunny warm weather about, certainly no washout, but many expected more after the superb summer of 95. Spring 96 came in the middle if a record breaking dry 48 month period and I think we had anamoulous heights over the Pole much of the period hence the cold season. 

[Thundery wintry showers]

I was living in South Tyneside in the 1990s, and I certainly didn't enjoy Spring '96, mainly because of how dull March and to a lesser extent April were.  March 1996 had just 30-35 hours of sunshine in that area of the UK, about 30% of the normal, and 15 consecutive sunless days from the 11th to 25th.   It was an exceptionally dull March by any standards, but stood out even more because the Marches of 1994, 1995 and 1997 all had around 150 hours of sunshine (40-50% above the normal).  May was more interesting for coming very close to being the coldest May on record (a warm southerly in the last few days scuppered its chances), and surprisingly for such a "north-easterly" month, sunshine was a little above average.

As some may know I remember Spring 1995 very fondly - several times we had warm sunshine one week and wintry showers the next, due to a recurring pattern of high pressure over the UK dragging warm air up from the west and south, periodically moving out into the Atlantic and northerly and north-westerly air streams coming down to fill the gap.  I think in Spring 1996 there were a couple of warmish spells, one around 20 April and one at the end of May, but for the most part it was a spring with rather less temperature variation.

Edited March 7, 2021 by Thundery wintry showers

[Alexis]

I don't remember much about May 96, but I remember the chilly May of 2001. Cold Mays are very unpleasant 

[Scorcher]

5 minutes ago, Alexis said:

I don't remember much about May 96, but I remember the chilly May of 2001. Cold Mays are very unpleasant 

2001 was actually a warm May- I recall multiple warm spells during the month.

I don't have too much recollection of May 96 as I was too young to really pay attention to the details of the weather at that time.

I do recall some wet and windy weather though while on a family trip to North Yorkshire in the 2nd half of the month.

It must have been close to the end of the month as I recall a boat trip on the River Ouse in York in warm sunshine on the final day- must have been the late warm spell that somewhat saved an awful month.

May 2012 was another shocker for the most part- there were some similarities to 1996 until the last third of the month when the hot spell arrived.

 

[Alexis]

1 hour ago, Scorcher said:

2001 was actually a warm May- I recall multiple warm spells during the month.

I don't have too much recollection of May 96 as I was too young to really pay attention to the details of the weather at that time.

I do recall some wet and windy weather though while on a family trip to North Yorkshire in the 2nd half of the month.

It must have been close to the end of the month as I recall a boat trip on the River Ouse in York in warm sunshine on the final day- must have been the late warm spell that somewhat saved an awful month.

May 2012 was another shocker for the most part- there were some similarities to 1996 until the last third of the month when the hot spell arrived.

 

Sorry, was thinking of June 2001. First half was cold.

[HafrenLMP1]

I seem to remember Easter 1996; I was working in Wigan, and worked overtime on both the Friday & Saturday - I'm sure it was bright and sunny, but with quite a chilly wind. Which came a week after the Aintree Grand National meeting; and having attended both the Thursday & Friday - there was a bitterly cold wind both days.

[SummerShower]

Yes may 1996 was an awful month.  It was mostly cold, and cloudy and windy as well.  I just remember the leaves not coming out until much later in the month, which was strange compared to how high in the sky the sun was.  May 96 was probably as exceptional as March 2013 for how cold it was.

May is one of those months though that, since 1996, we have not had a bad May at all.  Some were just 'ok' like 10,13,15.. useable but not overly warm, but most have been very good.

 

[MP-R]

3 hours ago, SummerShower said:

 

May is one of those months though that, since 1996, we have not had a bad May at all.  Some were just 'ok' like 10,13,15.. useable but not overly warm, but most have been very good.

 

Maybe it's down to regional variation but I can recall a number of poor Mays in my lifetime (since 1992) or Mays with prolonged periods of poor weather.

2015 - very windy, cool and often showery 

2014 - wet and gales early on

wasn't in the country for 2013 but the records paint a cool or cold and often wet picture 

2012 - only saved by the final 10 days

2011 - often dull and breezy or sometimes windy; thankfully not that wet

2010 - dull and cool/cold until the 19th

2008 - the second half of the month was very wet

2007 - enough said

2003 - a toned down version of 2002

2002 - dull, wet and often breezy

It's really since 2016 that I've noticed much better weather in May return. I don't think I'd ever like to witness a May like 1996 though. Single figure maxima and minima even down here. Thankfully I was too young at the time to register it.

