Good summers of the 20th century

[Summer8906]

Given that nowadays, good summers seem to be occurring pretty rarely (since 2006, I would only rate 2013, 2014 and 2018 as above average) I'm wondering which summers of the 20th century are regarded as relatively good. There are a number which are well known as very good, and I've listed these here - but what about those which were merely 'good-ish'? In other words, like say 1996 or 2013, in which both consisted of prolonged hot sunny spells but also some spells of cloudier and less settled weather.

These I thnk are well-known and well-documented as very good:

1911, 1933, 1947, 1949, 1955, 1959, 1975, 1976, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995

In some of these cases there was one poor month (June 1990 or August 1994 for instance) but the remaining months were so good that the summer overall could be considered classic. 2018 is a non-20th-century example with its disappointing August.

These are all ones I would class good-ish to the best of my knowledge, based on old monthly weather reports and historical discussions, and personal experience for the latter three cases.

1906, 1921, 1934, 1935, 1967, 1969, 1991, 1996, 1997

'Good-ish' could be defined as the summer being sunnier and warmer than average overall in the majority of regions - less interested in rainfall as a summer can appear wet from a few short-lived thundery spells. If I am to declare a bias, it would be for London and SE England as that is where I have lived most my life

The 1910s and 1920s (except 1911 and 1921) strike me as a long period of poorish summers, as does the 1960-74 period (except 1967 and 1969). But are there any others which could be regarded as good-ish?

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by Summer8906

[A Face like Thunder]

 

An excellent assessment thank you. I don't particularly remember the summers of 1967 and 1969 (1968 was a disaster in the SE), but am happy to accept that they were good-ish. I certainly agree that the period 1959 to 1975 was devoid of really good summers, with cold winters contributing to the feeling that a mini ice-age was just around the corner. I think I might have put 1994 into the good-ish category, although I was abroad until May of that year. Other than that, I am in full agreement with you, thank you. 

 

 

[hillbilly]

I think 1911 accounts for probably the best extended summer with good weather from May until mid October,1947 was probably not too far behind.I really dont know how you can put 1994 up there with the best as it wasnt,2018 should take its place as that was and shouldnt be listed as good.

1981 and 1982 were at least good to average,there were no poor summers in the 90s except 1998of which had a reasonable August.

2000 and 2001were good,2003 and 2006 the best since along with 2013 and the very good 2018

Most of the rest of the last 20 years have been garbage.

[Summer8906]

15 hours ago, hillbilly said:

I think 1911 accounts for probably the best extended summer with good weather from May until mid October,1947 was probably not too far behind.I really dont know how you can put 1994 up there with the best as it wasnt,2018 should take its place as that was and shouldnt be listed as good.

 

1981 and 1982 were at least good to average,there were no poor summers in the 90s except 1998of which had a reasonable August.

2000 and 2001were good,2003 and 2006 the best since along with 2013 and the very good 2018

Most of the rest of the last 20 years have been garbage.

Remember that this is related to the 20th century, so 1901-2000 or (if you prefer) 1900-1999.  (1900 was a goodish one too, I think, if we are counting any 19xx year).

1911, 1933 and 1947 always sound like the stuff of legend, though in my lifetime I'd also rate 1989 very highly for an extended May-September summer, perhaps the best - basically settled from the start of May to mid-October, with only brief blips (early June and just before mid-August come to mind) although Sep and early Oct was cloudier. And I think for its winter too, most would likely agree that 1947 was the most interesting year for weather in the past 100 years.

1994 was good where I was (Hampshire and Bristol area) that summer. June was largely fine and sunny after the first few days, with only short blips thereafter and some memorable storms on the 24th - it really seemed to be the case that every time the fine weather broke down, the Azores high re-built again to re-establish the fine weather. A further unsettled blip occurred 4th-7th July following another notable thundery spell (who remembers the consecutive thundery Friday evenings of 24 June and 1 July?) before fine warm weather quickly re-established. A proper breakdown occurred at the very end of the month and August was cooler and cloudier but even then, there was a brief heat spike on the 3rd and a further warm settled spell from the 5th-9th so not all bad. I'd consider a summer 'good' if 2 out of the 3 months are notably warm and sunny (even if the third is a disappointment), and in my experience, 1994 was just that.

