The very warm year of 1949

[Weather-history]

1949 was a record breaking warm year until 1990 surpassed it. It had an annual CET of 10.62

The months compared to the 1911-40 average

Jan: 5.5 (+1.3)

Feb: 5.7 (+1.4)

Mar: 5.1 (-0.6)

Apr: 10 (+2.2)

May: 11.2 (-0.3)

Jun: 15.3 (+1.1)

Jul: 17.4 (+1.5)

Aug: 16.8 (+1.2)

Sep: 16.3 (+3.0)

Oct: 11.7 (+2.1)

Nov: 6.6 (+0.4)

Dec: 5.8 (+1.2)

At the time

Winter 1948-49 was the 21st mildest on record

April 1949 was joint 11th warmest on record

Summer 1949 was 23rd warmest on record

September was joint 2nd warmest

There was an exceptional heatwave during mid April, where maxima got into the high 20s as high as 29.4C

The summer of 1949 was pretty dry with just 121.9mm for England and Wales with June particularly dry with just 18.1mm , at the time, it was the 5th driest June on record.

By the end of September, the total rainfall for the year was just around 426mm

There was an exceptional heatwave during early September where a maximum of 32.8C was recorded

Maxima were still getting into the 20s during early October but the warm spell finally broke during second half of October and it ended a wet month.

Unusually, March was the coldest month of the year, the only year of the 20th Century that this occurred.

1949 was the sunniest year for England and Wales til 1989, February 1949 is the sunniest February in the Areal series for England and Wales.

[Optimus Prime]

Interesting that very warm years turned up out of the blue.

Nothing compared to what we get these days of course. Nearly always get a year very slightly below 1949/

[Bham Chris]

Sounds a little like this year,a below average March but a very warm summer and autumn,hopefully November and December this year won't out like them that year.

Edited October 19, 2006 by Bham Chris

[Weather-history]

September 1949 was a very warm month with a CET of 16.3, joint warmest with 1865 since 1729. The summer of 1949 was one of the best summers for the UK and started in June and it was last into October. The was a very hot spell at the beginning of the month as southerly winds from north Africa brought hot continetal air. Maxima rose into the 30Cs with Maldon in Essex reaching 32.8C. 32.2C were recorded at Shoeburyness, Cromer, Belstead and Mildenhall.

A minimum of 20.6C was recorded at Oxford on the 5th.

High pressure generally dominated the month with any unsettled spells being short-lived.

The first 10 days of September 1949 averaged 17.5C

England and Wales

Rainfall: 80%

Sunshine: 105%

Scotland:

Rainfall: 74%

Sunshine: 110%

Northern Ireland

Rainfall: 90%

Sunshine: 121%

There was a wet spell around the 20th-23rd, as a slow moving thundery trough moved northwards.

West Looe: 2.44" on 20th

Creech Grange: 2.79" on 21st

Presteign: 2.75" on 22nd

Chipping Norton: 2.66" on 22nd

Bridgend: 2.59" on 22nd

The warmest day was the 5th of September

[Weather-history]

On 31/08/2009 at 09:21, Weather-history said:

September 1949 was a very warm month with a CET of 16.3, joint warmest with 1865 since 1729. The summer of 1949 was one of the best summers for the UK and started in June and it was last into October. The was a very hot spell at the beginning of the month as southerly winds from north Africa brought hot continetal air. Maxima rose into the 30Cs with Maldon in Essex reaching 32.8C. 32.2C were recorded at Shoeburyness, Cromer, Belstead and Mildenhall.

A minimum of 20.6C was recorded at Oxford on the 5th.

High pressure generally dominated the month with any unsettled spells being short-lived.

The first 10 days of September 1949 averaged 17.5C

England and Wales

Rainfall: 80%

Sunshine: 105%

Scotland:

Rainfall: 74%

Sunshine: 110%

Northern Ireland

Rainfall: 90%

Sunshine: 121%

There was a wet spell around the 20th-23rd, as a slow moving thundery trough moved northwards.

West Looe: 2.44" on 20th

Creech Grange: 2.79" on 21st

Presteign: 2.75" on 22nd

Chipping Norton: 2.66" on 22nd

Bridgend: 2.59" on 22nd

The warmest day was the 5th of September

[A Face like Thunder]

Thanks for this latest fascinating info Weather-history. All the best things happened in 1949 it seems! 

You say that 1949 was the record breaking warm year until 1990, but wasn't 1976 warmer? Brazell suggests that 1959 was a tad warmer overall than 1949 (52.7 / 52.5) but that was London.  

 

[Thundery wintry showers]

Summer 1976 was warmer, but the calendar year 1976 wasn't.  In particular a coolish autumn and cold December brought the annual mean temperature for 1976 down somewhat.

Even 1959 was marginally cooler than 1949 in the CET zone, as 1959 started off with a cold January that had a fortnight of mainly northerly winds, though there was very little in it between 1949 and 1959.

Edited September 3, 2021 by Thundery wintry showers

[Weather-history]

On 16/10/2006 at 11:27, Weather-history said:

 

The months compared to the 1911-40 average

Jan: 5.5 (+1.3)

 

[Summer8906]

3 hours ago, Weather-history said:

 

I guess January 1949 was similar to January 1989, in the sense that it was a rare mild, dry January. In fact, the sequence of mild/wet and mild/dry would be repeated exactly 40 years later. Likewise, summer 1948 appeared to be nothing special but summer 1949 was a good one, just like 1988/89. The Aprils of 1949 and 1989 seem very different though...

[Weather-history]

On 16/10/2006 at 11:27, Weather-history said:

 

The months compared to the 1911-40 average

 

Mar: 5.1 (-0.6)

 

24th March 1949

[Weather-history]

Easter of 1949

June 1949

July 1949

October 1949

December 1949

[hillbilly]

The church just a hundred yards from where i live was destroyed in a gale on March 1st 1949