[North-Easterly Blast]

Spring 1996 was cold largely due to the notably cold May.  May 1996 was actually the joint 13th to 15th coldest May on record, which puts it on a very similar ranking to March 2013 for notable cold; there has not been a colder May since 1902, which makes May 1996 the coldest May in the past 119 years to date.  In actual fact May 1996 was the last individual notably cold month we had up to winter 2009-10 or even December 2010.  March was also cold that year (following on from a pretty cold winter) although not as cold as 2013.  I think that April 1996 saw a brief spell of cold weather in the second week although it wasn't a cold April overall.

I actually do think that the records show that colder spring months often follow winters that are cold overall.

[Sunny76]

I remember the cold spring of 1996. It just felt like a continuation of the winter of 1995-96, which apart from some mild spells in January, the cold lasted for ages. It was also notable for being very cold and grey. 
 

London had some snow on Boxing Day evening 1995, and some wet snow in February 96 I think, but the thing I remember at the time was just how cold it felt. The cold persisted until late May, before the weather switched to hot and sunny, and we had a severe thunderstorm on the 6th of June in London. 

[damianslaw]

1 hour ago, Sunny76 said:

I remember the cold spring of 1996. It just felt like a continuation of the winter of 1995-96, which apart from some mild spells in January, the cold lasted for ages. It was also notable for being very cold and grey. 
 

London had some snow on Boxing Day evening 1995, and some wet snow in February 96 I think, but the thing I remember at the time was just how cold it felt. The cold persisted until late May, before the weather switched to hot and sunny, and we had a severe thunderstorm on the 6th of June in London. 

Other years where winter held its grip through Spring were 1986, a very cold April on the back of a cold March, I think May was near average, 2010, March was quite cold, April average, May cold until the last third, and more recently 2013 which brought the very cold March, a rather chilly April and May.

Interesting to note all this years came on the back of a colder than average winter, including cold Februaries.

2006 was shaping up to go the same way, but April ended up not too bad, and May brought a very warm first half. 2001 also to an extent, cold March, April quite chilly, but May was quite decent. These years followed on from relatively cool or cold Februaries by today's standards at least, but average winters rather than cold ones. 

 

 

[Sunny76]

Yeah, so given recent patterns and colder weather being more dominant, it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a delay to the advance into warmer weather, like 2010 or 2013.

I hope we don’t have to wait until May to have some nice weather though, even a few days of 20-23c would be welcome during April. 
 

But, by May, I long for the sunny clear days. We’ve been spoilt with good Mays since 2017, regardless of how the following summer pans out. Something tells me 2021 could go either way, but by the 24th of May, there’s often always a warm or hot snap. This has happened even during a mediocre May. 

[Frigid]

1 hour ago, Sunny76 said:

Yeah, so given recent patterns and colder weather being more dominant, it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a delay to the advance into warmer weather, like 2010 or 2013.

I hope we don’t have to wait until May to have some nice weather though, even a few days of 20-23c would be welcome during April. 
 

But, by May, I long for the sunny clear days. We’ve been spoilt with good Mays since 2017, regardless of how the following summer pans out. Something tells me 2021 could go either way, but by the 24th of May, there’s often always a warm or hot snap. This has happened even during a mediocre May. 

Recent Mays have been pretty good in my area, except for May 2019. Don't think it reached above 20c where the May's preceding it managed a 25c+ easily. May 2020 brought back the trend of warm May days though.

[damianslaw]

3 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

Yeah, so given recent patterns and colder weather being more dominant, it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a delay to the advance into warmer weather, like 2010 or 2013.

I hope we don’t have to wait until May to have some nice weather though, even a few days of 20-23c would be welcome during April. 
 

But, by May, I long for the sunny clear days. We’ve been spoilt with good Mays since 2017, regardless of how the following summer pans out. Something tells me 2021 could go either way, but by the 24th of May, there’s often always a warm or hot snap. This has happened even during a mediocre May. 

