The very hot upper air temperatures of Sep. 1988

[LetItSnow!]

Knew about this one for quite a while, but upper air temperatures during the 7th/8th of September, 1988 were exceptionally hot across Spain, France & the southern tip of the U.K. Here's a run through this very brief plume.

 

High pressure begins to ridge in on the 5th

Becomes dominant into the 6th. Very summery chart after a very autumnal
summer.

The 7th/8th is the peak date when we bring 20/21 uppers on the south coast. 25-27 uppers across Spain & Portugal.

All change soon after, chilly northerlies by the 12th. Overall, a run through the charts nakes it seem like quite a changeable month, but HP often close by in the first half. Colder later. Not bad.

 

Interesting synoptic pattern. Does anyone remember this spell? Research shows no remarkably hot temperatures. Reminds me of Jun. 2019 when we had ridiculously hot uppers but only managed 34C. I remember talks of why that was but can't remember what it was  Would be interesting to see temperature records across France, Spain & Portugal at the time as well. Unusual synoptics after such a bad summer, and even then, not had to their full potential. Share thoughts & memories below if you have any  

[cheeky_monkey]

On 13/05/2021 at 09:29, cheeky_monkey said:

there was something about those summers that has never been seen again..they kicked off the rave scene..ecstacy became common place and the whole thing leaked into the mainstream for a cpl of years..even for me i went on a 10 day bender in September 1988 of which i remember very little ..to coin a phrase from the mid 90s..everybody was mad for it!

i don't remember any hot weather in Sept 1988..then again my quote from another thread from the lounge explains why 

[Weather-history]

On 20/05/2021 at 20:50, LetItSnow! said:

Knew about this one for quite a while, but upper air temperatures during the 7th/8th of September, 1988 were exceptionally hot across Spain, France & the southern tip of the U.K. Here's a run through this very brief plume.

 

High pressure begins to ridge in on the 5th

Becomes dominant into the 6th. Very summery chart after a very autumnal
summer.

The 7th/8th is the peak date when we bring 20/21 uppers on the south coast. 25-27 uppers across Spain & Portugal.

All change soon after, chilly northerlies by the 12th. Overall, a run through the charts nakes it seem like quite a changeable month, but HP often close by in the first half. Colder later. Not bad.

 

Interesting synoptic pattern. Does anyone remember this spell? Research shows no remarkably hot temperatures. Reminds me of Jun. 2019 when we had ridiculously hot uppers but only managed 34C. I remember talks of why that was but can't remember what it was  Would be interesting to see temperature records across France, Spain & Portugal at the time as well. Unusual synoptics after such a bad summer, and even then, not had to their full potential. Share thoughts & memories below if you have any  

I remember staying up quite late (I was at school next morning) watching the lightning flashing away to my west-northwest somewhere over the Irish Sea gradually getting closer. That was around the 7th/8th September 1988.

 

[Alexis]

On 20/05/2021 at 20:50, LetItSnow! said:

Knew about this one for quite a while, but upper air temperatures during the 7th/8th of September, 1988 were exceptionally hot across Spain, France & the southern tip of the U.K. Here's a run through this very brief plume.

 

High pressure begins to ridge in on the 5th

Becomes dominant into the 6th. Very summery chart after a very autumnal
summer.

The 7th/8th is the peak date when we bring 20/21 uppers on the south coast. 25-27 uppers across Spain & Portugal.

All change soon after, chilly northerlies by the 12th. Overall, a run through the charts nakes it seem like quite a changeable month, but HP often close by in the first half. Colder later. Not bad.

 

Interesting synoptic pattern. Does anyone remember this spell? Research shows no remarkably hot temperatures. Reminds me of Jun. 2019 when we had ridiculously hot uppers but only managed 34C. I remember talks of why that was but can't remember what it was  Would be interesting to see temperature records across France, Spain & Portugal at the time as well. Unusual synoptics after such a bad summer, and even then, not had to their full potential. Share thoughts & memories below if you have any  

I think there was a layer of cool air below 850 metres that was imported along with the plume.

[LetItSnow!]

11 hours ago, Alexis said:

I think there was a layer of cool air below 850 metres that was imported along with the plume.

Sounds about right.

 

A quick search for temperatures during this spell across Spain/Portugal indeed suggest temperatures were into the upper-thirties, even low-forties. I imagine that must be close to a record at least for September.

[Roger J Smith]

The summer of 1988 was very hot in eastern North America, often near if not setting daily records. I recall that July 1988 was quite a chilly month in England (visited that summer). We got on the plane in mid-90s heat in Toronto and got off at Gatwick around 60 F, bit of a shock to the system. 

[LetItSnow!]

10 hours ago, Roger J Smith said:

The summer of 1988 was very hot in eastern North America, often near if not setting daily records. I recall that July 1988 was quite a chilly month in England (visited that summer). We got on the plane in mid-90s heat in Toronto and got off at Gatwick around 60 F, bit of a shock to the system. 

Indeed. Many parts of the country failed to exceed 70F in Jul. 1988.

[Roger J Smith]

Very high thicknesses and upper temps sometimes have a less than spectacular effect near the surface because the cap remains in place. A certain amount of inversion remains in place, at least in terms of potential temperature, the air mass remains stable, and another consequence is limiting the outbreak of thunderstorms. All this leads to a lack of full mixing down of the potentially warm air (which would heat up to near record values) so while it may get quite warm the results don't quite match the potential. 

[LetItSnow!]

Reminded of this spell from some model watching this evening. I imagine any possibilites of equally high upper air temperatures this year may not be moderated by cooler air at a lower level.

[Weather-history]

On 26/05/2021 at 05:14, Weather-history said:

I remember staying up quite late (I was at school next morning) watching the lightning flashing away to my west-northwest somewhere over the Irish Sea gradually getting closer. That was around the 7th/8th September 1988.

 

   

[damianslaw]

I visited NE Spain in Sept 88, but don't recall any exceptional heat, though I was 10 and it probably didn't register. Not sure exact date I was there, I thought very early Sept, but it may have been mid Sept. Remember feeling fortunate to be exempt from school.