As seen in another thread, yes, August 1981 was notably warm and sunny and a classic month - better than any August after 2003 - but June and July were cool and cloudy so I'd only rate the summer as average overall.

1982 I remember June being dull and rather wet, July was warm and sunny, and August I have very little memory of besides a wet and windy bank holiday weekend. Apparently it was very westerly, average in the south and wetter in the north - so 1982 is another one I'd file under average.  (Given that the school summer holidays were so all-important in those days, it's quite remarkable I have so little memory of August 1982 - I remember the fine weather of late July but little in August. A sign of how non-descript it was, I guess!)

In the latter years of the 20th century I'd rate as average 1981, 1982, 1993, 1999 and 2000. All were mixed with fine and poor spells. 1992, despite having a great June, had an unsettled July and August so I'd rate as slightly below-average. All assessments for central southern England.

Going back a bit further, I think (from historical records) that 1964, 1970, 1971 and 1973 were also pretty average. The rest of the 1960-74 period seemed to be various degrees of poor - so not unlike the current era, though cooler.

 

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

 

 

[BruenSryan]

Well for Ireland, which can differ greatly at times to England like in 1968, the best summers of the 20th century going by stats I would say are:

1995, 1976, 1955, 1983, 1989, 1959, 1933, 1975, 1969, 1911.

1995 is hands down the best Irish summer.

Other summers that had at least one exceptionally 'good month' (very warm, very sunny and or very dry): 

1990 - Second consecutive very sunny July after 1989. 2 August 1990 was the hottest day on record in Dublin with 31C achieved (19 July 2006 would later equal this). Terrible June

1947 - a pretty mixed June/July but August second best of the century after 1995. I often refer to it as the 'forgotten gem' as it was contender for best summer month of the century with only competition really being the likes of July 1989, August 1995 and August 1976 for overall warm, dry and sunny conditions. Locally in Dublin, August 1947 also contained the longest absolute drought of the century lasting up to mid-September. 

1940 - a very sunny and warm June which still holds the monthly sunshine record for Northern Ireland to this day. August was also dry but otherwise a pretty meh summer. 

1934 - a hot July with one of our most notable heatwaves of 20th century.

1921 - similar to 1934 with a hot July and a notable heatwave. 

1968 that I mentioned is a funny one. It wasn't an especially warm summer even here and in fact was on the relatively cool side but it was very sunny with a prolonged drought period through July into August. 

Edited August 30, 2021 by BruenSryan

[Summer8906]

11 minutes ago, BruenSryan said:

Well for Ireland, which can differ greatly at times to England like in 1968, the best summers of the 20th century going by stats I would say are:

1995, 1976, 1955, 1983, 1989, 1959, 1933, 1975, 1969, 1911.

1995 is hands down the best Irish summer.

Other summers that had at least one exceptionally 'good month' (very warm, very sunny and or very dry): 

1990 - Second consecutive very sunny July after 1989. 2 August 1990 was the hottest day on record in Dublin with 31C achieved (19 July 2006 would later equal this). Terrible June

1947 - a pretty mixed June/July but August second best of the century after 1995. I often refer to it as the 'forgotten gem' as it was contender for best summer month of the century with only competition really being the likes of July 1989, August 1995 and August 1976 for overall warm, dry and sunny conditions. Locally in Dublin, August 1947 also contained the longest absolute drought of the century lasting up to mid-September. 

1940 - a very sunny and warm June which still holds the monthly sunshine record for Northern Ireland to this day. August was also dry but otherwise a pretty meh summer. 

1934 - a hot July with one of our most notable heatwaves of 20th century.

1921 - similar to 1934 with a hot July and a notable heatwave. 

1968 that I mentioned is a funny one. It wasn't an especially warm summer even here and in fact was on the relatively cool side but it was very sunny with a prolonged drought period through July into August.

Thanks, interesting to see the differences between Ireland and southern England, which my list was biased towards.

I've heard people say that summer 2021 was not unlike 1968 (and 1977) both of which featured fine weather to the northwest and more unsettled weather to the southeast, 1968 in particular being notably bad. Wonder if that is a fair assessment? Going a bit OT I wonder if 1968 also had persistent extreme heat over eastern and south-eastern Europe, as this seemed to drive the repeated formation of lows close to southeast England this summer?