Late May is my favourite point in the year, love a warm Whitsunside.. sunshine levels tend to hit their peak in then. 

Edited March 14, 2021 by damianslaw

[cheeky_monkey]

don't remember spring 1996...apart from May which was cold and wet..therefore personally March and April were probably not remarkable 

[hillbilly]

Both 1995 and 1996 had cold springs with frost and snow.I think it was 1996 where in May we had many days where there were snow flurries high on the hills i worked at 1200 ft in  the Pennines.

[Weather-history]

Remember seeing the comet Hyakutake during late March and early April 1996 but the weather was not very good for most of time. First time I've ever seen a comet with my own eyes.

 

[Thundery wintry showers]

The springs of 1995 and 1996 do seem to merge into one for some, but Spring 1995 was not cold overall because it had alternating warm and cold spells, overall it was slightly warmer than the 1961-1990 average for much of England and Wales, slightly cooler than average over much of Scotland.  The CET anomaly for the spring was +0.5, mainly due to the very warm first half of April.  The prolonged cold spell around mid-May 1995 was offset by a heatwave in the first week and a warmish spell on the 21st-28th.

It's easy to forget that April 1996 was warmer than average overall, though more than offset by the persistently cold weather of March and May.  I recall that April '96 didn't feel that warm though because of a shortage of sunshine.

And yes, March 1996 had the kind of easterly pattern that characterised the second half of January 1996, and also parts of December 1995.  In January 1996, Tynemouth had just 5 hours of sunshine (with 3 of those on the 28th!), and Durham had just 8 hours.  February 1996 was somewhat sunnier, but then in March the grey easterlies returned. 

I can certainly see similarities between 1996 and 2013, especially as 2013 also had marked spells of "easterly" weather in January and March.  2013, like 1996, also had a warmer and sunnier than average summer for most following the cold winter and spring, and both years also had a warm October and a cool November.  However Jan/March 2013 weren't quite as dull as their 1996 counterparts in north-east England.

Edited March 15, 2021 by Thundery wintry showers

[damianslaw]

Spring 95 was much more varied than Spring 96. There were classic spring switcharound with warm southerlies and arctic northerlies. Early May 95 was very warm but then a major switch to cold easterlies mid month. The switch around continued in June first half very cool northerlies, late June very warm southerly. It marked the start of the driest 48 month period on record I think, Atlantic was exceptionally quiet, lots of easterly, northerly air masses or blocking highs that came to an end in May 97 after the potent northerly early in the month.

Edited March 15, 2021 by damianslaw

[Summer of 95]

May 1996 I remember being cool but dry and not overwhelmingly dull; oddly enough I remember that very cold spell in mid-May 1995 a lot better, possibly because of the contrast with the hot first week and the low-level snow it produced on the 17th. As I remember it was then very hot in the first few days of June 1996 (I was doing my GCSEs then and remember just wanting to be outside). April I don't remember much of at all, March I do; it had the snowy few days midmonth and some clear frosty nights right at the end when Hyakutake was visible, but at least 20 days of horrid cold dull weather. What I had for a long time forgotten about that snow on the 12-14th was that even though it wasn't heavy (3cm here) or exceptionally cold (no ice days, -2 min +2 max kind of temps), it stayed on the ground for 3 days solid. I'd completely forgotten about it when I used to think March snow always melted in the daytime (which I no longer think after 2013 and 2018). Like those two, the 1996 snow came from an easterly- apart from this one cold snowy March easterlies were virtually nonexistent from 1987 to 2013, all the snowy March spells then came from N or W. 

Summer 1996 wasn't a bad one, warm sunny spells mixed with a few washout days and some thunderstorms, not as good as 1995 but certainly acceptable. A bit like 2005 without that ghastly second half of July.

[Timmytour]

It's the year after, 1997, I remember for being drab. Moved into a house and my future father-in-law (without any consultation with me!) came round while I was at work and laid a new lawn!  His instructions were to keep it well watered. I thought the weather would do that naturally but I remember i being a long dry March and April without it being particularly nice!  I got married at the end of April and of course that's when it decided to start raining!  On the honeymoon in Italy  I remember hearing reports of it snowing during the Mayday bank holiday back home.