Boiling then freezing - Sept/Oct. 1895

[LetItSnow!]

This warm September is good cause to make a thread regarding this unusual pair of months, and why those wanting a cold October need not despair!

After an indifferent summer, Sept. 1895 was a very warm month with a C.E.T. of 15.4. It was warmer than July! Nights were close to normal but by day, Sept. 1895 ranks 2nd hottest, only beaten by 2006.

It was also a very dry month with an average rainfall of 23.3mm. Much of the south of England had barely any rainfall and most fell during thunderstorms on the 6th/7th.

Unsurprisingly, it was also a very sunny month. Many stations recorded their sunniest September on record at the time. Hastings recorded 171% average sunshine.

A warm pattern is established very early on with a hot push of southerly winds on the 2nd. The very few traces of rain fell courtesy of weak pressure associated with hot southeasterly winds on the 6th.

This feature was so weak that by the following evening, pressure had already rose, thereby killing off any thunderstorms. I can't find any reports on any individual storms but apparently they were juicy!

A briefly more unsettled period followed but high pressure was never far away from the southeast. High pressure was dominant again by the 15th and was going nowhere fast.

Upper air temperatures fluctuated during this period but days stayed warm. A brief spell of colder weather, albiet still dry, came on the 20th. This was the coldest part of the month with frosts in the Scottish mountains.

The coldest weather was very shortly followed by the warmest. September from this point was entirely HP dominated with very warm southerly winds. There were some unusually hot temperatures recorded, record breaking for the time, with temperatures in excess of 27C recorded in many places. 

In some areas, the month was over 3 degrees above the then-average. The comes October...

 

October, 1895 was an exceptionally cold October, being one of the coldest on record with a CET of 7.1. Rainfall was unremarkable at 113.3mm.

The month was mostly just very cold, with no remarkable falls of rain or gales reported. Despite the cold, sunshine was once again above average, notably so in places.

 However, the month began very warm with the remnants of Septembers heat. 25C was recorded at Hillington on the 1st. An active cold front swept in on the 2nd, probably accompanied by heavy rain, gales

and thunder. This would have felt very shocking after a month of fine weather. It then stayed generally very unsettled.

It wasn't until the 16th that the true nature of the month came to be, as cold air swept south, albeit within high pressure. By the 22nd, strong northern blocking and low pressure in the Azores let very cold air in from the Artic region. From the 22nd to the 29th, snowfall was widespread, particularly in the north and west. Temperatures were very cold, particularly at night, and on the 23rd/24th and the 28th-30th temperatures got down as low as -8C at Llandovery, -7C at Blackpool and Carlisle. 

Amazingly, the following October would be colder, but that autumn deserves its own thread which I may do next.

While November, 1895 wasn't a particularly interesting month, it's notable for being warmer than the preceding October. It's generally a mild and wet month with lots of low pressure and SW winds, but it has a very short but fairly intense cold snap on the 24th with a great deal of snow. It has a CET of 7.5 and an average of 122.2mm

  

The following winter of 1895/1896 turned out to be a mild but exceptionally dry winter.          

[Roger J Smith]

The CET value for 31 Oct 1895 (0.3 C from max 4.6, min -3.9) is the lowest that we know of, October 1740 was an extremely cold month (5.3 C) and might have had a colder day. That max was also the second coldest for October of the series (1878 to present). 3.1 on 31st 1934 was coldest. 6.1 is the coldest October maximum recently (29th 2008 and 27th 2018). The minimum of -3.9 (0.1 colder than the previous day) was equalled on 27th Oct 1931. A reading of -3.8 on the 29th 1997 tied third coldest with some other days between 28th 1895 and then. More recently it was -3.0 on the 29th of 2008. 

On the other side of the Atlantic, the same trends were seen. Record highs were set at New York City (still records now) from 20th to 24th September and it began to cool off in the first few days of October, then became very cold at the end of the month. 

Another similarity on both sides of the Atlantic was the very cold February with coldest weather around 7th to 15th. And a third similarity arises with record heat for NYC at the end of May into the first few days of June, the highs (CET) on 29th and 30th May were 23.6 and 27.2. In between these hot spells of late May and mid to late September, the rest of the summer was decidedly cool. 

Edited September 17, 2021 by Roger J Smith

[LetItSnow!]

On another note completely, it seems like a trend for extremes in weather in years ending ‘95.

1695 — Extremely cold year, second only to 1740. Severe winter, very cold spring, remarkably cold summer with great rains and then a very cold autumn. 

1795 — Coldest January on record in an overall exceptionally severe winter. Cold and wet spring. Exceptionally dry & warm September. Very mild December leading to one of the warmest winters on record. 

 

1895 — Extremely cold winter, one of the coldest Februaries on record. Exceptionally warm, sunny and dry September then exceptionally cold October.

 

1995 — Extremely wet winter, early May heatwave, remarkably hot and dry, arid summer; the driest summer on record. Hottest, sunniest and driest August on record. One of the warmest 30 day non calendar periods on record. Extremely wet September. Exceptionally warm October. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the UK, -27.2 at Altnaharra (?) on Dec. 30th. A very dry and and an exceptionally sunny year. 

 

2095 — ?

 

So you can see a trend for pronounced weather events in these years. Who knows what 2095 will be. Hoping more setting records for cold than heat… The funny thing is if I live to an old age I may very well get to experience 2095 as I would be 94! 

[Weather-history]

Further data from articles I written about these months over a decade ago

 

[LetItSnow!]

You put it in much more detail that I could. Amazing that 30C was exceeded so late in the season. 

5 hours ago, Weather-history said:

Further data from articles I written about these months over a decade ago

 

 

[cheeky_monkey]

16 hours ago, LetItSnow! said:

On another note completely, it seems like a trend for extremes in weather in years ending ‘95.

1695 — Extremely cold year, second only to 1740. Severe winter, very cold spring, remarkably cold summer with great rains and then a very cold autumn. 

1795 — Coldest January on record in an overall exceptionally severe winter. Cold and wet spring. Exceptionally dry & warm September. Very mild December leading to one of the warmest winters on record. 

 

1895 — Extremely cold winter, one of the coldest Februaries on record. Exceptionally warm, sunny and dry September then exceptionally cold October.

 

1995 — Extremely wet winter, early May heatwave, remarkably hot and dry, arid summer; the driest summer on record. Hottest, sunniest and driest August on record. One of the warmest 30 day non calendar periods on record. Extremely wet September. Exceptionally warm October. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the UK, -27.2 at Altnaharra (?) on Dec. 30th. A very dry and and an exceptionally sunny year. 

 

2095 — ?

 

So you can see a trend for pronounced weather events in these years. Who knows what 2095 will be. Hoping more setting records for cold than heat… The funny thing is if I live to an old age I may very well get to experience 2095 as I would be 94! 

i will be long gone by 2095,,my youngest son might ..he would be 91 

1995 is by far in a way the best year for weather i experienced  in the UK..it had pretty much everything for the weather enthusiast