The somewhat-controversial 1994 by contrast had strong Azores ridging, but I seem to remember it being more westerly towards the north and west - so one where the fine weather was concentrated in the south and east, perhaps.

Edited August 30, 2021 by Summer8906

[BruenSryan]

8 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

Thanks, interesting to see the differences between Ireland and southern England, which my list was biased towards.

I've heard people say that summer 2021 was not unlike 1968 (and 1977) both of which featured fine weather to the northwest and more unsettled weather to the southeast, 1968 in particular being notably bad. Wonder if that is a fair assessment? Going a bit OT I wonder if 1968 also had persistent extreme heat over eastern and south-eastern Europe, as this seemed to drive the repeated formation of lows close to southeast England this summer?

The somewhat-controversial 1994 by contrast had strong Azores ridging, but I seem to remember it being more westerly towards the north and west - so one where the fine weather was concentrated in the south and east, perhaps.

Not sure how I forgot 1949 as one of the best Irish summers too just after re-reading your initial post mentioning it.

You would be correct about that 1968 comparison. This year has been running closely to 1968 so far in some aspects like the March 2021 high temperatures were the highest since 1968, April 1968 was the frostiest April on record for the UK before 2021 and 1968 had been the closest situation where the spring absolute max was achieved in March (it equalled April that year). It was a really weird year 1968 with a highly reduced westerly gradient.

Going by anomaly maps, it wasn't a warm summer at all across Europe. Very different times then though.

[Weather-history]

Manchester Summer Indices

1901 249 1902 195 1903 209 1904 212 1905 223 1906 214 1907 147

1908 220 1909 171 1910 190 1911 274 1912 156 1913 205 1914 222

1915 196 1916 188 1917 228 1918 200 1919 203 1920 174 1921 249

1922 178 1923 174 1924 158 1925 246 1926 227 1927 175 1928 197

1929 211 1930 199 1931 173 1932 223 1933 251 1934 238 1935 243

1936 190 1937 213 1938 177 1939 213 1940 238 1941 236 1942 214

1943 209 1944 200 1945 223 1946 170 1947 255 1948 176 1949 267

1950 216 1951 201 1952 198 1953 193 1954 143 1955 277 1956 155

1957 216 1958 184 1959 269 1960 217 1961 203 1962 197 1963 194

1964 197 1965 189 1966 192 1967 223 1968 215 1969 234 1970 235

1971 205 1972 185 1973 234 1974 199 1975 268 1976 301 1977 223

1978 173 1979 199 1980 173 1981 196 1982 203 1983 278 1984 271

1985 180 1986 189 1987 169 1988 191 1989 262 1990 229 1991 207

1992 222 1993 194 1994 240 1995 298 1996 245 1997 232 1998 192

1999 234

 

Summer decadal index values

 

1900s: 204  1910s: 206  1920s: 199  1930s: 212  1940s: 219

1950s: 205  1960s: 206  1970s: 222  1980s: 211  1990s: 229

 

Summers  rank in order with the best at the top and the worst at the bottom

1976 301

1995 298

1983 278

1955 277

1911 274

1984 271

1959 269

1975 268

1949 267

1989 262

1947 255

1933 251

1901 249

1921 249

1925 246

1996 245

1935 243

1994 240

1934 238

1940 238

1941 236

1970 235

1969 234

1973 234

1999 234

1997 232

1990 229

1917 228

1926 227

1905 223

1932 223

1945 223

1967 223

1977 223

1914 222

1992 222

1908 220

1960 217

1950 216

1957 216

1968 215

1906 214

1942 214

1937 213

1939 213

1904 212

1929 211

1903 209

1943 209

1991 207

1913 205

1971 205

1919 203

1961 203

1982 203

1951 201

1918 200

1944 200

1930 199

1974 199

1979 199

1952 198

1928 197

1962 197

1964 197

1915 196

1981 196

1902 195

1963 194

1993 194

1953 193

1966 192

1998 192

1988 191

1910 190

1936 190

1965 189

1986 189

1916 188

1972 185

1958 184

1985 180

1922 178

1938 177

1948 176

1927 175

1920 174

1923 174

1931 173

1978 173

1980 173

1909 171

1946 170

1987 169

1924 158

1912 156

1956 155

1907 147

1954 143

 

 

[Summer8906]

13 hours ago, BruenSryan said:

Not sure how I forgot 1949 as one of the best Irish summers too just after re-reading your initial post mentioning it.

