1993

[Portland Paul]

I was just thinking back about past autumns, and, as many say, they seem to be getting longer and warmer now.

This IMO is a trend running parellely with the mild winter/ warmer than average summer scenario, which began around 1988.

However, two notably chilly autumns occurred in both 1992 and 1993. The latter sticks out in my mind most, because of the contrasts in rainfall involved in, what was a period of several consecutive colder than average months (July to November 1993). This autumn seemed also to follow a relatively warm and wet spring when unusually high southerly frequencies occurred.

The early part of autumn 1993, was remarkably wet, off memory. Sorry, I have no statistics, but recall reading over on Ceefax, that the wettest October on record occurred over the south and east of the UK. When one bears in mind the lack of rain countrywide in the second half of that month, there must have been a persistant monsoon in the south and east for the first fortnight of that month! I recall a violent thunderstorm on 8th, surrounded by mild but unsettled weather - with LP over the W or SW of the UK. However, dense fog occurred at night between the heavy rain troughs.

On the 13th and 14th, it all changed.

A Greenland HP moved down into the UK by the 17th, and persisted for the remainder of the month. Initially, it was very cold with sunny skies and sharp night frosts, before more moisure got involved from the north. Anticyclonic gloom became a daily feature, well into early November. Virtually no rain fell in that three week period.

Again, an abrupt change occurred on the 9th November. The HP over N Scandinavia persisted. But the Atlantic awoke, and wind and rain swept the UK - stalling temporarily in the east on 10th. Another low crossed the UK later on the 13th, with some rain. On 14th, severe NNW gales followed behind, as pressure built from the west, but things turned much sunnier for a time. The new HP, soon latched onto the N Scandi HP, and so another chilly and mainly dry spell set in - with frost and fog. Some easterly flow allowed snow showers or prolonged light snow to affect central and eastern parts after the 20th. Later in the month was dominated by bitter winds and dull weather, replaced by milder and wetter Atlantic weather into December.

But even December had surprises! A mild and wet first half developed stormy periods, and with the Jet stream diving south at times by mid-month, some nasty polar outbreaks bringing short bursts of very wintry weather.

My overall point is, is that every type of weather to be expected in autumn, occurred in that autumn, despite prolonged periods of blocking.

[Summer of 95]

Iamtoohot,

1993 was the last proper autumn here. Although that year had a shoddy mild winter and very poor summer, oh boy did autumn make up for it!

October had lots of days which started with hard frost (a couple of which I haven't seen the likes of in recent Februaries) and thick fog, then cleared to leave bright, invigorating sunny afternoons. In addition we had some windy days, and some warm sunny ones.

November continued in much the same vein, until mid-month when it turned cold. On many occasions the ground was still frozen at noon, which we never seem to get in January or February now. On Sunday 21st I woke up to a dusting of snow- nothing special except it was in autumn and was the first day of snow lying here since February 1991.

December had every weather imaginable- floods, gales, sun and a snow day on the 25th. The following February reintroduced the word "winter" to my vocabulary after an absence of 3 years.

September? that's summer.

[summer blizzard]

It sounds like a pretty changable Autum to me.

Here is the chart from the 14th November 1993, as you can see, an area of low pressure tracked directly across the British Isles producing very unsettled conditions.

[Summer of 95]

Look at that for a Scandi high- produced maxima below freezing for many places in November. The few times we have approached this setup since in a winter month it's often failed to produce the same degree of cold.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I remember the snowfalls of November 1993 in Tyne & Wear. It was a very marginal event on the coast, with showers of wet snow on the 21st and early on the 22nd producing a dusting from time to time, but then melting during the clear intervals. However, the afternoon of the 22nd featured quite a persistent snowstorm that accumulated to a significant depth.

The snow stuck around for a whole week, unusually for November, and nearby Durham got down to -12C on the 24th, one of the lowest temperatures ever recorded there and certainly a record for November.

[Weather-history]

It was the coldest Autumn since 1952, every month of that autumn was more than 1 degree below average. I remember those very cold nights during mid-October.

Edited June 6, 2006 by Mr_Data

[Nick F]

Started my last year of A-levels in Autumn 1993 and remember a chilly November with harsh frosts and some snow showers coming off the North Sea in Kent later in the month.

I'm sure there was a bad gale sometime that autumn aswell, as I remember going on a visit to Dover Coastguard up above the White Cliffs and watching the big windows there flexing in the strong winds while the officer was chatting to us.

Remember the summer that year being foul at times, camping for a week in Ashdown forest in late July - it rained nearly everyday and temps weren't great during the day though not particularly chilly at night fortunately.

[Thundery wintry showers]

You might be thinking of 13 September 1993:

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/19...00119930913.gif

[Nick F]

On second thoughts I think it was way later in early December 1993, 9th Dec seems to fit the dark evening that it was very windy looking at the charts and the weather records:

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/19...00119931209.gif

That September 1993 storm over NW France does look particularly nasty - though I don't recall that particular event.

[Weather-history]

On second thoughts I think it was way later in early December 1993, 9th Dec seems to fit the dark evening that it was very windy looking at the charts and the weather records:

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/19...00119931209.gif

That is the one that I would have gone for. It was a pretty notable gale but thw worst of the gale happened later in the night.

[reef]

You might be thinking of 13 September 1993:

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/19...00119930913.gif

An interesting chart that one, it turns out that rather deep low is ex-Hurricane Floyd, which actually deepened as it moved towards the Bay of Biscay.

When it hit it still had 70Kt sustained wind speeds, making it theoretically a catagory 1 extratropical storm:

http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlant...FLOYD/track.gif

http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlant...FLOYD/track.dat

[summer blizzard]

Was Hurricane Floyd not the strongest Atlantic hurricane on record until Hurricane Wilma?????/

[Lettucing Gutted]

Iamtoohot,

1993 was the last proper autumn here. Although that year had a shoddy mild winter and very poor summer, oh boy did autumn make up for it!

I wish we would get a proper autumn again like that one... :unsure: