LetItSnow!

While I agree, December last year felt seasonable even with some mild weather mid-month, statistically it was milder than average, though bang on average for 1991-2020 and even slightly below 1971-2000. I don’t think it was the coldest overall since 2010 though as 2012 and 2017 were colder in the C.E.T. record. The point stands true though that it has been a long time now since a notably cold December.

We are seriously overdue a cold one. If December 2021 were to be mild then it would be 11 years since a true cold December. A remarkable run, really.

Apologies for off topicness, but if you think that's rare, in 1965 many places recorded either their warmest temperature of the year in May or October. Trevor Harley posted that Spadeadam in Cumbria had its warmest day of the year on Oct. 5th, 1965 and even 22+C was recorded as late as the 22nd. So the three warmest spells of the year... Have to wonder how us moaners would cope if a 1965 style summer were to happen again.

I don’t personally think right now that we’ll beat autumn 2006 but the sheer fact it’s possible seems insane.

well here’s hoping a 1984/1985 type winter and not a 1994/1995 type one!

A late walk back from the supermarket a couple hours ago and just how warm and humid it felt reminds me a lot of Nov. 1st last year. The type of thick foggy drizzle that blows under the street lamps. Bring on colder, clearer weather!

The exceptional second half of 2006 must have come as a shock as up until May I think it was the coolest start to a year since 2001. It even took until the 3rd of May that year to reach 20degC, then the following day was the earliest 27degC reading since 1995; a sign of things to come... Will do a historic thread on this exceptional warm spell of 2006/2007.

Thanks. I’m actually slightly inclined to go with 2006 as reports from 2008 say the snow arrived by dawn but if memory serves me correctly this was somewhere between 8-11pm at night. So I actually think it was Apr. 2006!

When listing the months I did, I was going via the England and Wales averages which is why some regional variation slipped through. I should have included Jun. 2000 though as that had an average rainfall total of 43mm. The reason I gave Feb. ‘03 instead of Jan. ‘03 was down to the fact January of that year had only slightly below average rainfall. I also tried to only list months that seemed notably dry than just on the dry side overall. Jul. 1999 really stands out in this whole period. Also, later you posted about Apr. 1968. Fascinatingly similar to Mar/Apr this year and what happened in that year, though Apr. 1968 was much milder than April this year.

You’ve got a point. Apart from February and May of 1998, most months after Oct. 1997 were wet. It was the end of the great drought of the mid-1990s and we’d be stuck in this wet pattern until Feb. 2003. Very, very wet period that lasted very long. If I’m quoting the history books correctly, the only very dry months in this period were Jul. 1999 January & March of 2000 Dec. 2001 Sep. 2002 Just 5 out of 64 months were notably dry. Anyway, apologies for going off topic but your comment interested me.

Thanks for this. This sounds about right. I seem to hold more weather memories of 2008 than any other year from my very young childhood. Indeed there is another weather event that happened during this year which I remember very well but not sure if it deserves its own thread, maybe you could help. Some vicious thunderstorms in what I believe to be August. I was at my aunts house (in the same area) and remember it being a warm but not overly hot day when in the evening a massive dark cloud to the north of us loomed over the sky. What’s weird about this one is that I think the storm was moving north to south. It started in the evening but I remember storms rumbling on through until after dark. I seemed to think it was the same storm as in the evening but it may have been a different one. Always struck me as unusual as the storm was coming from the north, and I don’t remember it being a hot day at all. In my head I have this date of Aug. 7th but that could be completely wrong. It wasn’t the favourite of all but I think 2008 was quite an enjoyable and interesting year for weather. Indeed, fond memories of the weather from 2008-2013.

This has evaded me for many years but has been brought back into my memory this morning. I remember a very heavy & (at least to me) very unexpected snowfall occuring in April when I was a young child. I was living in New Ash Green (Northwest Kent) then and remembering it being after dark, so it was late. Heard some commotion from my parents about the weather outside, so I looked out the window only to find a thick covering on everything. It was deep enough that we didn't even have a TV signal! I've heard both 2006 and 2008 had snow events in April so I imagine it must have been these years? I do remember being young, and I was born in 2001. I also remember looking at our old tree (before it got cut down in 2009) in our back garden, and somehow I remember it not really having any leaves on it yet which may support these years as neither had mild Marches. It ranks as one of my most memorably snowy spells as a child. This is the only memory I have of it so it musn't have lasted very long.

Looking at the synoptic charts for Oct. 1997, the word bipolar comes to mind. This month literally had every weather type you can imagine. I think Apr. 1988 is a spring month that was similar in terms of alternating dry/wet/warm/cold weather. It makes sense that month months are pretty much exactly average in terms of temperature.