You would be correct about that 1968 comparison. This year has been running closely to 1968 so far in some aspects like the March 2021 high temperatures were the highest since 1968, April 1968 was the frostiest April on record for the UK before 2021 and 1968 had been the closest situation where the spring absolute max was achieved in March (it equalled April that year). It was a really weird year 1968 with a highly reduced westerly gradient.

Going by anomaly maps, it wasn't a warm summer at all across Europe. Very different times then though.

Thanks for that - no warm anomalies at all except a small area of Scandinavia. Interesting that southern Europe was even cooler, relative to the norm, than most of England was. ISTR the prevailing synoptic type in 1968 was northeasterly (not unlike the current pattern, perhaps) with high pressure over Ireland and northern Scotland, and frequent low formation across the northern France-Low Countries-Germany area driving the dull, cool, damp weather in the SE.

One might expect hot southerlies to form over E-SE Europe in such a pattern but this was plainly not the case. Perhaps southern Europe as a whole, right over to Istanbul, experienced zonal westerlies - south of the low - from the Atlantic giving unusually changeable weather for summer? Such conditions prevailed in the first half of December 2020, and, indeed, at times in early January, in this area - but would be highly unusual for summer.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

4 hours ago, Weather-history said:

Manchester Summer Indices

[snip]

 

Interesting, how is this calculated?

Looks like 200 is a key threshold, perhaps just by coincidence: the summers rated above 200 by the Manchester summer index correspond quite closely to the ones I would consider above average, for the 1980-1999 period. And 250 looks like a good threshold for a really good one, so 200-249 approximate quite closely to my 'goodish' category and 250+ to my 'good' category. 300+ is something else entirely, I see that the legendary 1976 is the only one to achieve that score. I was actually living close to Manchester in summer 1976, sadly I wasn't quite old enough to remember what was evidently the best summer of the past 100 years.

Some regional differences though: 1990 has a surprisingly low Manchester summer index, while in the south I would rate it better than any summer from 2007 onwards, except for 2018. My assessment is subjective though, not based on any hard calculations. I'd also rate 1990 as above 1996 and far above 1999, which had a great July but very average June and pretty poor August. Perhaps more of a westerly component in 1990 meaning the north wasn't so great relative to normal?

1992 by contrast has a Manchester index far above my own qualitative assessment: great June, but cloudy and damp July, and unsettled, cool August. I think I am biased in my qualitative assessment against years which start well in June and then deteriorate though - subconsciously I 'award points' for good weather in the main holiday season. Another bias I will declare is that I weight sunshine and max temp as more important than rainfall - because rainfall can be swung easily by a few thundery spells in an otherwise fine summer.

Looks like I was right about the 1920s being a bit rubbish though, and was generally correct about which years, relatively speaking, were good in the 1960s and early 1970s.

1977 comes out as another 'goodish in Manchester' one. That would figure: I still lived in the northwest at the time, and can't remember it clearly, but what snapshots I do have are of fine weather, except the Silver Jubilee which was dull and wet. I also remember adults saying in 1978 words to the effect of 'summer was great two years ago, quite good last year, and rubbish this year'. 1978 was the first summer I have significant memories of, and yes, most of them were of cloud, rain or cool...

Edited August 31, 2021 by Summer8906

[Weather-history]

1 hour ago, Summer8906 said:

Interesting, how is this calculated?

Looks like 200 is a key threshold, perhaps just by coincidence: the summers rated above 200 by the Manchester summer index correspond quite closely to the ones I would consider above average, for the 1980-1999 period. And 250 looks like a good threshold for a really good one, so 200-249 approximate quite closely to my 'goodish' category and 250+ to my 'good' category. 300+ is something else entirely, I see that the legendary 1976 is the only one to achieve that score. I was actually living close to Manchester in summer 1976, sadly I wasn't quite old enough to remember what was evidently the best summer of the past 100 years.

