Cold Mays of the 1980s?

[Sunny76]

With all the talk about how cold this May has been so far. Does anyone remember any cold Mays from the 1980s?

I think 1996 was colder than all of them, but the only couple of Mays I recall being chilly were 1984, and 1987, but even those months had some warm days in the London area. 

My memory is sketchy as I was still quite young, but I think London had a thunderstorm during one of those Mays. 

[damianslaw]

Don't have the statistics, 1983 is mentioned as chilly, 1984 also, 1985, 1986 and 1987 I don't think were that warm. Don't recall much warmth in 1988 either. I think only 1980 and 1989 were warm. We had a 4 year run of good May's between 1989 and 1992 and I think this has long skewed my perceptions of May being a good month - I was 11-14 years old and remember them well. The remaining 1990s May's were a real mixed bag, some warmth at times especially 1995, 1997, 1998 and 1999, but also alot of unsettled weather and cool conditions 1993, 1994, mid May 95, 96. 

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by damianslaw

[LetItSnow!]

13 minutes ago, damianslaw said:

Don't have the statistics, 1983 is mentioned as chilly, 1984 also, 1985, 1986 and 1987 I don't think were that warm. Don't recall much warmth in 1988 either. I think only 1980 and 1989 were warm. We had a 4 year run of good May's between 1989 and 1992 and I think this has long skewed my perceptions of May being a good month - I was 11-14 years old and remember them well. The remaining 1990s May's were a real mixed bag, some warmth at times especially 1995, 1997, 1998 and 1999, but also alot of unsettled weather and cool conditions 1993, 1994, mid May 95, 96. 

 

May, 1980 only has a C.E.T. of 11.2, & looking at the synoptics, it looks like HP was mostly to the west during that month. After 1989, 1988 is actually the warmest May of the 1980s. It was the first May without a frost in many places since 1970. Winds were mostly from a southerly quadrant, bar a spell of NB which brought cold northerlies around the 17th. Looks pretty wet & thundery. I know from reading that the 8th/9th saw flash flooding from storms somewhere in London. It has a C.E.T. of 11.9.

Edited May 12, 2021 by LetItSnow!

[Sunny76]

13 hours ago, LetItSnow! said:

May, 1980 only has a C.E.T. of 11.2, & looking at the synoptics, it looks like HP was mostly to the west during that month. After 1989, 1988 is actually the warmest May of the 1980s. It was the first May without a frost in many places since 1970. Winds were mostly from a southerly quadrant, bar a spell of NB which brought cold northerlies around the 17th. Looks pretty wet & thundery. I know from reading that the 8th/9th saw flash flooding from storms somewhere in London. It has a C.E.T. of 11.9.

I remember 1988 being hot for a few days, maybe up to or above 25-27c, definitely around the second Saturday of that month. Went for a day trip from London to broxbourne, and recall the day feeling very warm and pleasant. That night we had an overnight thunderstorm, and the Sunday was still very warm, but thundery and humid. We also went for a local walk in central London by the river, and could see the fork lightning maybe 5-10 miles away on the horizon. No further storms, beyond that.

[mushymanrob]

I cant recall anything too bad for too long... late 82 was warm and thundery, 80 was dry, 83 was wettish, 86 was sunny with showers, 89 was the warmest. 84 was the coldestaccording to the CETs.

[Sunny76]

The end of May 1980 was hot, going into the first week of June. Then we had severe storms in the London and Home Counties region. I think 1980 was the summer that happened. I was too young to remember it vividly. 

[mushymanrob]

1 hour ago, Sunny76 said:

The end of May 1980 was hot, going into the first week of June. Then we had severe storms in the London and Home Counties region. I think 1980 was the summer that happened. I was too young to remember it vividly. 

that was 82 ....

[Sunny76]

30 minutes ago, mushymanrob said:

that was 82 ....

Oh right. May 1980 did have some hot sunny weather. I recall seeing an episode of TOTP on bbc4(reruns) and the presenter was talking about the hot sunny weather.

[mushymanrob]

1 hour ago, Sunny76 said:

Oh right. May 1980 did have some hot sunny weather. I recall seeing an episode of TOTP on bbc4(reruns) and the presenter was talking about the hot sunny weather.

it was dry, but not overly hot, the CET was only a modest 11.2c which is pretty average? the "hot" spells were short lived.. as opposed to a lengthy spell.

but late 82 was very warm/hot with daily thunderstorms that built over the country... heres a tip, go to the homepage (here) select charts and data homepage, then select archive charts... you can see then the recorded charts from the years you select.

[damianslaw]

May 1989 brought widespread warmth, I think there was a cold shot early on but most of the month was very good.

[Don]

41 minutes ago, damianslaw said:

May 1989 brought widespread warmth, I think there was a cold shot early on but most of the month was very good.

Whilst I do recall May 1989 being warm overall, what really stands out for me that month were the severe thunderstorms during the afternoon of the 24th after a hot/humid morning!

Edited May 13, 2021 by Don

[Portland Paul]

My patchy recollections from a young age, from Birmingham (and some resorts for later in the month):

May 1982 - prolonged hot and sunny period in south Devon.

May 1983 - A fairly wet month. Severe thunderstorms in IOW towards the end.

May 1984 - Warm at times at first, but a really wet and chilly second half. 

May 1985 - Wet, murky for a time 20th to 23rd. Warmer and thundery in south Devon 25th and early 26th. Washout BHM 27th. Much warmer & sunny to end.

May 1986 - Average; some nice days in Weymouth at the end.

May 1987 - Quite poor, but some nice days later.

May 1988 - Thunderstorms on 1st. Quite a few warm, sunny days. Poor later.

May 1989 - A cracking, sunny and warm or hot month. Thunderstorms in fourth week, then a much cooler end.