Sept. 2020 and Oct. 2018 are recent examples of a month that was looking to be notably warm but then a colder finish eradicated those chances. While I'm not proposing the same thing will happen for sure in Oct. 2021, it is reason to not get attached to the idea that a month with be overly warm OR cold, the reverse happened in Feb. 2021. I hope it does turn colder though. On the flipside, if it doesn't and we stay mild, then this will turn into a very mild autumn indeed, with shades of 2005 & 2006. Come on, cold!

A long drawn southwesterly wind will drag up endless amounts of cloud, rain and strong winds so a mild/warm feel won't really add anything meaningful. Have to say, looks pretty grim. Though if any clear spells were to occur I imagine it would feel warm. Otherwise, cloud, wind and heavy rain with 17C minima looks gross.

I have to say, I thought that about a week ago this high-pressure spell would be much warmer than it actually is. Apart from a few mild nights, this spell has actually felt really chilly and often been quite gloomy, though there have been some sunny spells but even some of the nights I felt quite cold. For the first time it’s getting unpleasant to wear a T-shirt in the evening. I went out on the 10th and was surprised at how chilly and drizzly it was, though it did brighten up later. Despite the temperature being a little warmer than average so far in the CET it’s actually felt really quite seasonably chilly so far, though I suppose you could say that since September was so warm even a slightly milder than average October would feel quite cold in comparison.

The winter of 1922 overall came out close to average but the cold anomalies started to show in March and then particularly in April which was exceptionally cold. It actually turned exceptionally warm in May with record heat so overall it was a very warm May, somewhat like a more pronounced May/June of this year, just a month earlier. The cold came back in June and then the summer was extremely cold, up there with the Maunder minimum summers of the 1690s. No month recorded a C.E.T. higher than the 13s, and June was the warmest month!!! I'm going to do a historic thread on this summer soon. The cold stayed into the autumn of 1922 which was very cold, but just as December came it then flipped to very, very mild. The winter of 1922/1923 was exceptionally mild with a C.E.T. 5.7. Of course in true fashion, the cold returned in Apr. 1923 and pestered through 'til June, though at least we got quite a hot July that year.

Out of interest, seeing the discussion on the late turning of the leaves, does anyone remember on how quickly the leaves turned during the very warm autumn spells in 1999, 2005, 2006, 2011 etc? I imagine especially in 2006 they must have been very late to turn, though it was often unsettled.

Apologies for double post, but the pressure anomaly charts show this unusual period very well. Heights tended to be well below average to the south so I imagine much of W/C Europe must of have an absolute shocker. The May-Sept. anomaly shows show strong this was MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER MAY-SEPT Temperature anomalies for each month from May to September and overall MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPT OVERALL Interesting that August 1968 was very warm in Ireland. IIRC I remember a post saying how August 1968 was a very good one there.

It's been said elsewhere, but many a similarity to 1968 and 2021 in many ways. particularly late March/early April and the unusual frequency of cool and wet conditions in the south and drier and warmer further north. Thankfully we weren't subject to a supersoaker event this year as in 1968. The September 1968 floods look remarkably extreme. Can't imagine how heavy and prolonged the rain must have been. I remember a spell of very wet weather across SE England on Oct. 11th, 2013 which caused quite a bit of localised flooding, so times that by 10x!

Won't go too off topic but I think much of the northern hemisphere had a shocker summer in 1976. The U.K. was well and truly on its own. IIRC, anomaly maps show much of eastern Europe/USA had an very cool summer. Goes to show how exceptional that summer truly was.

While I’m sure many are salivating at the mild, sunny days that will be had with this, my focus is on those beautiful chilly, foggy (maybe even frosty in places) nights. I would imagine under a ridge, even with mild air aloft, we should be well into single figures with that. Living in a house that seemingly stays warm all the time, I was disappointed in the lack of an autumnal feel in September, so I’m really liking this output.

IIRC, I read that early Apr. 1994 saw gusts of up to 100mph so it must have been a real unusual spell of stormy weather. The only thing like that I can remember at that time of year is a ferocious windstorm that occurred on the 28th of March, 2016. Goes to show you can still get gales, even in springtime. Bit off topic from the Autumn, 1993. My apologies. Edit- quoted the wrong person!

Incredible memory which is absolutely fascinating to read , especially as I was not to be born for another 7.5 years! It’s a real portal to the past.

28 years since this very cold autumn… one I would love to experience one like. Thought I’d give this old post a boost.