Some regional differences though: 1990 has a surprisingly low Manchester summer index, while in the south I would rate it better than any summer from 2007 onwards, except for 2018. My assessment is subjective though, not based on any hard calculations. I'd also rate 1990 as above 1996 and far above 1999, which had a great July but very average June and pretty poor August. Perhaps more of a westerly component in 1990 meaning the north wasn't so great relative to normal?

1992 by contrast has a Manchester index far above my own qualitative assessment: great June, but cloudy and damp July, and unsettled, cool August. I think I am biased in my qualitative assessment against years which start well in June and then deteriorate though - subconsciously I 'award points' for good weather in the main holiday season. Another bias I will declare is that I weight sunshine and max temp as more important than rainfall - because rainfall can be swung easily by a few thundery spells in an otherwise fine summer.

Looks like I was right about the 1920s being a bit rubbish though, and was generally correct about which years, relatively speaking, were good in the 1960s and early 1970s.

1977 comes out as another 'goodish in Manchester' one. That would figure: I still lived in the northwest at the time, and can't remember it clearly, but what snapshots I do have are of fine weather, except the Silver Jubilee which was dull and wet. I also remember adults saying in 1978 words to the effect of 'summer was great two years ago, quite good last year, and rubbish this year'. 1978 was the first summer I have significant memories of, and yes, most of them were of cloud, rain or cool...

The Summer index is 10 x [(mean max of summer) +(total sunshine hrs)/67 - (rain days/8)]

I have always thought 1990 was overrated, as overrated as 1994 is underrated. I wonder if people remember 1990 as so good because of the extended warm sunny spells outside the summer months such as during March, May and also October? There was  a shocker of a day during mid August when it only reached 13.8C!

 

[Summer8906]

26 minutes ago, Weather-history said:

The Summer index is 10 x [(mean max of summer) +(total sunshine hrs)/67 - (rain days/8)]

I have always thought 1990 was overrated, as overrated as 1994 is underrated. I wonder if people remember 1990 as so good because of the extended warm sunny spells outside the summer months such as during March, May and also October? There was  a shocker of a day during mid August when it only reached 13.8C!

 

OK - thanks. Yes, I'd agree rain days is a better measure than absolute rainfall.

Not sure about 1990 being overrated in the south, though I agree the repeated fine settled spells from early March to mid October were noteworthy. In the south (Hampshire) it turned warm and sunny around July 10th and from then until the end of the month, cloudy days were notable by their almost complete absence. I recall one day towards the end of the month when it was actually cloudy all day - and recall that was the first time for at least two weeks. Even that day was warm (24 or 25C) and the cloud was altostratus so it wasn't oppressively gloomy.

August I recall started with the extreme heat followed by a week of cooler, but still warm, sunny weather with max temps in the high 20s. As the month progressed cloud amounts increased but it remained warm and bright. Don't recall extreme cool down here but I do recall a single Sunday (the day George Michael's 'Praying For Time' entered the charts - funny how you remember these things) being cooler and wet but still high-teens. Then more warm sunny weather; the final few days of the month I was in Scotland but from what I gather the fine weather persisted over the south. Meanwhile in Scotland (Galloway) I seem to recall it being cooler and cloudier that final week but still pretty dry.

So I'd rate both 1990 and 1994 highly for this part of the world, and either 1988-97 or 1989-98 truly astounding decades for summers (88 and 98 were both poorish but one of them has to be added to turn the notable 1989-97 run into a decade).

Edited August 31, 2021 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

Interesting also how good this summer has been in Manchester as measured by the Summer Index.  Down here I'd rate it, I think, third-worst summer from 1989 onwards, behind only 2007 and 2012.  A very regionally-inconsistent summer.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Summer8906

[cheeky_monkey]

3 hours ago, Weather-history said:

The Summer index is 10 x [(mean max of summer) +(total sunshine hrs)/67 - (rain days/8)]

I have always thought 1990 was overrated, as overrated as 1994 is underrated. I wonder if people remember 1990 as so good because of the extended warm sunny spells outside the summer months such as during March, May and also October? There was  a shocker of a day during mid August when it only reached 13.8C!

 

interesting that 1996 is so high up on the list..i would have put 94, 97, 90 & 99 above it..and that's just the 1990s